KCAL Investigates: Thousands of guns once owned by law enforcement found at crime scenes

Thousands of guns once owned by law enforcement have been found at crime scenes, including at incidents in Southern California, an in-depth investigation has revealed. 

A two-year investigation with KCAL News and partners Trace and Reveal showed that out of the 52,000 guns sold across the country by police agencies, many showed up at crime scenes over a 16-year period. 

Gun buy-back programs allow law enforcement agencies, like the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, to pull weapons from the market but they could also lead to lethal results. 

The Los Angeles Police Department has sold or traded at least 855 firearms, while the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has sold or traded at least 7,200 firearms in the past. 

After getting 1,600 firearms from buy-back programs, a new ordinance by LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn sends all of the LASD's old guns to a shredder. 

"We get the gun responsibly destroyed and melted down," said Hahn. "That is as good as it gets." 

The Los Angeles Police Department still sells its guns. After weeks of reaching out Interim Chief Dominic Choi has not responded to our requests for comment. 

Three years ago, 19-year-old Cameron Brown was shot to death. A gun recovered from the scene of his murder was once property of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. 

"They are supposed to be protecting and making sure we are protected and serving us," said Candace Leslie, the victim's mother. "How did their firearms get on the streets?" 

Sheriff Jeff Dirkse of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department said they use one dealer when selling their guns, called LC Action Police Supply. 

"A pistol, shotgun or rifle all goes to that one dealer over in San Jose," he told KCAL News. 

Records from the Department of Justice show LC Action has been cited at least 14 times from 2015 to 2018 for things like failure to record all required information NICS/DROS checks. That is a failure with the National Instant Criminal History System used for background checks as well as the Dealer's Record of Sale. 

As a result, federal regulators issued a warning letter in 2015, saying future violations may result in the "revocation of your license." 

KCAL's investigation found that two of those guns eventually ended up on crime scenes. It is unclear how many times the weapons changed hands after leaving the dealer, but one of the guns wound up at the crime scene of Brown's murder. 

"When you look at the millions of guns that are sold across America in any given year, the guns sold by a law enforcement agency is quite frankly a drop in the bucket to that," said Dirkse. 

Out of 164 law enforcement agencies across the country included in our investigation, nearly 90 percent participate in the practice of legally selling or trading old guns to help pay for newer ones.