142 ARRESTS, 109 WEAPONS AND $1.8 MILLION IN ILLEGAL DRUGS CONFISCATED IN MAY D.I.S.A.R.M. SEARCHES

      

 

PRESS RELEASE		Contact:  Tony Bell, Communications Deputy Office:      (213) 974-5555   Cell: (213) 215-5176 E-mail:     tbell@bos.lacounty.gov
June 11, 2009	For Immediate Release
142 ARRESTS, 109 WEAPONS AND $1.8 MILLION IN ILLEGAL DRUGS CONFISCATED IN MAY D.I.S.A.R.M. SEARCHES
LOS ANGELES COUNTY — During the month of May, D.I.S.A.R.M officers confiscated 109 weapons – including 56 handguns, 7 assault rifles, and 27 rifles/shotguns, over $1.8 million in illegal drugs, and arrested 142 probationers during 1,609 unannounced searches of residences, persons, vehicles, and businesses, announced Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.    The searches were conducted through the Probation Department’s D.I.S.A.R.M (Developing Increased Safety through Arms Reduction Management) program, initiated by Supervisor Antonovich following the tragic August 1999 shootings at the North Valley Jewish Community Center and the murder of a postal worker by Buford Furrow, an armed felon on probation from Washington State.   The D.I.S.A.R.M program entails pairing Deputy Probation Officers with local law enforcement personnel to perform unannounced searches of probationers and their homes, as a condition of probation, and targets the confiscation of guns, drugs, and other contraband.   Since its implementation in February of 2000, the D.I.S.A.R.M program has seized 5,558 weapons and more than $304 million in illegal drugs and drug money, and resulted in 11,380 arrests.  10% of probationers in this program have been out of compliance with their terms of probation.
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