| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Grant-funded Flint crime initiative 'not going away' after dozens of arrests made
Published: Thursday, June 17, 2010, 7:02 PM Updated: Thursday, June 17, 2010, 7:08 PM
Laura Misjak | The Flint Journal
Follow Share this story
Story tools
Jeffrey LaMonde | The Flint JournalUnited States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Attorney's Office, 600 Church St., on Thursday afternoon about the recent arrest of 22 Flint residents on various firearm and drug offenses as part of a violent crime initiative aimed at stopping the violence occurring in the Flint area.
FLINT, Michigan — A three-month operation involving local, state and federal law enforcement has resulted in federal charges against 27 Flint residents on allegations ranging from drug trafficking to gun violations.
One man was arrested for witness tampering as part of the sweep.
The charges are part of the FIVE-O operation, a grant funded Flint Initiative for Violent Crime Enforcement Operations.
Nineteen people were in federal court on the charges Thursday.
Another four people facing charges are already incarcerated and will be arraigned within the next month. Two others are expected to be arraigned Monday, while another two men were arrested within the last month in separate busts.
“These arrests are the result of a violent crime initiative,” said U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said.
The residents were apprehended at various locations throughout the city, but most were arrested at their homes, according to the Michigan State Police.
Suspects ranged in age from 18 to 59 and all lived in the city of Flint.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said more than 90 law enforcement officials helped round up the fugitives, and said the initiative’s work will continue to “make sure the streets are as safe as they possibly can be.”
“Residents can feel safer tonight,” he said at a press conference announcing the arrests Thursday. “This is not the last time we are going to be standing before you.”
The initiative is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods “Three Cities Initiative,” which allotted $1 million in federal grants since 2007 to fight gun and gang violence in Flint, Saginaw and Jackson.
More than 90 Flint residents have been charged since the grant was awarded three years ago. Sentences in the cases have ranged from one year to 215 months, McQuade said.
“We’ve been committed to this for the last two or three years,” said Robin Shoemaker, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Assistant Special Agent in Charge in the Detroit division. “We’re not going to go away. ... We have zero tolerance for violent crimes.”
Agencies involved with the initiative include the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Drug Enforcement Agency, Flint Police Department, ATF, FBI, Michigan State Police, Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office and Flint Area Narcotics Group.
Related topics: Flint, police
3
Comments Feed View: Oldest first | Newest first
intheknow767 June 17, 2010 at 7:41PM
Follow
What does the Genesee County Prosecutors Office have to do with this.. All these people are now in FEDERAL Court...not state court.
YourProblem June 17, 2010 at 8:25PM
Follow
Don't break your arms patting yourselves on your backs. So you finally did something with your time besides stand in line at the Honey Baked Ham store. It is your job, I don't brag everytime I make an automobile.
Truthseeker June 17, 2010 at 9:21PM
Follow
Wow! Way to go folks! 90 people in three freaking years?! What the heck have you been doing with this $1 million grant? No offense to my fellow law enforcement officers but you have got to be kidding me. I definitely would not be on the news bragging about this number. This is just another one of Walling's "Look at me" media events. Thanks a bunch to Mlive, channel 12, channel 5, etc. for taking the bait. Keep feeding this idiot and it just makes you look stupid. Here's an idea, how about instead of just putting this stuff out there exactly as he says it you actually look into something and, I don't know, investigate...........like be a journalist or something. Isn't the media supposed to be non-bias? I guess not in this county. Walling, you are an incredibly selfish man. All you are focused on is your career. People are still dieing everyday in your city. How do you sleep at night? |
|
|
Thu Jun 17, 2010 9:22 pm |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
This version of the story clearly shows how much Channel 12 cleans up Walling. It was a federal operation assisted by Flint Police and started under the Williamson administration. The focus should have properly been on the comments of the US Attorney. Walling had nothing to o with this matter what so ever.
Any relief from violence will be short lived. Nature abhors a void and so do gangs. One gang will rise up and replace those fallen as the drug trade is too lucrative here.
:federal government, police, crime, arrests, local, lori dougovito
Comment Now Email Print Report a typo
Lori Dougovito
More: Bio, E-mail, News Team
FLINT (WJRT) -- (06/17/10) -- The city of Flint is a little safer, according to Mayor Dayne Walling, after the arrests of more than 20 people today.
The people arrested today face a variety of federal gun and drug charges.
These arrests are the result of a three-month-long, multi-agency initiative aimed a cracking down on violent crime in the Flint area.
