ATLANTA — Outlining her thoughts on the current state of public safety in Atlanta on Tuesday, Police Chief Erika Shields pinpointed stolen guns as a rising scourge in the community.
"With these relaxed gun laws in Georgia, what you find is a number of individuals own weapons but they don't take responsibility in securing them," Shields told 11Alive's Liza Lucas.
Earlier in the day, Shields delivered a "State of the Force" address at an Atlanta Police Foundation awards banquet.
Afterward, she told 11Alive that guns winding up in the hands of people who shouldn't have them was an increasing problem.
In 2018, 1,021 guns were reported stolen. The total number of guns stolen has increased year-over-year with the biggest spike coming in 2015. In 2014, 553 guns were stolen, compared to 857 the following year.
"When these guns are stolen, they end up in the hands of folks who could not otherwise legally get them. That's who we deal with," she said. "That's why it's so important -- if you own a gun -- that you secure it. If you leave it in your car, that it is in a lockbox."
Shields said "felon in possession of a firearm" convictions were happening "with greater frequency."
"The first question, is why are they on the street; and (the) second question, is how they have an illegally obtained firearm," she said. "It's a very real problem."
On the whole, crime is actually down in Atlanta, three percent, but Shields said "it's not satisfying," because "we see people are continually getting confronted by individuals that have guns they have illegally."
The police chief indicated that part of the problem is a "revolving door" in the criminal justice system.
"The Fulton County criminal justice system is not working. It is an absolute revolving door," she said. "You cannot keep having violent felons spending 10 days in jail and then getting bond and then getting back on the street. And that's just what we're going through over and over and over."
Shields said she saw the issue as fixable, however.
"But we have to snap out of this 'well, that's how we do things,'" she said. "It is not about the judges, it's not about the D.A., it's not about the police. The system is broken, but everyone has to take ownership of their own piece of it for us to fix this."
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