Hi fellow criminal justice reporters! Earlier this week, I published a piece about how police are failing to use one of the most powerful investigative tools available to solve gun crimes: traces. Here's how you could do it in your market:
I discovered that many police departments in South Carolina don’t always trace crime guns once a shooting is solved, depriving law enforcement of valuable intel. thetrace.org/2018/12/police…
Gun traces are important. They can help solve individual crimes and highlight holes in the system. They help police identify trafficking patterns, and learn what kind of laws might keep guns out of criminals’ hands.
Are law enforcement agencies in your city tracing crime guns? Here's where to start:
Call a 6 to 10 police agencies in your coverage area and ask for their policy on tracing recovered crime guns. We found that police in bigger cities are doing more comprehensive tracing than police in smaller towns, so look for agencies that range in size and demographics.
If police are not tracing every gun, find out why. Tracing is free, takes only a few minutes, and every policing expert we contacted—as well as the ATF—said it’s essential.
We spoke to a host of national experts about the importance of tracing guns, as well as officials in New Jersey, the only state that requires police to trace guns. Call your own policing experts, or use quotes from the national experts in our story and credit us.
If you want to go deeper, look back at the last dozen gun homicides you covered and ask police if those guns were traced. We found some compelling cases in South Carolina where an offender illegally possessed a gun he used to kill someone—but police still didn’t trace it.
Feel free to contact me with any questions at agivens@thetrace.org.