Twenty-two arrests were announced today. Five others were already in custody.
"We have 27 defendants in custody today as a result of this initiative on charges ranging from firearms offenses, drug trafficking offenses and witness tampering. This is a multi-agency partnership with members from federal, state and local law enforcement," U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said.
The initiative, cleverly called FIVE-O for the Flint Initiative for Violent Crime Enforcement Operations, is part of the Department of Justice Project Safe Neighborhood Three Cities Initiative announced in 2007.
It awarded $1 million in federal grants over a three-year period to combat gun and gang violence in Flint, Saginaw and Jackson.
Today, more than 90 officers were all over Flint making these arrests.
"This FIVE-O initiative has made incredible success today, and it's going to continue to work hard and continue to collaborate. This is not the last time we're going to be standing together," Mayor Dayne Walling predicted.
(Copyright ©2010 WJRT-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
Get more Local »
Tags:federal government, police, crime, arrests, local, lori dougovito |
|
|
|
Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:12 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
For the account of the origiganal grant here is the link:
Project Safe Neighborhood
That task force effort, going on in certain Detroit police districts, ... $1M grant to help fight crime in Flint, Saginaw, Jackson .... Project Safe Neighborhoods Reaches Genesee County Parents and Youth with Important Initiative ...
http://www.psnworks.org/ - 47k - Cached - Similar pages |
|
|
|
Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:44 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Grant to 'supercharge' local efforts to fight guns, gangs
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Thursday, September 20, 2007
By Kim Crawford
kcrawford@flintjournal.com -- (810)766-6242
Can a crime-fighting program credited with reducing gun violence in a portion of Detroit be replicated in Flint and other cities plagued by gangs and illegal weapons?
Detroit-based U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy, Flint Police Chief Gary Hagler and other local and federal law enforcement officials were scheduled today to announce a $1-million, three-year grant for Flint, Saginaw and Jackson, aimed at doing just that.
Murphy said the grant would "supercharge" local law enforcement efforts in the three cities by allowing them to combine with federal authorities in targeting and prosecuting illegal firearms crimes and gang offenders.
"This funding is crucial in helping to make the city of Flint a safe place by giving us additional resources we need to combat criminal street gangs and illegal guns that plague our community," Hagler said.
The grant was to be announced in a news conference late this morning at the U.S. attorney's office in the federal courthouse in Flint.
The "Three Cities Initiative" is being called an expansion of the U.S. Justice Department's Project Safe Neighborhoods. The grant money is divided among the cities by population and crime rates. Murphy noted that in recent rankings, Flint was called the fourth-most-violent city per capita in the U.S., while Saginaw was fifth.
The grant will pay overtime costs for police to work on and meet with federal agents and prosecutors for sharing information, planning and prosecuting what law enforcement officials described as "the worst of the worst" gang offenders; for community outreach and public awareness efforts, to encourage residents to share information; conducting sweeps or roundups of suspected offenders; and for evaluating the effort's effectiveness.
Plans call for the federal law enforcement agencies - including the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI and U.S. Marshals - to work closely with state and local departments.
Can it work?
The officials note that the Three Cities Initiative is modeled on a Project Safe Neighborhoods' program called Operation TIDE, with TIDE standing for Tactical Intelligence Driven Enforcement. That task force effort, going on in certain Detroit police districts, contributed to a 43 percent decrease in homicides and a 26 percent decrease in nonfatal shootings in the city's northwestern district, according to a statement issued by the feds.
The officials encouraged those who know of illegal guns and firearms trafficking or gang members who are carrying weapons to call an anonymous 24-hour tip line at (800) ATF-GUNS.
In addition to the new Three Cities Initiative and Operation TIDE, Justice Department grants have funded drug-testing kits for parents to determine if their children are using drugs; firearms safety and anti-gun violence programs aimed at middle-school students; and face-to-face meetings between prison parolees and authorities to warn ex-cons the tough prison penalties that they'll face if they're arrested with firearms.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal grant targets gun crime
THE SAGINAW NEWS
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
By Dean Bohn
Saginaw police will share a $1.1 million federal grant with Flint and Jackson over three years to combat gun violence.
U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy and other law enforcement officials will offer details about the grant at an 11 a.m. Thursday press conference in Flint.
Saginaw Police Chief Gerald Cliff will attend along with other law enforcement officials from the three grant communities.
''Gangs and guns is what this boils down to,'' Cliff said. ''The ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) is predominantly behind this.
