Everytown and the City of Baltimore Announce Partnership on Innovative Platform to Identify Gun Trafficking Patterns
3.3.2021
New Tool Will Collect and Analyze Data to Identify Leads and Problem Gun Dealers to Prevent Gun Trafficking
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott Joined Everytown for Gun Safety President at CityLab to Discuss the Tool and Gun Trafficking
BALTIMORE — Today, Everytown and the City of Baltimore announced a first-of-its-kind data intelligence tool to identify illegal firearms, solve crimes, and combat gun trafficking. The Gun Trafficking Intelligence Platform, which generates custom leads by examining specific trends and patterns in the data, will help the Baltimore Police Department make connections more quickly and comprehensively to solve crimes involving firearms.
“When it comes to gun trafficking, cities have been operating largely in the dark, and this tool is an analytic flashlight,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “By connecting the dots on data, Baltimore will have the information it needs to help solve crimes, fight back against traffickers, and keep communities safe. We’re grateful for Baltimore’s leadership on this issue, because we hope to bring this platform to other communities grappling with daily gun gun violence.”
“At least 82% of the guns recovered in Baltimore last year were originally purchased outside of the city — with nearly 65% of the guns coming from outside of the state of Maryland. As a city where nearly all of our crime guns originate outside of our borders, we have an obligation to focus on the source of the firearms, not just the outcome,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “We thank Everytown for their partnership in working with the Baltimore Police Department to develop this first-of-its-kind data portal. Not only will this tool assist with investigations into gun violence, it will also aid BPD in holding gun traffickers and straw purchasers accountable for the role they play in Baltimore’s violence.”
Gun trafficking is a major threat to public safety across the country. Without strong federal laws and enforcement, guns can flow in and out of states, ending up in the hands of those who shouldn’t have them. States with weak gun laws often serve as suppliers of guns to states with stronger gun laws and law enforcement is constrained by insufficient laws to crack down on gun trafficking.
This tool will allow law enforcement to follow a firearm from purchase to crime scene, identify individuals within the network of a perpetrator, firearm, or a gun dealer, and broaden investigations by looking at associated people, locations, and firearms.
Everytown expects to begin implementation of the platform in at least one additional jurisdiction in 2021. Ideal candidates for implementation are cities with high rates of gun violence, a commitment to evidence-based and data-driven approaches to policing, and existing access to eTrace and other key gun-related datasets.