Tube City Works With Police to Destroy Weapons

Tube City Metal Processing in West Mifflin, PA, is joining forces with several area police departments to keep confiscated weapons off the streets.

By utilizing equipment such as heavy-duty shredders, Tube City has the means to take the firearms and keep them off the streets of the Mon Valley for good.

Safety and Quality Manager Pat Schlanger said the service is beneficial to all the involved parties.

"We've worked with quite a few area police departments," he said over the roar of various cranes and other heavy duty equipment late last week. "Word of mouth gets out in the community."

"(Allegheny) County police sometimes even brings over weapons to destroy," he added.

Homestead Police Detective Joe Derry said borough law enforcement officials collect between 100 and 150 firearms before transporting them to Tube City to be destroyed.

"They won't be on the street again," the detective noted. "Actually, the paperwork takes longer than it does to destroy them."

The on-site process starts when multiple boxes of firearms are placed in the trunk of a car that is earmarked for destruction.

A large crane with a claw-like apparatus crumples and picks up the vehicle, which is then dropped into the shredder's bin.

Next, the shredder goes to work, crushing and ripping apart the car with the weapons inside.

The five-minute process ends with both the car and weapons reduced to shards of metal piled high below the shredder's conveyor belt.

Derry said police departments used to employ different methods of destroying confiscated weapons.

"When the mills were running, we used to take them over there in put them in an ingot," the detective explained. "We also took them to the crime lab at county police, too. They were a little more difficult to dispose of."

Shredder Operations Manager Dale Kerr said his company is more than happy to help local law enforcement agencies keep illegal weapons off the streets.

"It's a community service for the Pittsburgh area," the Tube City manager added. "We get a call from the police they have court orders to destroy weapons and we take them. As you can see, they'll never be on the street again."

Kerr said departments such as Baldwin and Bethel Park have also hauled guns in for destruction.

"The word is out that we want to help," he noted. "It's a great service and we happy to provide it."

Kerr said additional police departments continue to inquire about Tube City's weapon-destroying capabilities. He added they'll continue to provide the service as long as there is a need. The (Pennsylvania) Daily News