''We cannot hire more officers with this money,'' he said. ''There are guidelines, and most of the funds will go to targeted enforcement concentrated on gun crimes. The money will help pay for overtime so it doesn't come out of the general fund, and will allow us to bring in assistance from outside -- such as the county and the state -- for periodic enforcement efforts. This is not a
24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week thing.''
Cliff said Saginaw has five established gangs, with two more trying to establish their territory. He said it is difficult to know exactly how many gang members are active in the city.
''All I know is they are far too prolific in this city -- even one member of a gang would be,'' he said.
Cliff figures 75 to 80 percent of the shootings and homicides in the city are gang-related. ''But it's not always easy to establish if a crime can be locked in as a gang-related crime,'' he said.
The effort against gun and gang violence will follow the Project Safe Neighborhoods Operation TIDE (Tactical Intelligence Driven Enforcement) initiative under way in Detroit.
''We advocated for more resources for three major cities in the Eastern District of Michigan where gun violence is increasing and gangs are becoming more organized and detrimental to the quality of life in these communities,'' Murphy said.
Participating agencies in each city include the city police departments, county prosecutor's office, county sheriff, state police, ATF, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. marshal's office and the FBI, with the U.S. attorney's office as the lead agency, he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
War on gangs gets boost
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
By Steven Hepker
shepker@citpat.com -- 768-4923
Members of the Bloods gang surrounded a First Street home on Oct. 28, 2005, flushed out a rival and shot him in the head.
It was payback time for Devin McCain, who pummeled a Bloods member weeks earlier. Three alleged Bloods were convicted and are serving prison terms for the murder.
The killing and the gang's efforts to stymie the investigation prompted Jackson County's first grand jury in 40 years.
The court case also exposed gang activity as a factor in Jackson's illicit drug and gun crimes.
A $1 million grant, which officials will detail Thursday, will help law enforcement in Jackson, Flint and Saginaw fight gang and gun violence.
Jackson's share --$110,000 over three years -- is the smallest because the violent-crime rate and the city's size are the smallest in the trio, Jackson Police Lt. Aaron Kantor said.
Police and prosecutors will use the money to seek better monitoring and stiffer sentences for the most violent criminals, he said.
The $1 million federal grant also will create a network among investigators to share resources and intelligence based on the Project Safe Neighborhoods Operation under way in Detroit.
Jackson prosecutors for three years have worked with the U.S. Attorney's office to channel some violent firearms offenders into the federal system, where sentences can double.
"The grant will help us establish a more regimented review system," Kantor said.
State police, the county sheriff's office and prosecutor's office will share Jackson's grant.
There will be more collective sweeps and initiatives, and officials plan a team effort with parole and police officers making home visits to violent parolees, Kantor said.
Kantor and prosecutors said law enforcement might seek more grand jury investigations to combat gun crimes and gangs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$1M grant to help fight crime in Flint, Saginaw, Jackson
9/17/2007, 8:49 a.m. EDT
The Associated Press
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Law enforcement officials say a $1 million federal grant will help fight gun violence and gangs in Flint, Saginaw, and Jackson.
The "Three Cities Initiative" program will follow the model of the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative in Detroit.
TIDE stands for Tactical Intelligence Driven Enforcement. The grant is from the U.S. Department of Justice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Detroit crime falls after gang crackdown
The Detroit News
Saturday, August 11, 2007
By Paul Egan
pegan@detnews.com -- (313) 222-2069
DETROIT -- Federal, state and local police claimed success Friday in a year-long crackdown on violent gangs in northwest Detroit.
Project Safe Neighborhoods Operation TIDE (Tactical Intelligence Driven Enforcement), a U.S. Justice Department program, brought together 10 agencies to focus on gun crimes.
U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy said from May 2006 to May 2007, homicides in Detroit's northwest district dropped 43 percent, from 30 to 17, and nonfatal shootings dropped 26 percent, from 118 to 87.
That compared to an 8 percent drop in homicides and a 15 percent reduction in nonfatal shootings in the rest of Detroit during the same period, he said.
"We feel that the statistical correlation is intimately related to and a direct result of this historic cooperation," Murphy said.
As a result of the program, federal indictments were brought against alleged members of two drug gangs in the area, the Detroit Thug Lordz and the Joy Road Gang, officials said.
Officials plan to expand the program into Detroit's eastern district.
Valerie Goddard, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Detroit, credited public assistance in the increased enforcement and encouraged the public to continue calling in tips to (800) ATF-GUNS.
