The city of Long Beach is located about 30 miles south of Los Angeles.
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latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-shotguns13jan13,0,5267085.story?coll=la-home-headlines
From the Los Angeles Times
THE STATE
Scores of Police Weapons Are Missing in Long Beach
By Nancy Wride
Times Staff Writer

January 13, 2006

The Long Beach Police Department is missing more than a fourth of its shotguns and an unknown number of revolvers, officials said Thursday.

The second-largest police department in Los Angeles County was scrambling to determine whether the guns were lost, stolen or somehow misplaced within the agency. Investigators have uncovered no evidence so far that the firearms found their way into the wrong hands or were used in crimes.

The missing weapons came to light after patrol officers complained several months ago to Police Chief Anthony Batts at a staff meeting that they were having trouble finding department-issued shotguns. That led to patrol Lt. Elizabeth Griffin's examination of the matter last month, concluding in an audit, reviewed by The Times, that 85 of the 272 department's shotguns could not be located.

Department spokeswoman Karen Owens said that since the report was issued, 15 shotguns have been found. But the department also discovered it is missing .38-caliber service revolvers that officers have turned in over the years to the agency's shooting range as they opted for more powerful handguns. The department has launched a separate review of what happened to those.

"We have absolutely no idea where the guns are," said one Long Beach officer familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "It doesn't seem we'd know if they were used in a crime, and criminals sometimes like shotguns, because you can't match the bullets to the gun."

The audit that uncovered the missing shotguns also found that the department last inventoried its weapons in 1998.

By contrast, the much larger Los Angeles Police Department checks its shotguns and other equipment at all 19 stations and the Police Academy every shift of every day, said spokesman Lt. Paul Vernon. The LAPD also inventories property, including its weapons, at each station twice a year.

"Over my 18 years on the job, there have been guns seized" from crime suspects "that were found to be stolen from other law enforcement agencies," Vernon said. "We keep close records on that. When we know [a weapon] is stolen, we document it."

In the Long Beach department, a shotgun is supposed to be placed in each patrol car, but some officers said they could not find the weapons.

After the audit revealed that so many were missing, Chief Batts instructed every employee — including the roughly 900 sworn police officers — to search for any misplaced shotguns, Owens said. The chief also asked them to pass along any information about weapons being stripped of their parts. It was during that process that the 15 shotguns were discovered.

Owens said the department considers finding the remaining 70 shotguns a top priority. She said some of them may have been improperly checked out by officers and not returned.

The department has not purchased new shotguns in 20 years, so it's also possible that officers used parts of some weapons to repair others.

"It is an important issue for us," she said.

As for the missing revolvers, Owens said the department does not keep a formal inventory of those weapons, so it will take time to determine where they are.

Some in the department are raising questions about why officials don't regularly inventory the firearms.

Owens said the department has long wanted to purchase a computer system that would electronically track weapons but until recently didn't have the money. The system was recently purchased and will be installed this summer.

The LAPD, however, uses paper and pencil to inventory its weapons and double-check the list each shift, Vernon said. If the inventory finds a missing item — weapons as well as other LAPD property — the officer must immediately file a report explaining how it was lost.

Said LAPD Officer Martha Garcia: "When I was in traffic, I lost a measuring device, and I got called in to file a report. They're inventoried."

Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times

partners: KTLA   Hoy

I wonder between Long Beach PD or FBI who has had more guns grow legs?

seems to me we about every month or so someone posts a article about how FBI lost a sub gun or something.

Maybe LBPD put them on the street to help perpetuate the law enforcement business.  

OK, Sarge, put them back and I won't say anything about your dolls action figures.

and the politicians blame US for mishandling firearms

Quoted: The city of Long Beach is located about 30 miles south of Los Angeles. =================================================================== latimes.com http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-shotguns13jan13,0,5267085.story?coll=la-home-headlines From the Los Angeles Times THE STATE Scores of Police Weapons Are Missing in Long Beach By Nancy Wride Times Staff Writer January 13, 2006 As for the missing revolvers, Owens said the department does not keep a formal inventory of those weapons, so it will take time to determine where they are. Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times partners: KTLA   Hoy

HMMM.. seems to me that the PD might be in violation of some laws here.

Shit....even I know whats in MY inventory.  What a bunch of INCOMPETENT MOOKS.

Hmmmmm...


Think it might cause a shitstorm if all state and federal law enforcement agencies had to adhere to the same gunlaws that Joe Taxpayer and Joe Gundealer has to...?

HMMM.. seems to me that the PD might be in violation of some laws here.

Yea, none that they would ever admit to though.

Probably as easily found as one of YOUR weapons they took in for "evidence"  or "investigation."

It's BUSH'S Fault!!

Ya know, it's really not that hard to keep tabs on issued firearms.  The military has done it for years.

Inventory is one of the simplest yet most important duties for any business, let alone one responsible for keeping track of firearms.

Boneheaded move on their part to have never done this.

No weapon inventories since 1998?  

But LAPD being critical of how another agency operates?  

No Honor Among Theives

I wonder if they got turned in at one of the gun buybacks in exchange for a $25 gift card?

...snip... Department spokeswoman Karen Owens said that since the report was issued, 15 shotguns have been found. ...snip...

I would really like to know how/where those 15 shotguns were found.
Whether they magically 'just turned up' in the morning in a place that everybody could see, or if they were found rusting in a box full of spare/junk parts

Quoted: The city of Long Beach is located about 30 miles south of Los Angeles. =================================================================== As for the missing revolvers, Owens said the department does not keep a formal inventory of those weapons, so it will take time to determine where they are. Some in the department are raising questions about why officials don't regularly inventory the firearms.

How the Hell can they not do an inventory?  Need a computer!  WTF?

a "measuring device"

....ummmm....as in......a ruler?

Quoted: a "measuring device" ....ummmm....as in......a ruler?

Probably a traffic wheel used for measuring distances at accident scenes.

Their inventory control sucks.

The shotguns are more than likely cannabilized and kept in a box in some obscure storage locker.  The revolvers may be the same, but some of them were likely just never turned in and kept as a spare gun by the officers.  Hell, they may have been TOLD to keep them by some rangemaster long retired.

I remember one of my duty days as a rookie, going thru boxes of rusted/busted Remington 870's and Ithaca's  putting together frankenshotties.  

It is strange that citizens are under more scrutiny for how they store their firearms than are our government agencies.  We know that FBI and ATF have a lot of unaccounted for firearms.

On the other hand, odd how it is automatically assumed the "missing" guns are being used in crimes.  More than likely most of the missing guns are sitting in closets in current and retired officers' homes.