Cash for guns offered by police, CrimeStoppers
Megan Matteucci | Friday, July 6, 2007 at 12:30 am | (see enhanced version)
From left, Sgt. Roger Flannery, Sgt. Mike Wilson and Freddie Clifton, who works for Flannery, pack up some of the 371 guns Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police seized this year.
Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police have seized 371 guns so far this year, 16 percent more than the first six months of 2006.
Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police have seized 371 guns so far this year, 16 percent more than the first six months of 2006.
Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Berkow speaks about the impact of gun violence on the community during a conference held in conjunction with CrimeStoppers.
A 75-year-old woman no longer sits on her front porch. A son no longer comes home to dinner. And a teenage girl won't start school next month.
That's all because of guns in the wrong hands, said Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Berkow.
"What I'm asking is people to be invested in the safety of our community," he said Thursday. "We have had enough tragedies in this community."
Police are recruiting citizens to help officers remove illegal guns from the streets by offering them an incentive: cash.
CrimeStoppers will pay up to $2,500 for information that leads to gun seizures and arrests. Those who offer tips can do so anonymously.
The main focus is on guns in the hands of convicted felons and people younger than 21.
"Somebody knows about these guns. Somebody knows where they are hiding them," Berkow said. "We would prefer to get the gun off the street before it is used in a violent crime."
The rewards are an expansion of CrimeStoppers, which in the past has offered money only for arrests of certain suspects, director Demery Bishop said.
The firearms initiative also is an expansion of the police department's 2007 strategy of targeting the "10 percenters" - the most violent of felons.
As of June 30, violent crime is up 29 percent in Savannah-Chatham compared to the first half of 2007, police crime statistics show. Forty-one more people have been victims of gun crimes than during the same time last year.
"We are focused on violent criminals, individuals who should not have weapons and do," Berkow said.
With a spike in gun violence, Berkow said he is trying everything he can to remove guns from the streets. Whether it's drug disputes or street robberies, police see guns popping up in the wrong hands more and more. "If we can stop three or four teens and get three or four guns, that tells me we have a problem," Berkow said.
Gangs with guns
So far this year, police have seized 371 firearms - including assault rifles, handguns, rifles and sawed-off shotguns. That's up 16 percent from last year, police spokesman Sgt. Mike Wilson said.
Officers have taken guns from middle school students' pockets and diaper bags carried by convicted felons. Many of the guns have been used in multiple crimes, like the ones linked to several homes shot up in May by gang members in Cuyler-Brownville, Berkow said.
Police also are investigating several Savannah gangs that have been linked to gun trafficking. The Waters Avenue Crew and the Paradise Park Clique have been tied to as many as 144 guns stolen in pawn shop burglaries in Savannah and in Eastman, police said.
"Only a small amount of those guns have been recovered," Berkow said. "The gangs were selling guns to the other gangs."
While seizing illegal firearms is the focus of the new program, police also are trying to halt the suppliers. SCMPD is working with federal authorities investigating several dealers, Berkow said.
"How are these guns getting into the hands of the people who have them?" Berkow asked.
Those investigations are active, but they take time to conclude. Complicating their closure is a backlog of evidence that needs to be tested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Berkow said.
The police department used to have its own ballistics machine to test firearms and shell casings, but it was confiscated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after the SCMPD did not use it for several months. Berkow said he is trying to get a replacement machine, because it takes a minimum of 30 days for evidence to come back from the GBI.
"It's a huge issue," Berkow said. "The more shell casings in the database, the more likely you are to get a hit just like DNA and fingerprints. The more data, the more ability you have to link crimes."
'No boundaries'
Savannah is not unique in crimes involving weapons. Over the past two years, aggravated assaults with firearms have increased 1.28 percent, while homicides have risen 2.89 percent in large cities, according to the Police Executive Research Forum.
Of the 15 homicides in Savannah this year, 11 have involved guns. Moreover, four of them involved convicted felons who should not have had guns.
Florrie Morris, 78, was sitting on her porch in the 500 block of 39th Street in February when a stray bullet hit her in the leg. Police said she was a bystander during a gang war in which Teeonne Spencer, 21, was killed as he sat in a car.
All three suspects charged with Spencer's slaying are convicted felons.
Morris, who was treated and released, has since moved.
"She used to hang out on her porch all the time. After that, she didn't come out much," said Rob Morton, who lives in the 500 block of 39th Street. "She now went to stay with her daughter in Atlanta."
Morton, a retired paramedic, was inside his home at the time of the Spencer homicide.
"It concerns me because it was in the middle of the day," he said. "I moved here from (Washington), D.C., to get away from the violence. I've been here six months, and it's been crazy. In a small town like this, violence has no boundaries. We need to find these guys jobs and get them off the corners."
India Boston-Carter, 14, was eating at a restaurant with a friend when she was fatally shot in the head. The 19-year-old shooter has not been charged.
"What is a handgun doing on a restaurant counter?" Berkow said. "That's an example of a gun in the wrong place."
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Gun seizures
Jan. 1-July 3, 2007
307 pistols
64 rifles/shotguns
Jan. 1-July 3, 2006
265 pistols
55 rifles/shotguns
Gun crimes
Jan. 1-July 3, 2007
11 homicides
113 aggravated assaults
187 armed robberies
Jan. 1-July 3, 2006
8 homicides
86 aggravated assaults
177 armed robberies
Source: Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department
