BATON ROUGE- Data specific to the Capital Region does not exist, but East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore believes guns used in many of the area's violent crimes are often stolen from law-abiding citizens.

"We haven't tracked it specifically in Baton Rouge, but nationwide data shows they do come out of peoples homes and cars," said Moore.

The DA spoke at a community meeting for the Greater City Park neighborhood which includes the Garden District. He was joined by BRPD Chief Murphy Paul, the mayor, and two councilmembers.

Residents at the meeting asked for better police protection to curb burglaries in the neighborhoods. Police said their priority is addressing violent crime which keeps officers busy most of the time.

In 2017, East Baton Rouge Parish had the highest number of homicides in its history. This year, there are already eight more murders compared to the same time last year.

To combat the violence, law enforcement is restarting a version of the BRAVE program to target the small number of young men involved in gangs or similar groups. They are also soliciting donations from businesses to finance crime cameras and shot detector technology.

They are asking people to lock their doors both on homes and vehicles to prevent more stolen weapons from ending up on the street.