The Metropolitan Police Department yesterday(3-12-08) announced a new crime initiative that will include officers going into high-crime neighborhoods to search homes for illegal guns.
"The premise is that residents can have the trust of the ...department," said police spokeswoman Traci Hughes.
Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced the program and said it focuses on parents or legal guardians who think their children have a gun in the house and are uncomfortable with searching for it themselves.
Miss Hughes said that residents would be given amnesty for illegal guns found in homes after they are tested for links to crimes. But she said police would investigate the source of the guns if they were found to be involved in a crime.
She said another primary intent of the initiative is to get guns away from young people, particularly those in small street gangs called crews, who get them for protection or to attack rivals.
D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson, chairman of the council's public safety committee, said the search program "could be touch-and-go" and its success will hinge on how officers execute the requests.
"The idea that this is going to be a peaceful, friendly invitation to enter the home may not work," said Mr. Mendelson, at-large Democrat.
The program will begin March 24 to coincide with D.C. Public Schools' spring break and will run indefinitely, Miss Hughes said.