IndianaLocalNews

Feds targeting guns sourced from Indiana, used in Chicago crimes

(Photo supplied/U.S. Department of Justice)

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched five cross-jurisdictional strike forces to help reduce gun violence by disrupting illegal firearms trafficking in key regions across the country.  Leveraging existing  resources, the regional strike forces will better ensure sustained and focused coordination across jurisdictions and help stem the supply of illegally trafficked firearms from source cities, through other communities, and into five key market regions:  New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area/Sacramento Region and Washington, D.C.

Each strike force region will be led by designated United States Attorneys, who will collaborate with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and with state and local law enforcement partners within their own jurisdiction, as well as law enforcement partners in areas where illegally trafficked guns originate. These officials will use the latest data, evidence, and intelligence from crime scenes to identify patterns, leads, and potential suspects in violent gun crimes.

“All too often, guns found at crime scenes come from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. We are redoubling our efforts as ATF works with law enforcement to track the movement of illegal firearms used in violent crimes.  These strike forces enable sustained coordination across multiple jurisdictions to help disrupt the worst gun trafficking corridors,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Department of Justice will use all of its tools – enforcement, prevention, intervention, and investment – to help ensure the safety of our communities – the department’s highest priority.”

According to gun trace data, a significant number of firearms recovered in Chicago originate from outside the city of Chicago, and many originate from Indiana, among other locations. The new strike force will help ensure sustained and focused coordination between law enforcement and prosecutors in Chicago with their counterparts in those other locations.

The strike forces represent one important, concrete step in implementing the Department’s Comprehensive Violent Crime Reduction Strategy, which was announced in May. The comprehensive strategy supports local communities in preventing, investigating, and prosecuting gun violence and other violent crime—and requires U.S. Attorneys’ offices to work with federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement, as well as the communities they serve, to address the most significant drivers of violence in their districts. In guidance to federal agents and prosecutors as part of that comprehensive strategy, the Deputy Attorney General made clear that firearms traffickers providing weapons to violent offenders are an enforcement priority across the country.

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2 comments

Slacker06 July 26, 2021 at 5:17 pm

If guns are the problem why is the crime rate using guns so much lower in Indiana than in Chicago?

Could it be gang activity?

Could it be young males and some of the females not having an active father in the home to teach them how to develop a law abiding character?

I have not been to Chicago for decades and do not intend to ever go there again.

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Charles U Farley July 27, 2021 at 8:59 am

Could it be that leftist craphole cities believe in “equity” and refuse to prosecute some criminals because it wouldn’t be “fair”?

That, and having the “gun crimes” plays into their narrative so they can further their war on the 2nd Amendment. They will not be able to impose their socialist utopia on an armed society.

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