NCPD alarmed by number of guns stolen from cars

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The North Charleston Police Department says it’s alarmed at the number of guns stolen from unlocked cars this year.

Police say in the last 30 days alone they’ve received about 30 reports of guns that were stolen out of unlocked cars.

The police department’s crime prevention officer Paiam Etminan says too many people have a false sense of security, believing that no one will bother to check if their car doors are unlocked.

However, Etminan the exact opposite is true.

He says in 90 percent of the stolen gun reports this year, the cars were unlocked.

And that many of those guns wind up on the streets.

“The person that’s committing this crime, they’re getting the guns out of those vehicles and they in turn are either selling it to another criminal or using it themselves in violent crimes,” Etminan said.”

Etminan says he sends a letter to every victim who has a gun stolen out of their cars, reminding them what to do so it doesn’t happen again.

North Charleston police will give you a free gun lock if you come to city hall.

We reached out to some other police agencies to get the number of guns stolen from cars in their jurisdictions.

Charleston police report 89 guns stolen so far this year.

The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office reports 43 guns taken from cars and that 38 of those vehicles were unlocked.