Nearly 100 guns out of criminal's hands, probation violators behind bars.
During the month of March, D.I.S.A.R.M officers confiscated 99 weapons — including 39 handguns and 12 rifles/shotguns, seized over $140,000 in illegal drugs, and arrested 128 probationers during 1,557 unannounced searches of residences, persons, vehicles, and businesses, announced Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich .
The searches were conducted through the Probation Department’s D.I.S.A.R.M. (Developing Increased Safety through Arms Reduction Management) program, initiated by Supervisor Antonovich following the tragic August 1999 shootings at the North Valley Jewish Community Center and the murder of a postal worker by Buford Furrow, an armed felon on probation from Washington State .
The D.I.S.A.R.M program entails pairing Deputy Probation Officers with local law enforcement personnel to perform unannounced searches of probationers and their homes, as a condition of probation, and targets the confiscation of guns, drugs, and other contraband.
Since its implementation in February of 2000, the D.I.S.A.R.M. program has seized 3,972 weapons and more than 289 million dollars in illegal drugs and drug money, and resulted in 9,131 arrests. 20% of probationers in this program have been out of compliance with their terms of probation.