Ohio Law Enforcement Leaders Urge Congress to Remove Restrictions on Crime Gun Information

WASHINGTON, June 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Police leaders from across the nation, including six Ohio police chiefs, today urged Congress to repeal legislation that prevents police and local governments from having access to crime gun trace data that would help cities fight illegal gun trafficking in their communities.

In a letter sent to Congress today, 32 national and state police organizations and 200 individual law enforcement leaders urged Congress to rescind what has become known as the "Tiahrt Amendment," named after Representative Todd Tiahrt of Kansas, who drafted the legislation for the gun lobby. Furthermore, eight police leaders spoke at a press conference in Washington, D.C. urging Congress to change the law.

The issue faces imminent action by the House Appropriations Committee, currently scheduled for June 18.

"It is time to stop hiding the evidence that the vast majority of guns used by criminals to prey on our community are coming from a small group of corrupt gun dealers," said Chief Scott Knight of Chaska, Minnesota, who chairs a committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police that studies gun policy. "The only people benefiting from the hiding of this data are the gun traffickers and the dealers who supply them. And the losers are our city's efforts to stop illegal guns."

Pressure is building on the new Democratic Congress to reverse the Tiahrt Amendment, which has now been in effect for three and a half years. A broad coalition of 225 Mayors has argued loudly for repealing it, and the group is airing television commercials and funding billboards. And last week, U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) announced that she plans to strip the provision from the Senate bill funding the Department of Justice. "America's enforcement agencies work around the clock to keep this country safe. It is time to remove this provision to help bring corrupt gun dealers to justice," she said in a statement.

"This should be an easy decision for Congress," said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "As a former mayor, I know how important it is in developing pro-active policing strategies to have as much information as possible on the sources and distribution channels for illegal guns. The law enforcement community is saying today that it doesn't want these barriers to doing good police work."

The national organizations signing the letter include the International Association of Chiefs of Police; International Brotherhood of Police Officers; Major Cities Chiefs Association; Police Executive Research Forum; Police Foundation; Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association (HAPCOA); National Black Police Association; National Latino Peace Officers Association; National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives and the School Safety Advocacy Council. Twenty state chiefs' organizations and one regional chiefs' organization signed the letter as well.

The Ohio chiefs signing the letter are: Chief Matthew Fruchey of the Glendale Police Department; Chief Michael McGrath of the Cleveland Police Department; Chief Michael Matulavich of the Akron Police Department; Chief Michael J. Navarre of the Toledo Police Department; Chief Thomas Streicher of the Cincinnati Police Department; and Chief Wayne Wozniak of the North Olmsted Police Department.

Some excerpts from the letter sent to members of Congress today follow:

"The Tiahrt provision puts new and unjustified limits on ATF's disclosure of trace data to law enforcement agencies and organizations. Prior to the Tiahrt restrictions, law enforcement agencies could get access to crime gun trace data to assist in developing effective strategies against gun trafficking and illegal guns, without the requirement that the data be limited to crime guns pertaining to the requesting jurisdiction or that the request be for use in a specific criminal investigation or prosecution. For example, if a local law enforcement agency wanted trace data to identify which gun dealers in its community exhibit 'trafficking indicators' as defined by ATF (such as multiple crime gun traces, short 'time to crime' for traced guns, or frequent multiple sales), ATF now cannot share that information because it would not relate to a specific criminal investigation or prosecution. Law enforcement officials also are unable to obtain trace data to inform their evaluation of the effectiveness of various strategies against illegal guns. The Tiahrt rider thereby has functioned to limit effective law enforcement action against corrupt gun dealers and the traffickers they supply.

"It has been argued that the Tiahrt restrictions on trace data disclosure are needed to protect the identities of undercover agents and the integrity of ongoing investigations. For many years, however, ATF has disclosed crime gun trace data to the public, while withholding any specific information it felt could compromise law enforcement investigations or threaten the safety of law enforcement personnel. We know of no evidence that past ATF disclosures of trace data have had an adverse impact on law enforcement. The Tiahrt language, however, places new restrictions on ATF disclosure that do nothing to protect law enforcement investigations and, instead, hamper critical law enforcement functions."

As the nation's largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence, the Brady Campaign, working with its dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, is devoted to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.

Source: Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

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