The Justice Department is deploying anti-gun trafficking strike forces to New York and four other major American cities this summer to crack down on a disturbing surge in shootings, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Tuesday.
The five strike forces will focus on upending “trafficking corridors” that funnel illegal firearms from southern states to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C., where gun violence has been steadily on the rise over the past 18 months, according to Garland.
“Working with our local partners to tackle violent crime is one of the Justice Department’s most important responsibilities,” the AG said. “Our firearms trafficking strike forces will investigate and disrupt the networks that channel crime guns into our communities with tragic consequences. This effort reflects our shared commitment to keep communities safe.”
The strike forces will be led by U.S. attorneys in each of the five cities and are expected to get to work within 30 days, according to the Justice Department. They will be staffed with officers from local law enforcement agencies like the NYPD as well as agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The federal intervention allows the strike forces to operate in a cross-jurisdictional fashion, exchanging intelligence and collaborating across state lines to “focus enforcement against entire trafficking networks, from the places where guns are unlawfully obtained to the areas where they are used to commit violent crimes,” according to the Justice Department.
Garland said he will elaborate on the makeup and responsibilities of the strike forces during an event with President Biden on Wednesday.
A wave of gun violence has washed over the New York City since it began relaxing coronavirus restrictions this spring.
Compared to the same period in 2020, shootings in the city were up by 73% in May, according to data from the NYPD. Overall crime ticked up by 22% in the same time span, the data showed.
The rash of violence has become a major focus of the city’s mayoral race in the past few weeks.
©2021 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
—-
This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology.
Hey Merrick, what are you liberals going to do to these people, who illegally traffic guns? I am sure these criminals will be back on the streets, after all Merrick, you and the rest of the liberal politicians do not believe in punishing liberal criminals do you?
Especially since when they ‘catch them’, they release them, JUST LIKE FISH…
garland is a worthless liberal clown
IMO He always HAS been!
I see absolutely nothing in his past ‘track history’, that show’s He is NOT A RABID LIBTARD cretin.
Seems to me the common factor in all the savagery and violence in Democrat controlled cities is the preponderance of melanin in the population perpetrating these horrendous acts. Taking a page out of the thought process of man made climate science , I wonder if the issue of sun tan lotion in these neighborhoods would solve the issues of violent crime. Seems that the only people who who don’t use sun tan lotion are the overwhelming majority of bad actors.
How’s about send these agents into THE GANG INFESTED HOODS, to start doing MASS round ups of all gang bangers, and CONFISCATE ALL THEIR Illegal firearms!
WHY is it the U.S. Military cannot be deployed into States without the permission of the States’ Governor, but the DOJ can send THEIR Federal “troops” wherever they want?
AND Why does the DOJ (and a # of other govt agencies) have their OWN “Troops” anyway!?
There is a network of law enforcement operatives known as police departments that, when allowed to do their jobs, have a long-standing history of being successful at things such as this. So, you Lib politicians who obviously don’t know what to do, why don’t you get out of the way and leave it to the pros?
BECAUSE THEY WANT this strife. THEY WANT this chaos..
Just another way for this administration to throw away money and spy on American citizens.