The City Controller’s Office determined that 76 of the 101 service weapons initially reported missing from the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office during a 2020 report remain lost due to insufficient records on their whereabouts.
The original list of 101 missing guns was reported in November 2020, with another review in August 2021 accounting for 16 of the original missing firearms, with the Sheriff’s Office providing proof for nine weapons as part of the most recent review.
According to investigators with the City Controller’s Office, that leaves 76 firearms still unaccounted for, including 71 handguns, four semi-automatic handguns, and one shotgun. Acting City Controller Charles Edacheril said, “There needs to be sufficient identifying information to confirm the disposition of these guns. This requires documentation to confirm weapons were properly disposed of, such as burned or located and reported to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).”
Beginning the press conference, Sheriff Bilal stepped to the podium, thanking everyone for their patience in waiting for her response to the Controller’s report. “This office doesn’t believe in doing knee-jerk responses to situations, so we delayed our response until today, and since we delayed, we thought we’d give it to you personally. In response to the recent press release from the Philadelphia City Controller, my administration finds it necessary to clarify the controller’s office comments. The report concluded that (58) firearms had been found, 20 were still missing, and 18 were presumed to have been traded or burned. Three guns on the Controller’s list were duplicates. As previously stated, my administration was tasked with piecing together incomplete property receipts, faded and incomplete ledgers, and other improperly kept records to locate firearms that were unaccounted for decades through multiple administrations.”
For example, 46 guns that were supposedly reported as “found” had been traded or burned.’ However, the only documentation offered for 36 of them was that they were on a list of weapons in a folder labeled “Weapons Burn List” that didn’t include details such as when or where they were disposed of the report stated.
Philadelphia Undersheriff Tariq El-Shabazz stood at Bilal’s side and supported the actions of the Sheriff’s Office and highlighted the many challenges they’ve faced in verifying records and the strides that have been made in organizing the armory.
Bilal and El-Shabazz both found the timing of this report interesting and implied that the report’s release might be politically motivated with the upcoming November elections. “Simply put, we cannot answer inconsistencies that derived as a result of recordkeeping in the past,” Bilal said, asking why audits were not consistent for 5 to 10 years.
Bilal then displayed photos of what the armory looked like when she took office…there were boxes of paperwork and firearms on the floor, on top of desks, and in corners. “Maybe had audits been conducted previously, the armory would not be in that condition, and there would be no presumption of missing guns,” Bilal said.
https://controller.phila.gov/philadelphia-audits/inves- tigation-and-review-of-the=-sheriffs-office-gun-inven- tory/
