Information has surfaced in the past few weeks that some members of the Elite and Special Forces sections of the Los Angeles Police Department have engaged in buying and selling guns for individual profit. These members are being investigated for purchasing guns in high quantities and then selling them on the street.

The Los Angeles Times has received reports of this illegal activity from multiple sources. The FBI has opened a case to investigate the accusations after they were alerted about the activity from officials from the Los Angeles Police Department. The same officers have been investigated for such illegal weapons dealings in the past but were not found to be guilty of any wrongdoing. However, Charles Beck, the Los Angeles Police Chief, announced the opening of a new investigation on Friday saying that the former probe did not go deep enough. Investigation into the matter is in the hands of the FBI as is the case when members of a police force are involved in an alleged federal crime.

The situation first came to light two years ago when a Lieutenant at LAPD attempted to undertake a detailed inventory of the weapons currently in the possession of the department. In the process of this inventory, Lt. Armando Perez discovered that some members of the LAPD had purchased large numbers of pistols custom made by Kimber Manufacturing, a well-known gun making company. He filed a report and a lawsuit alleging that these guns were possibly being resold to the public by the police officers for profit, which they kept for themselves. While it is illegal to deal in weapon sales in this manner it is also illegal for these individuals to work for monetary benefit and could be seen as fraud.

Over the past years, the LAPD has purchased about 324 pistols from the company to serve only 60 members on the police force. The weapons are intended for use by the officers when they are on duty. It is a federal crime for any person not registered as a weapons dealer to sell any firearms.