Published: March 20, 2006 01:06 pm      

U.S. Attorney General targets violent crime in Atlanta

ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced Monday the Atlanta launch of a federal initiative that will target violent crime in the worst parts of the city.

The Violent Crime Impact Teams initiative is operating in a total of 23 cities across the country, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Tampa, New Orleans and Los Angeles. Gonzales said the initiative will make a safe city safer.

“It is my hope that a targeted and proactive law enforcement presence in the worst areas of Atlanta will help us continue to drive down the violent crime rate even further,” Gonzales said. “I’ve made this one of my highest priorities, because every American deserves to live free from the fear of violent crime.”

Gonzales said the program is aimed at locking up the worst offenders under stricter federal penalties. Unlike other initiatives, the program will be more proactive, investigating more fully where and how guns are obtained and trafficked.

Several federal agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the local U.S. Attorney’s Office, will work with local law enforcement agencies on the initiative, which will operate around the city “on any given day, at any given time and in different capacities,” said Vanessa McLemore, special agent in charge of the Atlanta Field Division of ATF.

They will use firearms dealer inspection data, gang intelligence information, police call response data and other information to identify crime “hot spots,” and the peak times for enforcement actions.

In making their announcement, federal officials declined to identify the “hot spots” they will target in Atlanta.