He’s been promising to do it for a long time, and now it appears that Trump is finally “sending in the Feds” to help with Chicago’s “crime and killings” which have “reached epic proportions.”
Crime and killings in Chicago have reached such epidemic proportions that I am sending in Federal help. 1714 shootings in Chicago this year!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2017
As the Chicago Sun Times noted this morning, Trump’s Federal force will include 20 agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and they have been tasked with the mission of solving gun crimes and hunting down gun traffickers in the city.
On Thursday, authorities confirmed that about 20 additional agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been sent to Chicago to combat gun violence here.
The ATF agents are working with about 20 counterparts from the Chicago Police Department and Illinois State Police on a strike force whose mission is to solve shootings and hunt down gun traffickers through ballistics technology.
Prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office and Cook County state’s attorney’s office have been assigned to the force to decide whether suspects in gun crimes should be charged in state or federal court.
“The goal is the prosecute as many of these guys as possible federally where they will serve longer prison terms,” said Anthony Riccio, head of the Chicago Police Department’s organized crime unit.
And more from the Times:
The new strike force, with the aid of a specially equipped mobile van that can quickly process bullets and shell casings, is using such hits to build cases against shooters and gun dealers.
“We’ve been doing this all along but now it’s being amped up,” said Dave Coulson, a spokesman for ATF in Chicago. “It’s a more concerted effort.”
Riccio said the strike force, which officially began on June 1, has developed a “bunch of leads” so far.
One 9mm gun has been linked to 28 shootings, including several murders, on the West Side, Riccio said.
The strike force has also linked 14 different assault rifles to a spate of gang-related shootings on the Southwest Side, Riccio said.
Of course, Trump has talked about “sending in the Feds” several times over the past year with the most recent tweet coming just after he moved into the White House.
If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible “carnage” going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
Unfortunately, the murder stats have only gotten worse since then. So far, through June 28th, there have been 333 murders in the city of Chicago and 1,753 shootings (charts per HeyJackAss!).
Not surprisingly, the most homicides have come from Chicago’s violent South and West Side neighborhoods.
Of course, Trumps’ approach to fixing Chicago’s violence seems to be slightly different than that of the Obama administration which simply chose to write an eloquent report blasting Chicago’s police as “racist” and “brutal” thugs.
Justice Department Finds a Pattern of Civil Rights Violations by the Chicago Police Department ? https://t.co/600C0xV3yX
— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) January 13, 2017
We’re curious to see which approach will prove more effective.
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