CHICAGO (AP) – The Chicago Police Department says officers have seized more than 9,600 illegal guns so far this year and is on a pace to recover about 900 more guns that were taken off the city’s streets in 2017.
The department has made a concerted effort in recent years to find as many illegal guns as possible and the total has climbed to the point where Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says in a news release that officers in 2018 were taking more than one illegal gun off the street every hour.
The department says the seizures — along with making more than 4,200 arrests on gun-related charges this year — is part of a strategy that has helped significantly reduce the number of homicides, robbery and other violent crimes in 2018.