Los Angeles saw an 85 percent increase since 2019 in the number of what are known as ghost guns—non-serialized privately manufactured handguns and rifles—that have been recovered, according to Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Michel Moore.
The LAPD recovered more than 1500 ghost guns to date, Moore told the police commission Nov. 1.
Additionally, there has been a 45 percent increase in robberies involving a firearm compared to 2019, Moore said.
Parts of the ghost guns are sold continually from out of state vendors, commercial establishments, and online sellers, and are assembled in small machine shops, or sometimes garages and backyards, he said.
“Not only do we see the higher prevalence of firearms in regards to robberies, certainly [in the] rate of shooting violence and homicides [too],” Moore said.
Moore said there’s been a nearly 4 percent increase in violent crime compared to this time last year.
In response to the uptick in crime, the department established the Violent Crime Task Force in June, which helped curtail some incidents, he said.
Over the last four months, Moore said officers with added overtime shifts made 444 felony arrests, recovered 142 firearms, and conducted 273 follow-up investigations.
“There is a limit on what these resources can achieve, I do believe it’s an important strategy as we deal with the reduced workforce and the pressures in regards to the rate of crime here in Los Angeles,” he said.
Los Angeles was ranked among the nation’s most dangerous cities in an October study by Wallethub—a personal finance website. Out of 182 cities, it ranked 172 when accounting for metrics such as number of mass shootings, assaults and thefts, murders, law enforcement personnel, and other data points.
