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130 guns off the street, 300 arrests made with Fugitives and Firearms Initiative

Posted at 5:17 PM, Sep 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-08 18:31:54-04

RICHMOND, Va. -- The Richmond Police Department announced Friday that they have confiscated more than 130 illegal guns and made nearly 300 arrests as a part of their Fugitives and Firearms Initiative.

The summer program, in partnership with Virginia State Police, is aimed at reducing violent crime in the city. Officers and troopers work together to get illegal guns off the streets and put criminals behind bars.

“FFI makes a difference in Richmond, no doubt about it,” Chief Alfred Durham said. “These officers work together to get firearms off the street and put wanted parties behind bars by targeting certain areas of the city.”

Police said the city saw an 8 percent reduction in violent crime and a 7 percent reduction in overall crime over the course of the initiative, from June 1 to September 6.

“In addition to the felony arrests, gun seizures and the drug seizures and so on and so forth we would debrief individuals more thoroughly,” said Lt. Jeremy Sayles, who is in charge of the initiative. “With that said we ended up executing an additional 18 search warrant from different residences where we then seized more drugs, money and firearms as well.”

Police said they accomplished the lower crime numbers with fewer officers and resources than they had in 2016.

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