More than 8,000 weapons confiscated from criminals in Los Angeles County—including in Culver City —have been melted down, Sheriff Lee Baca announced Thursday.
The weapons are taken to Gerdau Steel Mill in Rancho Cucamonga every year and converted into steel reinforcing bar, according to Baca.
Weapons were collected by 20 agencies serving Bell Gardens, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Claremont, Culver City, El Segundo, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, La Verne, Long Beach, Pasadena, Santa Monica, South Pasadena, West Covina and Whittier and the California Highway Patrol, Baca said.
"These weapons ... will never again be used to commit a crime or used to threaten or intimidate an innocent victim," Baca said.
The steel rebar will be used in upgrades in freeways and bridges in California, Arizona and Nevada.
