As part of an anti-gun-violence initiative, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is proposing a “firearms suppression  project” such as the one put in place by the St. Louis Police Department in the 1990s.

As part of the effort, police would seek permission from parents to search the belongings of their children and other people living with them in an attempt to take guns out of the hands of young people.

An evaluation of the St. Louis program by the University of Missouri Department of Criminology found police seized more than 1,300 guns from 1994 to 1997.

Critics of the program, among them police, complained that it kept officers from taking action when they found other illegal items or evidence of crimes committed by the adults in a household that was searched.

Gun rights activists also opposed the effort.

To read the report, go here. Excerpts of the evaluation are below.

The St. Louis Police Department implemented FSP in 1994 in an effort to reduce the level of gun violence in the community. The overall goal of this initiative was to develop a community-based, problem-solving approach that would encourage greater community input and assistance in addressing gun violence and that would involve community residents in a process of identifying and confiscating illegal guns. The specific strategy was to remove firearms from juveniles by obtaining parents’ consent to search for and seize firearms from their children and others living with them.

FSP was initiated by the St. Louis Mobile Reserve Unit, a police squad that responds to pockets of crime and violence throughout the city. The search of a home by the FSP can be initiated by citizen requests for police service, reports from other police units, or by information gained from other investigations. Once the unit receives a report, two officers visit the residence in question, speak with an adult resident, and request permission to search the home for illegal weapons. An innovative feature of this program is the use of a “Consent to Search and Seize” form to secure legal access to the residence. Officers inform the adult resident (typically a mother) that the purpose of the program is to confiscate illegal firearms, particularly those belonging to juveniles, without seeking criminal prosecution. Residents are informed that they will not be charged with the illegal possession of a firearm if they sign the consent form. By agreeing not to file criminal charges, the police can focus their attention on getting guns out of the hands of juveniles and send a clear message that juvenile firearm possession is not tolerated by police or the community.

The program has been criticized as depriving citizens of the right to protect themselves against crime. Furthermore, some senior police officers have stated that they prefer to use legal search warrants as they allow them both to arrest juvenile suspects and other persons engaged in criminal activity and to seize the guns.

Despite this criticism, however, evaluation of the program indicated a favorable response by families of juveniles who had guns confiscated and by the broader community. According to anecdotal reports, one parent even wanted to presign consent forms so that the officers could return any time. Another parent wanted to give officers a key to her house so that they could come in while she was at work.

According to the officers of the Mobile Reserve Unit, the program’s success depended on their scrupulous adherence to the promise not to arrest the consenting adult. Several officers reported that they were willing to ignore evidence of all but the most serious crimes in return for access to homes of juveniles with firearms. This reflected the officers’ view that the community was better served by removing guns from juvenile hands than by using evidence discovered in the search as a basis for making an arrest.

Over the 3-year demonstration period from 1994 to 1997, a total of more than 1,300 guns were seized. FSP officers reported that they conducted approximately 260 searches per year, finding guns in about half the houses. An outcome evaluation of the program is being considered.