The Seattle Police Division has one way or the other misplaced practically two dozen weapons within the final eight years — and no one is aware of the place they went.
The disturbing revelation — which is now being investigated by the Workplace of the Washington State Auditor — got here after the Seattle cops carried out an inner audit of the lacking weapons in August, based on NPR affiliate KUOW.
“We’re going to do our greatest to make sure that we do higher,” Patrick Michaud, a division spokesperson, instructed the outlet. “Till we discover them, we’re going to maintain in search of them.”
Lots of the 23 vanished firearms — a few of which have been lacking since 2017 — belong to coaching items, the division’s firing vary or particular person officers, the report stated. The thriller highlights the division’s persistent wrestle to maintain its weaponry secure and safe.
Included within the checklist of long-gone weapons are items of Glock pistols; a modified coaching shotgun that doesn’t hearth bullets; a woodstock shotgun; and a rifle-and-pistol combo taken from the locker of an officer who was on navy go away.
Police have entered their serial numbers within the Nationwide Crime Data Middle — which means the Seattle PD might be notified in the event that they pop up elsewhere, outlet stated.
It’s not the primary time the division has had hassle with lacking weapons — in October 2019, a teen waltzed out the door of a coaching constructing with an officer’s handgun.
The 18-year-old thief had simply attended a youth schooling program run by the cops, the outlet stated. He later chucked the piece off a bridge, however cops recovered it three days later.
A former police chief requested an inner overview afterward, which discovered a number of vulnerabilities and inadequacies within the division’s technique of storing weaponry at coaching services.
In a single occasion, the officers saved weapons in a metallic cupboard that had been designed to retailer workplace provides, the outlet stated.
The 2021 report additionally stated the coaching storage system didn’t meet the necessities positioned on civilian gun homeowners — a lot much less the police.
A yr after the stolen gun incident, police brass nonetheless hadn’t correctly secured the weapons — though the division had purchased 20 padlocks to take action, the report stated.
Because the 2019 incident, the Seattle cops have since modified their audit schedule and are researching different methods to trace weapons.
“Could possibly be a QR code, may very well be a sticker of some kind, may very well be one thing else solely,” Michaud stated.
The division has additionally reduce down the variety of entry factors on the coaching facility, and given officers their very own lockers for storing weapons.
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