Dayton Police continue efforts to get illegal guns off the street

DAYTON — A major effort is underway by the Dayton Police Department to remove illegal guns from the city’s neighborhoods.

Dayton Police Lt. Matt Beavers told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell that an increase of violent gun crimes last year and at the start of this year forced them to fine tune their gun reduction initiatives. Now, police are using more research and more modern techniques.

Beavers said information provided by their crime analysis is being used to pinpoint trends, patterns and links for sweep operations designed to get illegal guns off the street.

>> Springboro, other schools to participate in pilot program for new school COVID-19 quarantine rules

“Instead of going out and stopping everybody, we can focus our efforts,” Beavers said.

The modification seems to be working. Since the beginning of 2021, police have seized 103 weapons and made nearly 250 arrests in 36 operations.

“We’ll probably never get every gun off the street, but the more we get off the street, the better its going to be,” Beavers said.

The number of teens that have died due to gun violence in Dayton this spring and summer has been one of the reasons police continue operations to get illegal guns off the streets.

>> Ohio man wanted for assaulting reporter during live Hurricane Ida report arrested at The Greene

In their efforts, police have even utilized help from the Ohio State Highway Patrol plane to help track down people without chasing them.

“It’s much safer for the officers, much safer for the suspects and definitely safer for the citizens,” Beavers said.

The guns that have been seized in these operations on preserved for evidence in trials. If convictions happened, the judges decide what happens to the gun, but most often, they are destroyed.

©2021 Cox Media Group