HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 0708INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
No. 23-0708
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council June 6, 2023
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SUBJECT: FIREARM THEFTS
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The purpose of this Informal Report is to provide follow-up information about stolen firearms.
During the 27-month period from January 2021 through March 2023, there were a total of 2,808
firearms reported stolen in Fort Worth. During that time, the Fort Worth Police Department
(FWPD) recorded 250 incidents in which multiple firearms were taken from single locations, with
739 firearms taken in connection with those incidents. These figures do not include unreported
firearm thefts which, according to a 2016 U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics report, can represent
as many as 25 percent of all firearm thefts.
Of the 2,808 firearms reported stolen during the 27-month period, 247 (9%) have been recovered
in Fort Worth, with 96 arrests related to those recoveries.
According to FWPD's Gun Violence Unit, there were no repeat locations or owners who had
multiple guns stolen in connection with the 694 cases assigned to that unit during the 27-month
period.
Theft of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm are both state jail felonies punishable by
confinement of at least six months and no more than two years. Most cases involving recovered
stolen firearms also involve other criminal charges pertaining to illegal activities that attracted
police attention in the first place, but the charge of possessing the stolen firearm would not
necessarily imply that the gun had been stolen in Fort Worth. There is no legal requirement,
however, for an individual to report a firearm as stolen.
If you need additional information, please contact Deputy Chief Mark Barthen at 817-392-4121.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER
FORT WORTH, TEXAS