Back on the Street Again

Upper Darby is where the Tower Theater is located; the place I recently went to to see Jon Stewart. As he said about Upper Darby:

"I'm not an urban planner, but if I was trying to revitalize downtown Upper Darby, I don't know if I would go with the giant 69. I find that when you're trying to lure business back, it's best not to go with an oral sex joke on your walking bridge."

Upper Darby is famous for more than the sexy pedestrian bridge. The Inquirer reports about the police department's revitalization efforts, Seized guns resold by police:

Hundreds of guns seized by Upper Darby police are back in circulation, many after police supplied them to two of the region's most notorious gun shops, The Inquirer has learned.

These guns included illegal sawed-off shotguns and assault rifles. Just last month, special-education students found one of Upper Darby's confiscated guns as they collected litter near their school.

It's unclear exactly what the practices were (and even where the money from the gun sales went). Two of the dealers used by the police force were problematic, but that didn't put a damper on things:

"This involves hundreds of guns," said retired police detective Ray Britt, one of four current and former officers who told The Inquirer that police routinely resold seized firearms.

"Lots of people knew it was happening, and some officers tried to stop it," Britt said. "But it went on for years."

Upper Darby suspended the practice in 2005, shortly after federal agents raided one gun shop and quickly traced a sawed-off shotgun to the Police Department.

"We don't need to be putting guns used in crimes back out on the street," said Township Manager Thomas Judge Jr., who said he had learned of the practice after the raid. "Guns used in crimes are now melted down."

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In interviews, several current and former Upper Darby officers said the practice had troubled them.

"I tried to stop it," said one officer who asked not to be identified because he feared repercussions. He said a supervisor had told him to mind his own business.

"They beat you down. After a while, you try to justify it. You get to thinking what they're doing is OK. But I wake up at night worrying about where the guns went."

Harry T. Davis, a retired senior Upper Darby officer, called it a "a moral issue."

"It sickens me," he said of the gun selling.

Britt, the former detective, said the department had kept seized guns in haphazard fashion, many dumped in cardboard boxes on the second floor of police headquarters. Officers came and went with no controls on what they carried out, Britt said.

And in neighboring Philly, there were 6 homicides this week-end -- all death by gunshot -- bringing the year-to-date number to 159, see 7 MORE DEAD.

Tags: Philly, News