LAPD SWAT investigated for re-selling guns for profit

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- LAPD SWAT officers are being investigated, suspected of buying handguns and re-selling them with the LAPD "SWAT" insignia attached for a profit,.

Police Chief Charlie Beck faced the LAPD Police Commission Tuesday.

No one was more shocked to hear members of LAPD's elite SWAT team are accused of selling guns than Beck.

"I hold them to the highest standards," said Beck. "I don't expect them to do this kind of thing. They disappoint me the most."

Word of the gun dealings first surfaced in 2010 after a firearm inventory found guns missing. According to an LAPD internal report, SWAT officers bought between 51 and 324 Kimber handguns and allegedly resold them for a profit.

The high-end guns sell online starting at $1,000. The officers are accused of buying them with their department discount for $600, then reselling them for as much as $3,500 with LAPD's insignia on them.

Now the department is trying to figure out who may have bought the guns.

The investigation was a hot topic at the police commission meeting where board members and taxpayers demanded answers and repercussions.

"The idea that officers of our elite SWAT unit out of Metro are potentially reselling weapons or stockpiling weapons is cause for grave alarm," said L.A. resident Pete White.

Since there are no rules against re-selling guns it's unclear if these officers will be disciplined for what they are accused of doing.

"Certainly this is something that we are going to guard against in the future," said Beck. "At the very least department guidelines will be restructured so this doesn't happen again."

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