Topline:
The L.A. County Sheriff's Department has received a $1.6 million grant from the Judicial Council of California that will go toward building a digital portal for local law enforcement and the courts to better track when someone is in violation of an order to surrender their guns.
How it will work: The Sheriff's Department will work in collaboration with the Los Angeles Superior Court and Los Angeles Police Department to create what the LAPD described as a “centralized platform for timely information exchange.” If a court finds someone in violation of a firearm relinquishment order stemming from a domestic violence case, the new portal will automatically notify law enforcement so they can investigate.
Why it matters: According to LAPD Chief Michel Moore, 17 people were killed last year in domestic violence-related incidents and nine of those deaths involved a firearm. L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said there are more than 4,000 people in L.A. County whom a court had prohibited from owning guns and ammunition.
The problem: Currently, court staff have to manually keep track of and report gun relinquishment violations to law enforcement. “Not surprisingly, given the size and complexity of our county’s criminal justice system, this can be a challenging task,” L.A. County Superior Court Judge Samantha Jessner told reporters Monday at a press conference.
What’s next: The portal is expected to launch next January. In the meantime, the funding will allow for a multi-agency task force to investigate gun relinquishment violations. The plan is to eventually have all of the county’s law enforcement agencies connected to the portal.
