During the month of July, D.I.S.A.R.M. officers confiscated 33 guns and 14 rifles, over $1.4 million in illegal drugs and drug money, and arrested 178 probationers in 1,400 unannounced searches of residences, persons, vehicles, and businesses across Los Angeles County, announced County Mayor 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 which pairs Probation Officers with local law enforcement to perform unannounced searches of probationers and their homes, as a condition of probation, and targets the confiscation of guns, drugs, and other contraband.
D.I.S.A.R.M was 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.
Since its implementation in February of 2000, the D.I.S.A.R.M. program has seized over 7,600 weapons and more than $256 million in illegal drugs and drug money and resulted in 15,000 arrests. Nearly 10 percent of probationers searched in this program have been found to be out of compliance with the terms of their probation.