More Weapons Missing from the Tulsa Police Department

Lax security policies at the Tulsa Police Department led to the disappearance of 44 guns and an unknown amount of ammunition, a recent audit concluded.

The inquiry stemmed from the theft of 19 firearms and ammunition in 2007, Police Chief Ron Palmer told city councilors Tuesday. Former range instructor Buddy Visser was sent to federal prison for stealing the weapons and selling them online during an 11-month period.

"No one ever counted on the police stealing from the police," Palmer said. "But at the same time, we could have done a lot better job along the way."

The 19 stolen guns were eventually recovered. Twenty-five others, including two AR-15 assault rifles and several snub-nosed revolvers, are unaccounted for, Palmer said.

Although it's continuing to search for those weapons, the department has invested in a computer system to track ammunition by bar codes. Security is also tighter at the range, Palmer said.

The audit, which cataloged roughly 5,300 firearms that passed through the department in the last 30 years, was the first large-scale examination of the department's arsenal, Palmer said.

"A whole host of things happened during that period of time and, as we admit in our response to the range audit, we didn't do a very good job in some of that inventory control," he said.

Among the missing weapons are nine Remington 12-gauge shotguns and two Smith & Wesson .357-caliber Magnum revolvers.

All told, the guns are worth $11,864, records show.

Palmer said the audit uncovered several ways to improve security.

The new computer program will help track the department's inventory, but technical problems have delayed the project. Officials are working with the city's information technology staff to bring the system online, Palmer said.

Visser, a 17-year department veteran, sold the stolen guns and ammunition on his Web site, authorities said. None of the buyers knew that the weapons were stolen, police said.

Visser resigned from the police force before he pleaded guilty to the charges in March 2008. He is in a low-security prison in Texas, records show.

Documents: View a list of the 25 firearms that are still missing from the Tulsa Police Department