An investigation was launched in Washington state after Seattle police reported the loss of 23 firearms last August, with some believed to have been missing since 2017.
This discovery was made after the police force made an internal count of missing weapons and while the City of Seattle is campaigning to fight against gun violence, reported the American radio channel KUOW.
Note also that an investigation revealed flaws in the storage of firearms after a teenager managed to steal one in 2019. The weapon was found 3 days later.
According to Patrick Michaud, spokesperson for the Seattle police, it is rare for firearms to disappear, but that the police force would do everything to improve.
“Until we find them, we will continue to look for them,” he added in an email to KUOW.
The missing weapons come from the training unit, the shooting range and the personal locker of a police officer who had military leave.
The police department wants to find technological options to automate “the tracking of these sensitive elements,” according to the spokesperson.
“It could be a QR code, a sticker of some kind, or something entirely different,” he said.
