Durham Police Chief Paul Martin can remember when it was rare for frontline officers to come across a gun.

Now, it’s happening about once a week.

Martin expressed concern about an apparent rise in gun seizures at the February meeting of the Police Services Board.

In the first 45 days of 2020, officers uncovered and seized 22 guns — an average of almost one weapon per two days.

“I don’t have to tell you how dangerous these weapons are,” said Martin. “Thankfully, that’s 22 guns off the streets of Durham.”

About half of the guns found by police in 2020 were discovered by frontline officers on the road or on a call.

“I think that’s alarming for a number of reasons,” Martin explained. “First and foremost, it gives some sort of indication of how many guns are out there in the community… It’s also an officer safety issue. If they’re coming across guns in vehicles on a regular basis, it’s a safety issue for anyone out in the community that these individuals may come across.”

Martin says it’s a little too early to call it a trend, but he says Durham has seen a steady increase in gun seizures over the past three years.

He explained that, traditionally, around 65 per cent of guns found in the region originate from the United States.

“Our experience is not much different from what we’re seeing in Toronto and elsewhere,” said Martin. “There are other sources, whether that’s through theft from lawful owners, or other methods… But the vast majority, the bulk of them are still coming from the U.S.”

That fact makes it almost impossible for Durham police to tackle gun crime alone, but Martin says he’s pleased at the amount of cooperation officers get from their community and government partners.

“All levels of government are concerned about it, the police services are concerned about it and the community is very concerned about it,” he concluded. “We’re doing what we can along with our partners at the border to stem the flow from the U.S. because that’s the biggest supplier of these illegal guns.”