her. it happened for no reason. >> lost and stolen guns are taking innocent lives across the state more often than you might imagine. here's steven stock. >> thank you for joining us for the next 30 minutes we investigate exposing stories, uncovering issues and holding the powerful accountable. tonight we begin on the streets where criminals consider stolen gones more valuable than gold. in an unprecedented project our investigative unit teamed up with nbc stations throughout california to find out how many stolen guns contribute to other crimes. it is in the thousands. we got records and data no one else ever obtained. it showed that lost and stolen guns kill and maim innocent people in the bay area and around california again and again. as soon as you drive on to her family farm and everywhere you go therefore, the legacy surrounds you. >> olga was my sister and best friend. >> reporter: from the fruit trees to the rose bushes to the grounds she attended daily. >> she had a couldn't word for everybody. >> reporter: her death in february 2015 carries a legacy. the 84-year-old was tied up in this chair in her home by two fugitives on the run from the law and shot to death where she sat. >> they tied her up with duct tape and shot her. >> reporter: using data compiled by a team of reporters we traced three of the guns to guns that had been stolen from a marin county home and they traded a stolen gun for a getaway car. >> it just happened for no reason. >> reporter: our investigation found the use of stolen weapons to commit other crimes happens again and again. we matched the seerlt numbers of 4300 guns with the serial numbers of guns obtained from the same time period from 72 law enforcement agencies who responded to our public records request. >> i see a future robbery, homicide and assault. >> we were able to match 2600 lost and stolen guns directly connected to crimes later. graham barlow is resident agent in charge of the atf sacramento field office. >> people that own firearms are not aware of the serial numbers. additionally we know that people sometimes have guns stolen or pilfered by family members and are not aware it's missing. >> reporter: we were able to track 35 lost and stolen guns later used in homicides or attempted homicides statewide. that does not include stolen guns used in four out of five bay area homicides last year including a canadian tourist in golden gate park, both killed with the same stolen gun. for or these two both killed with stolen guns from law enforcement officers. and lost and stolen guns were recovered at 49 robberies statewide and 42 other shootings. evan johnson grew up around guns in sacramento. >> at an early age you get used to it. >> reporter: as a youngster johns knew how to buy a gun off the treats. after the los angeles area our analysis showed many of the guns lost and stole man the state come from the central valley like the sacramento area, around bakersfield and the stockton area all areas around the bay area alameda county san francisco and santa clara county. >> firearms are of a high value to people in the criminal community. >> and several were used two, three, times on two three crimes. does that surprise you? >> not at all, no. firearms especially we see gangs when they acquire firearms and will pass a gun around between gang members so that it -- they use it like a community gun so it is available for more than one person and lessons the responsibility on one person if they are caught with it. >> kind of like the family is not the same. >> reporter: larry and ann say their sister died in senseless violence no amount of data will explain but it doesn't surprise them that the people accuseder in olga's murder were caught up in stolen guns as well. this project captures just one snapshot in time. we want to emphasize many law enforcement agencies around the state refused to cooperate with our project. the experts we talked west mate the number of lost and stolen guns later used in other crimes is six to seven times higher than the data we obtained shows. >> coming up next -- >> this isn't a case of fraud a building collapsed on me. >> injured on the job and denied care. we investigate what many call a broken worker's comp system. if you get hurt at work you're promised the medical care you need to recover from your injuries but people across the state are falling through the cracks of what many call a broken worker's compensation system. you are about to hear from a firefighter whose injury is captured on camera. if he can't get treatment for an on the job injury, who can? liz wagner has that story. >> black smoke coming from a building. >> reporter: february 18, 1999. downtown san jose. firefighters battle a warehouse fire. then this happens. when the building collapsed it crashed on to captain marty honan. >> i was face down. i could feel my right lag wrapped up behind me. >> reporter: broken back, busted leg, fractured pelvis. >> i'm back. >> reporter: after months of rehab he returned to the fire house. he retired with lifetime medical benefits awarded by the city. he woke up in pain in may 2014. >> my legs were weak and feet were numb. >> reporter: to get to the bottom of it his doctor requested tests. >> the request was denied. >> reporter: he is talking about athens administrators. for the captain, treatment approved for years suddenly stopped. >> the business model is deny first and deny again. >> is that right? >> and delay and delay hope that you go away. >> reporter: requests for mri and epidural and medical consultation all denied. it didn't make sense to other