But Sandi Kanakis, who lives and works in the northwest district, said she has felt less safe since Detroit Police combined the former 6th and 8th precincts into the northwest district in 2005.
Closing the precinct at Grand River and McNichols left no police station north of I-96, and "we feel like orphans," said Kanakis.
"We have a huge prostitution problem, we have a huge drug problem, and more and more people are getting shot up," Kanakis said. "Statistics can be manipulated. People are barricaded in their homes."
Detroit Police Assistant Chief Robert Dunlap said the statistics show shootings are down across Detroit. Homicides are down 15 percent this year in the eastern and southwest districts, he said.
The program is to receive an award at a national crime prevention conference to be held in Detroit from Aug. 21 to 23, officials said. The conference will bring together about 1,500 law enforcement officials from across the country.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cops claim strides in gang crackdown
The Detroit News
Friday, August 10, 2007
by Paul Egan
pegan@detnews.com -- (313) 222-2069
DETROIT -- Federal, state and local police claimed success today in a year-long crackdown on violent gangs in northwest Detroit.
Project Safe Neighborhoods Operation TIDE (Tactical Intelligence Driven Enforcement), a U.S. Justice Department program, brought together 10 agencies to focus on gun crimes.
U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy said from May 2006 to May 2007, homicides in Detroit's northwest district dropped 43 percent, from 30 to 17. Non-fatal shootings dropped 26 percent, from 118 to 87, he said.
That compared to an 8 percent drop in homicides and a 15 percent reduction in non-fatal shootings in the rest of Detroit during the same period, he said.
"We feel that the statistical correlation is intimately related to and a direct result of this historic cooperation," Murphy said.
As a result of the program, federal indictments were brought against alleged members of two drug gangs in the area, the Detroit Thug Lordz and the Joy Road Gang, officials said.
Officials now plan to expand the program into Detroit's eastern district.
Valerie Goddard, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Detroit, credited public assistance in the increased enforcement and encouraged the public to continue calling in tips to 1-800-ATF-GUNS.
The program will receive an award at a national crime prevention conference to be held in Detroit from Aug. 21 to 23, officials said. The conference will bring together about 1,500 law enforcement officials from across the country.
Other agencies involved in the program include Detroit police, the Michigan State Police, the Wayne County Sheriff's Department, the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Marshal.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operation proves how teamwork beats crime
Free Press
Friday, August 10, 2007
There's nothing more important to the efforts to rebuild Detroit's neighborhoods than reducing violent crime.
So it's excellent news that Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice antiviolence program, will announce today that it has achieved dramatic results in the city's northwest police district.
Over the last year, the program's Operation TIDE (Tactical Intelligence Driven Enforcement) initiative has brought federal, state and local law enforcement agencies together to help reduce homicides by 43% and nonfatal shootings by 26%. The decreases in the northwest district are far bigger than those in the rest of the city. Operation TIDE took dangerous offenders off the street by prosecuting them with stiff federal gun laws.
U.S. attorney Stephen Murphy said Thursday Operation TIDE would expand to the city's eastern police district later this year.
Besides Murphy, law enforcement leaders in Operation TIDE include ATF special agent in charge Valerie Goddard, Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, and Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans.
These officials have set aside turf battles and partisan politics to reduce crime in Detroit. Their future success will depend largely on improving relations between police and the community. Without the support and help of neighborhood residents, efforts to find and arrest violent offenders will fail.
For years, crime has been Detroit's most awful scourge, the very reason that families with the resources so often choose to move someplace -- anyplace -- else. The city reported 400 homicides last year, a 14% increase from 2005, and expects to match that mark again this year.
But it doesn't have to be that way. Cities such as Boston, which has employed a Safe Neighborhoods program for nearly a decade, have shown that violence can be reduced with more effective law enforcement, better police-community relations, and programs that give people real alternatives to crime.
Detroit's recent success suggests leaders here may finally understand that -- a hopeful harbinger that the city may one day make all its neighborhoods safe places to live.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
|
|
Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:50 am |
|
|
00SL2
F L I N T O I D
|
| Looks like this 3-year grant is good for another 3 months, according to the original announcement date. Are these grant funds going to pay for the additional help Flint has requested from state and federal law enforcement for the increase in shootings? Why haven't they been working all along with these funds to prevent the shootings? What other grants do the Flint police now have? |
|
|
|
Sat Jun 19, 2010 4:48 pm |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
| That is a good question. I know there is a JAG grant that only pays for equipment and communications. We have the South Side task force grant. |
|
|
|
Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:59 pm |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
