NEWS: More guns found on city streets

So far in 2011, Grand Rapids police officers have found 30% more guns on the streets, compared to the year before.

Those numbers break down to about 15 more guns just from January through May. GRPD officials said this is a big problem the city is experiencing.

On Saturday, Grand Rapids police chased down two suspects and found three guns. Those were just three of 10 taken from GR streets in the past four days.

There isn't one large gun distributor that anyone can point to for providing all these weapons. They come from everywhere, GRPD investigators said.

"We are all affected by what happened here," said Capt. Jeffrey Hertel, of the Grand Rapids Police Department. "If you don't think so, you are mistaken. These guns come from somewhere. A lot of them come from lawful gun makers that have guns locked up in their house, but their home gets broken into and the guns are taken. So, this does reach out to the suburbs.

"This is a community-wide problem. We need a community-wide solution."

Officers plan to have more patrols at Martin Luther King Park, especially on the weekends, to prevent people from bringing weapons.

Saturday's incident involved suspects who were, at the oldest, age 26 -- and the youngest wasn't even 18.

It started as a call into police that night reporting one man might have a gun in the park area. It ended with a chase, when one suspect threw his gun over a fence into a kiddie pool, and it went off.

Two were arrested in connection with the incident.

"The officers are doing a great job, quite heroically chasing these individuals through backyards and down alleys -- knowing that they probably have a weapon, reaching for weapons in their belts," Hertel said.

Six people have been arrested for the 10 guns recovered in just more than a week, and each is accused of having a gun illegally.

Normally, officers said they only find one or two per week.

A lot of the weapons are stolen, but that's really the only commonality, investigators said. Just over the past several days, officers have found revolvers and semi-automatics -- each with different calibers -- stolen from all around West Michigan.

"Is there any reason to believe that there might be even more of an uptick in guns in either July or August?" 24 Hour News 8 asked.

Answered Hertel: "We will see. I don't know."

Ninety-four weapons were recovered in 2010, and that number was 110 in 2009.