injured firefighters either. they contacted the city with problems of their own. >> in the cases many of them the treatment was denied. >> reporter: joe is the director of human resources and has received 74 complaints in the past two years. >> they found an opportunity to revisit the decision. >> reporter: in how many? >> 70 of the 74. >> the city agreed with 95% of the complaints reverse denialed and approved treatments. >> there was evidence that substantiated the need for additional care. >> reporter: what does it say that the city had to overturn decisions made by your company? >> that's not unusual for a decision to come down based on the guidelines and further discussion to be had. >> reporter: heather leads the athens compensation unit. that's how managed care companies make sure employers and insurance carriers are not paying for unnecessary treatment. she says her company is following the state's play book. >> the utilization review process is working? >> it is work. >> reporter: according to city data, athens denied 3/4 of all treatment requests. >> a firefighter says he believes it's your company's job to delay care and deny care. is it? >> our job is to provide the appropriate benefits to injured workers. >> in some cases it's unbleempbl that folks cannot get treatment for their injuries. >> reporter: that's lou pahlsson, president of cps, california professional firefighters. the organization represents 30000 first responders and says many are falling through the cracks. >> there is no logical reason why they shouldn't be treated for injuries they have and have to wait for a review. >> reporter: he asked local departments if injured firefighters are receiving the care they need. he got back piles of paperwork. >> what does it say that so many firefighters are complaining about the system. >> this is what we believe there is a problem with the system. >> reporter: many injured workers feel they are fighting a perception they are bilking the system and not really hurt. just take this video. a private investigator hired by the city captured him raking leaves last year. he believes it's an attempt to discredit his injuries. >> this isn't a case of fraud. i mean, a building collapsed on me. >> reporter: eight months later, the city of san jose gave him the green light for treatment. now he is pretty much pain free. but not silent. >> i'm going to shed some light on this. it's tragic what is going on. people are suffering out there. >> more than a million californians have open workers' comp cases right now. for more on this story head to our website www.nbcbayarea.com/ investigations. coming up next, in santa clara county social workers are speaking out to reveal concerns about the child abuse hot line. why they say the calls aren't being answered by the right people. we rarely hear from social workers on the front lines charged with protecting the most vulnerable in our community, our children. but two veteran social services employees have shared startling revelations about working conditions in the agency. they say it's having an effect on the kids they serve and they are speaking out. they called after seeing reports last october and say there is more to expose about the child abuse hot line. here is vicky nguyen with that story. >> we are not meeting the needs of the community. >> reporter: these two social workers have worked a combine 26 years with the santa clara department of family and children services. they say never has it been so bad. where conditions inside the agency have made it more difficult to do the work out in the community. >> your call has been forwarded. >> reporter: our aim is to help out children and families and -- it's made impossible for us. >> reporter: they called the investigative unit after seeing our reports last october detailing the failures of the agency to answer calls to its child abuse and neglect hot line. an add it found that only 39% of calls that are made. >> these are 911 calls for children. >> reporter: county leaders gave the agency money to hire seven additional staffers for the hot line. >> i believe that 100% is achievable. >> reporter: the agency raised the answer rate to 92%. >> technically we're not answering the calls. they are going to a voice mail or a clerical is answering them. it looks like we have a higher percentage of answering calls. >> reporter: are the numbers being manipulated to maybe the agency look better in the eyes of the public? >> yes. >> i feel so. >> reporter: while the county doesn't require the hot line to be answered by a social worker. gene and dawn think they should. they are trained to recognize when a child needs help. >> it matters because it determines on whether we call the police and have them check on the child or send a social worker in two hours or ten days. >> reporter: dawn doesn't think that social workers are answering as many calls as managers are reporting. no one from the department would sit down for an interview. it's not just claims of inflated numbers. >> jean and dawn and four others spoke for hours about what they call mismanagement and harassment in the agency. >> we have social workers who are leaving because of the management. because there's bullying. >> reporter: they say it leads to high turnover and higher case load. there is a toxic and hostile workplace they sent to department and county leaders. this supervisor says she is now investigating concerns raised by the workers but not aware of the claims of the call center numbers. >> they say they are going to the board of supervisors and saying we are answering 