Savannah police offer reward for illegal guns

Savannah Police and CrimeStoppers are expanding a partnership to provide cash rewards for information leading to the removal of guns from the hands of criminals and teens. Savannah-Chatham Police Chief Michael Berkow says, he's been on the job for 6-months and has gotten clear picture of the amount of illegal guns on Savannah streets.

So far this year, police have seized over 300 illegal weapons and they've been used in 11 homicides and 187 armed robberies. Gun violence is on the rise. Berkow says, he'd like for residents to call with information about illegal guns out of a sense of community. But if not, there is a cash reward.

"Tell us who's carrying a gun," he said at a press conference Thursday. "We've got a lot of kids under the age of 21 carrying guns. Someone knows about that. Somewhere they are hiding guns. Cars, bedrooms, somewhere. And we want those guns."

Berkow says, gun buy-back programs don't work and he won't do gun buy-back. CrimeStoppers is offering rewards of up to 25-hundred dollars for information leading to seizure of illegal guns. Calls can be anonymous. For G-P-B News, I'm Orlando Montoya.