♪
>> Devin: TONIGHT, WE’RE TAKING
YOU WHERE YOU’VE NEVER BEEN
BEFORE: THE DETROIT POLICE
EVIDENCE ROOM TO REVEAL A REAL
PROBLEM.
ILLEGAL GUNS ON OUR STREETS AND
IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS.
♪
DETROIT POLICE SAY IN 2020, THE
DEPARTMENT SAW MORE THAN TWICE
AS MANY ILLEGAL GUNS AS THEY DID
IN 2019.
>> Kim: NOW IN 2020, POLICE SAY
THEY’RE ON PACE TO SEE MORE THAN
7,000 ILLEGAL FIREARMS, THAT’S
23 ILLEGAL GUNS A DAY.
LOCAL 4 "DEFENDER" KAREN DREW
EXPOSES THE PROBLEM AND GETS
EXCLUSIVE ACCESS TO SEE WHAT
POLICE ARE DOING ABOUT IT.
KAREN?
>> Karen: I CAN TELL YOU, I’VE
BEEN TO A LOT OF PLACES BUT
NOTHING LIKE THE PROPERTY ROOM
AT DETROIT POLICE HEADQUARTERS.
WE’RE TALKING THOUSANDS OF
HANDGUNS AND RIFLES.
LOOK INSIDE THIS ROOM AND YOU
REALIZE, WOW, WE HAVE A HUGE
PROBLEM IN OUR CITY WITH ILLEGAL
GUNS.
IT STARTED AS A CALL FOR PUBLIC
URINATION.
IT ENDED CONFISCATING A ILLEGAL
GUN.
>> I FOUND IT.
>> Karen: HE WAS CHARGED WITH
CARRYING A CONCEALED WEAPON.
THIS SCENE WILL PLAY OUT TIME
AFTER TIME THROUGHOUT ANY GIVEN
DAY IN THE CITY OF DETROIT.
ON AVERAGE, EVERY HOUR IN THE
CITY, AN ILLEGAL GUN WILL BE
CONFISCATED.
>> THIS NUMBER THAT WE’RE SEEING
NOW IS NOTHING LIKE WE’VE EVER
SEEN.
>> Karen: MORE THAN 4,000
ILLEGAL GUNS WERE CONFISCATED IN
2019.
THAT NUMBER JUMPED MORE THAN
7,000 IN 2020.
AND WE ARE WELL ON OUR WAY TO
POSSIBLY BREAK THAT RECORD THIS
YEAR.
>> ONE OF THE MAIN ISSUES,
OBVIOUSLY IS GUNS, NONFATAL
SHOOTINGS AND FATAL SHOOTINGS.
>> Karen: THE COMMANDER OVERSEES
THE FOURTH PRECINCT AND GREW UP
IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD.
>> IT’S A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE,
RAISE YOUR KIDS, GO TO WORK.
>> Karen: THE LOCAL 4
"DEFENDERS" OBTAINED THE NUMBER
OF CCW ARRESTS SO FAR THIS YEAR.
HERE’S THE LIST PRECINCT BY
PRECINCT.
THE SIXTH AND EIGHTH PRECINCT
LEADING THE ARRESTS WITH MORE
THAN 500.
>> THERE’S A PROBLEM WITH GHOST
GUNS THAT YOU MAY HAVE HEARD
WHERE THEY’RE GETTING PARTS OF
GUNS THROUGH THE INTERNET OR
THROUGH THE DARK WEB AND PUTTING
THEM TOGETHER AND SELLING THEM
ON THE STREET.
>> Karen: THAT’S ONE SOURCE.
ANOTHER WAY IS THROUGH ROUTINE
TRAFFIC STOPS.
LIKE WHAT HAPPENED HERE.
BODY CAM FOOTAGE HELPS TELL THE
STORY.
A DRIVER IGNORED A RED SIGNAL,
TO POLICE STOPPED HIM.
THE DRIVER, REGINALD MOORE
WASN’T ABLE TO PRODUCE
INSURANCE, REGISTRATION, OR A
LICENSE.
>> IF THEY DON’T HAVE A VALID
DRIVER’S LICENSE, THEY CAN BE
ARRESTED AND CERTAINLY THE
VEHICLE CAN BE SEARCHED AND
IMPOUNDED AND MANY TIMES WE FIND
GUNS.
>> Karen: THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT
HAPPENED.
THE OFFICER SAW A LOADED BLACK
GLOCK HANDGUN UNDER THE SEAT.
HE HAD NO LICENSE FOR THE
FIREARM.
HE WAS CHARGED AS FELONY IN
POSSESSION OF A WEAPON.
>> WE HAVE SOME SHORT BARRELS.
>> Karen: THEY WIND UP HERE
INSIDE THE EVIDENCE ROOM AT
DETROIT POLICE HEADQUARTERS.
MORE THAN 67,000 GUNS ARE STORED
HERE.
THE NUMBER KEEPS GROWING.
HOW OLD ARE SOME OF THESE GUNS?
>> SOME GO BACK TO AS FAR AS
1930s AND ’40s.
>> WE TEST FIRE EVERY ONE OF
THOSE WEAPONS AND ENTER THEM
INTO THE SYSTEM.
>> Karen: THEY LOOK AT WHETHER
THEY WERE USED IN OTHER CRIMES
OR TRACKED TO OTHER CRIMINALS.
MEANTIME, BACK ON THE STREETS,
OFFICERS CONTINUE THEIR PATROLS,
KNOWING ODDS ARE ILLEGAL GUNS
WILL BE PART OF THEIR DAY.
>> IT’S PRETTY FREQUENT ON THE
STREET.
>> Karen: THAT’S WHY THIS
CRACKDOWN IS GOING ON IN THE
NEIGHBORHOODS, THE CITY STREETS,
AN UPWARD TREND THAT POLICE ARE
WORRIED ABOUT BUT USING
RESOURCES AND MANPOWER TO
COMBAT.
AS A REPORTER, I REPORTED
NUMEROUS TIMES ON CASES OF
CARJACKINGS, SHOOTINGS, ET
CETERA, COMMITTED WITH ILLEGAL
GUNS.
AND IT’S A SERIOUS ISSUE HERE!
>> Devin: STUBBORNLY SO.
TALK ABOUT THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF
THIS.
IT’S CHANGING IN WHO IS BEING
ARRESTED.
>> Karen: THAT IS INTERESTING.
BEFORE, IT WAS A STEREOTYPE OF
WHO WOULD HAVE AN ILLEGAL GUN.
IT IS CHANGING.
WHITE, BLACK, YOUNG, OLD.
AND THE NUMBER OF FEMALES WITH
THE ILLEGAL GUNS, THAT’S
INCREASING.
AND THAT CAUGHT POLICE’S
ATTENTION AS WELL.
IT’S A TREND THEY DON’T LIKE