A Dallas police sergeant was indicted for federal gun charges and accused of pawning stolen service weapons. This could add to the growing number of police guns on the street, a problem that is being scrutinized more widely across the country.
In a report released earlier this month, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives stated that more than 25,000 guns used in crimes from 2019 to 2023 were previously in police custody. The ATF reported that more than 14% (or a total of 25,000) of the former law enforcement guns recovered during this time were linked to homicides or other violent crimes. It also urged police departments selling used weapons to reconsider their practices.
Thomas Michael Fry (52), was indicted for three counts of possession and sale of a stolen gun, announced Chad Meacham this week, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas. The state has also charged him with the theft of firearms.
Meacham stated that police officers had a sacred responsibility to uphold the law. This sergeant has betrayed both his department and the community by allegedly selling stolen firearms. The U.S. Attorney’s Office won’t hesitate to bring charges against law officers who don’t live up to their oaths.
Fry has denied all charges.
Fry, according to the indictment pawned several 9mm Sig Sauer guns at an Oklahoma pawnshop in the summer of 2022. The weapons were improperly removed from the administrative lockers of the Dallas Police Department’s Southeast Patrol Division.
Dallas’ WFAA TV reported that Fry was working in detention services at the time and was assigned to the Southeast division. He could be sentenced to up to 30 years of federal prison if convicted. The state has also charged him with three counts of theft of a gun.
Fry’s Fort Worth attorney, Mitch Monthie, was unavailable for comment. A Dallas police spokesman also said that the department did not have anything to say.
Senior Corporal Brian Martinez stated that it was not their practice to comment on litigation pending.
Police departments are not strangers to selling used firearms
Fry’s case is part of a larger issue. At least four dozen law enforcement officers sold their guns illegally over the past two decades.
Bradley Wendt was found guilty in one case of misusing his position as the head of a three-man police force to purchase weapons and sell them at a profit.
Wendt, days before his sentencing last summer, told the network, “If I am guilty of this then every police officer in the country will be going to prison.”
In general, the number of police weapons available on the market has been an issue because departments across the country are increasingly selling used firearms. In the ATF report, it was noted that the International Association of Chiefs of Police had recommended in 1998 that all law enforcement weapons no longer required to be destroyed.
The report acknowledged that some states require the resale of such weapons but advised law enforcement agencies to “consider data that shows the frequency of violent crimes committed with resold LEA guns.”
A May investigation by The Trace and CBS News, as well as Reveal at The Center for Investigative Reporting published by The Center for Investigative Reporting, found that over 52,000 former police firearms were linked to crimes in the past six years.
According to an investigation, police departments often sell used guns back to gun dealers to receive discounts on new weapons. However, resold firearms are frequently found in shootings, domestic abuse incidents, and drug arrests.
The ATF reported that from 2016 to 2023 more than 72,000 guns were lost by gun dealers or otherwise disposed of without any record of the sale or disposal.
