Surrounded by various regulation enforcement companions, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden introduced a brand new initiative that goals to ship on his promise to crack down on gun crime within the county.
The “first program of its type in New England,” dubbed Boston Firearm Intelligence Review Shooting and Trafficking (Boston FIRST), combines native, state and federal sources to stem the tide of unlawful weapons flowing into Boston streets, Hayden mentioned.
Hayden mentioned Boston FIRST strengthens the flexibility of the DA’s workplace, Boston Police Department, and different native regulation enforcement in addressing unsolved shootings.
“It combines resources to target the individuals who are responsible for flooding our streets with guns and those who actively fire them, which ultimately leads to senseless violence, bloodshed and tragedy in our communities,” mentioned Hayden, who introduced the initiative throughout a press convention at his workplace Thursday.
He added: “When I started as DA, I made guns a priority of my administration. This program and all the agencies involved here, will help put that priority to work, to make our streets and neighborhoods safer for everyone.”
Boston FIRST goals to make use of state-of-art ballistic monitoring know-how to scale back gun violence by figuring out the supply of gun crimes, and the people liable for trafficking them into the town, Hayden’s workplace mentioned.
Two brokers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have been assigned to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Crime Strategies Bureau as a part of this system. Two Boston Police detectives have additionally been assigned.
James Ferguson, particular agent in command of ATF’s Boston Field Office, cited current knowledge launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that confirmed gun homicides elevated by 35% within the United States in 2020.
A Boston FIRST Task Force report confirmed that, from 2019-21, Boston noticed a 5.25% in non-fatal shootings, and an 11.5% enhance in single-victim shootings.
Ferguson mentioned the brand new program combines the strengths of its companions in intelligence, regulation enforcement, and prosecution, in an effort to resolve crime and stop additional gun violence.
“We recognize that it is a very small population of criminals who are responsible for a large part of the violent crime, and it is our job to identify those individuals and target them so we can get them off the streets and keep these cities safe,” he mentioned.
The collaboration will use a federal ballistic database to trace firearms and ballistic proof seized throughout arrests in Boston. Linking the gun or ammunition to a different crime or particular person by means of the database will present authorities the flexibility to construct bigger circumstances in opposition to individuals who illegally use, site visitors or provide a gun, Hayden’s workplace mentioned.
Hayden mentioned this system is “not focused on the frightened youngster caught with a firearm,” or merely monitoring any one who possesses a gun.
“It’s tracking those who are trafficking guns, who are bringing them into our streets and into our cities,” mentioned Hayden. “It’s also helping to tackle and address unsolved shootings.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”