98% of the calls. they don't think those numbers are real. >> we'll check on it. we were in the low 80s to now to 98. so i feel like we are making important progress. >> they say the numbers are manipulated baa u.s. they include the calls that are answered by clerical workers. >> that's an excellent question. i don't know. i have to look into it. >> reporter: the claims about a hostile working environment prompted an investigation last july but the agency refused to provide a copy of the report. jean and dawn say they hope going public will make a difference. >> we're going to investigate all of their claims. i want it to be a great place for them to work and respond to every kid in need. >> they need to take it seriously. >> please record your message. >> the supervisor also says she ordered the call center to use new technology to track call data. if the statistics show they are not being handled in a timely fashion she'll take further action. coming up. >> i don't know why anyone would want the wool pulled over their eyes. >> reporter: a loophole to wipe away inspection records. foodies beware there is a loophole that allows restaurant owners to wipe their dirty health inspection records clean. when we brought the findings back to the san francisco department of health back in may, we are finding out it is just not true that the city can't do anything about it. >> alex, a london native opened the seven hills restaurant in san francisco six years ago. while he is proud of his menu. he's even prouder of his restaurant's near perfect health inspection record. >> we have people's lives in our hands. >> you take it seriously? >> it is that serious. >> reporter: he was upset to learn about a loophole that allows restaurant owners to wipe away their old inspection records from the city website. >> there is no reason that anyone should hide their inspection score or want to wipe it clean unless there is something they are trying to hide. >> reporter: yelp take the inspection scores from the city database and post them for easy access. but the city deletes the records when a restaurant pays $600 in fees to file a change of ownership. restaurants that apply for an ownership change are allowed to have the same owners so long as they change their corporation name and even when new people do take over the restaurant can be owned by the same corporation. take this dim sum spot in diamond heights. the sign says all season restaurant but it is known as harbor villa and has a history of unsanitary conditions. inspectors found dead cockroaches on top of what were supposed to be clean utensils and plates. but the violations were wiped clean after new owners were listed. >> do you have how many other restaurants are take advantage? >> many. >> reporter: stephanie heads san francisco's department of environmental health which overcease inspections for 7400 restaurants and caterers. we asked her why the city allows certain restaurants to get a clean slate even when the same owners are running the place? >> does that make sense? >> it's not for me to make sense of it but the law requires me to do it. >> what is tying your hands? city code or state? >> both. >> but there are absolutely no state laws or regulations forcing cities to remove a restaurant's old health records from the website. this is california's food safety manager. >> the law doesn't specify whether a historical record goes with it on a new company or not. >> reporter: about ten years ago san francisco made the decision to stop including a restaurant's previous ownership records online. a spokeswoman for the department of health tells us consumers only wanted to see the most current score and posting that information online now would make it difficult for people to navigate. >> do you buy that? >> saying that san francisco diners are not, you know savvy enough to digest that information is incorrect. >> reporter: changes in restaurant ownership in santa clara are posted on the county's website. customers can check old health records under previous owners. he wonders why san francisco isn't doing the same. >> just to think that somebody can change their name and get any blemishes squashed is scary. >> while san francisco chooses to delete those inspection records from its website customers can still file a public records request to get the last five years of records for any restaurant regardless of ownership changes. but that process can take days and is more complicated than logging on to the city's website. if you have a story for us contact us call our tip line at 888-996-tips or send an e-mail to theunit@nbcbayarea.com. that will do it for this show. thank you for watching. join us often on nbc bay area, where we investigate. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm sara gore, and this is "open house." this week, we're visiting alle fister's chic los angeles home. see how the fashion pr maven created a stylish yet serene escape. alle fister: so we love to entertain, and this home was designed with a great party in mind and the space really reflects that. sara gore: we're stopping by a waterfront estate in upstate new york. stan ponte: this sweeping outdoor terrace with multiple seating and dining areas an outdoor jacuzzi, and the ultimate chance for a hole in one. sara gore: but first escape to ojai. we're touring an unbelievable private sanctuary complete with waterfalls private trails and so much more. as you enter into this home, you feel like you're walking into a sophisticated lodge in a famous mountain resort.

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