A city on the South Coast has focused its law enforcement efforts on taking firearms away from people who are not allowed to have them.
In 2018, Camarillo Police Department’s Special Enforcement Detail seized 85 handguns and rifles and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition. They included assault rifles, a grenade launcher, high-capacity magazines and ammunition designed to pierce bulletproof vests.
Detective William Hollowell says the seizures came as a result of investigations into people with criminal convictions.
“It could be an individual who’s convicted of a felony domestic violence. It could be an individual convicted of drug paraphernalia and any one of these criteria of a felony conviction would prevent someone from owning or maintaining a firearm,” he says.
Hollowell says even though Camarillo does not have a crime problem, the Special Enforcement Detail has always focused on guns, as well as gangs and drugs.