WHAT DATA ABOUT GUN CRIME DO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS HAVE? State and local governments and police agencies may already have three key types of data:
- Trace data: The data from ATF that show, for guns used in crime, who was the first dealer to sell them at retail and who was the first retail buyer.
- Recent changes in the Tiahrt Amendment make clear
local law enforcement can request data from ATF for limited purposes and can
share it freely among law enforcement.
- Cities have the most flexibility, however, if they keep their own databases rather than relying on ATF to store data for them.
- Ballistics data: This data
connects shell casings and bullets found at crime scenes, or seized guns, with
similar evidence from prior crime scenes.
- Debriefing data: Statements given by suspects to police about how they got their guns.
WHY IS THIS DATA USEFUL? States and cities can use it in several ways:
- Cracking cases that could not be solved from any one
data source alone;
- Identifying problem dealers;
- Identifying possible traffickers for investigation;
- Mapping the illegal gun market; and
- Evaluating the progress of efforts against illegal guns.
HOW WILL IT HELP TO SHARE THAT DATA? Connecting data from multiple jurisdictions will reveal patterns that could not be detected in any one set of data. For example:
- Seattle Crime Gun Data System:
- This system combines information from ATF (including
trace data), police data, and data on handgun sales and transfers that is
kept by Washington State.
- It allows the city to identify problem dealers by
looking not only at their traces, but also at their total sales volume and
the characteristics of people who buy there.
- Seattle police can use this data to coordinate investigations with other police departments in Washington State.
- New Jersey eTrace system: New Jersey is constructing a statewide database of trace data on all crime guns recovered in the state.
- The system will use ATF's web-based "eTrace"
software.
- Trace requests will be routed through the state
police.
This is a selected list of initiatives that members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns are pursuing in their cities. Please note that the programs and ideas listed on this page have not been formally endorsed by the coalition. Mayors Against Illegal Guns understands that what works in one city or town might not work in another - but mayors in this coalition have an interest in learning from each other, and these items are presented as starting points for those conversations.
