FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Tony Bell, Communications Deputy
Office: (213) 974-5555
Cell: (213) 215-5176
tbell@bos.lacounty.gov

DISARM SEARCHES IN MAY NET 245 ARRESTS, 30 HANDGUNS, 28 RIFLES AND OVER $1.8 MILLION IN DRUGS AND MONEY

June 10, 2011 -- During the month of May, D.I.S.A.R.M. Officers confiscated 30 guns and 28 rifles, over $1.8 million in illegal drugs and drug money, and arrested 245 probationers in 1,500 unannounced searches of residences, persons, vehicles, and businesses across Los Angeles County, announced Mayor 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 over 7,400 weapons and more than $245 million in illegal drugs and drug money, and resulted in 15,000 arrests.  Nearly 10 percent of probationers searched in this program have been found to be out of compliance with their terms of probation.