D.C. police Friday unveiled a new reward program that provides $1,000 rewards to individuals who provide tips that lead to an arrest for illegal gun possession in the city.
“We have guns that are plaguing our community. We need the community’s help,” interim D.C. police chief Ashan Benedict said.
Benedict said police see “small conflicts” and arguments that escalate into deadly violence because someone involved has an illegal firearm.
The initiative, in partnership with the Washington Field Office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. attorney’s office in the District, is an effort to get guns out of the community.
Benedict said tipsters could also obtain higher rewards, up to $5,000 for information that leads police to guns that have an automatic, loading device or to unregistered, privately assembled firearms, otherwise known as ghost guns.
“Our community is awash in illegal firearms,” said Matthew M. Graves, U.S. attorney for the District. “We have to do something. And we come to the community to get these guns off the street and to hold people accountable.”
The rewards are not contingent on convictions, only arrests. Graves acknowledged the challenges federal prosecutors in the District have had in securing convictions in some gun possession cases, particularly in instances where the firearm is found in a vehicle that more than one person may have accessed or a residence that has multiple occupants.
But he praised D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s (D) new crime bill that is before the D.C. Council and calls for stiffer penalties for crimes involving illegal guns.
Last year, according to D.C. police statistics, officers recovered 3,152 firearms in the city, up from 2,310 that were recovered in 2021. So far this year, 1,126 firearms have been recovered, according to D.C. police.
Craig Kailimai, an ATF special agent in charge of the Washington Field Division, said a majority of the illegal firearms in the District originated in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia and were brought into the city off Interstate 95.
“Law officials can’t be everywhere, but you are. You see these illegal firearms, and you can help us get these weapons off our streets,” Kailimai said.
Tipsters can call 911 in emergency situations or, for non-emergency tips, 202-727-9099 or text 50411.
Benedict said they can report an illegal gun that is being carried by someone, in a vehicle or in a residence. If the tip leads to an arrest, officials said D.C. police will then contact the tipster about obtaining their reward.
Tips can be anonymous, police officials said. When an individual calls with the tip, they are provided a four to five digit code. The person can then take that code to the District’s treasury office and the funds will be distributed.
Benedict said the program is unlike the department’s previous gun buyback program, where individuals were given money in exchange for turning in guns.
The initiative was launched at the beginning of the summer, typically the most violent period in the city. Officials said the program will last through Oct. 1.