BJA

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

In 2016, the Baton Rouge area experienced a summer full of turmoil, anguish and unrest. The city dealt with a police shooting and killing of a citizen, Alton Sterling, 11 days of protests following his death, a subsequent ambush of law enforcement that killed three Baton Rouge officers and finally, the area had a historic 1,000 year flood that dropped about two feet of rain in two days. The flooding left hundreds of thousands of homes damaged, thousands of people rescued by boat, and close to 100,000 people seeking refuge in shelters across the state.

The weeks and months following this traumatic summer began a chaotic and increasingly violent time in Baton Rouge. The violence that began in the final months of 2016, exploded in 2017, and has continued unabated in 2018. The BR-CGIC Initiative lead by East Baton Rouge District Attorney, intends to 1) promote timely identification, arrest, and prosecution of armed violent offenders and 2) promote interagency collaboration focused on timely collection, management and analysis of crime gun evidence through the expansion of existing partnerships and processes and the addition of CGIC Business Practices utilizing NIBIN and eTrace.

 Point of Contact:
Jon Daily, CPA
Grants Manager
19th Judicial District Attorney
Main: 225-389-3400
Jon.daily@ebrda.org

ADA Steve Danielson
Section Chief
Crime Strategies Unit
19th Judicial District Attorney
Main: 225-389-3400
Steve.danielson@ebrda.org

Detroit, Michigan

In 2017, Detroit had the highest overall violence rate in cities of more than 100,000 residents for the 2nd year in a row even though its population has vastly decreased in the last 15 years. The overall violent crime rate in Detroit is approximately 6 times the national average and the robbery rate is approximately 20 times the national average. Detroit’s homicide rate of 43/100,000 residents was nine times the national average. As a result, the effect of violent crime is deeply felt in Detroit communities and is responsible for countless lost lives and decreased quality of life.

Detroit has made considerable progress in proactively addressing violent crime over the last few years through highly focused enforcement and prevention built upon a collaborative working group of strong law enforcement partnerships involving the Detroit Police Department (DPD), the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office (WCPO), The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USA), Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), and Michigan State University (MSU – Research Partner).

This Detroit based CGIC Initiative will focus mostly on hiring a Project Manager to oversee project implementation and a Crime Analyst who will monitor NIBIN hits/leads that are identified and conduct analytic work to make the intelligence actionable for investigators. 3 officers will be identified as Task Force Officers (TFO) who will be trained in NIBIN and participate in correlation and acquisition training. TFO officers will train additional DPD officers and DPD Crime Analyst on the determined investigative tool that will assist in conducting correlations that will offer leads to violent offenders. DPD will adhere to the best practices that are in place for the use of NIBIN.

Point of Contact:
Trisha Stein
Director of Administrative Operations
City of Detroit
Office of the Chief of Police
1301 Third Street, Suite 7S-751
Detroit, MI 48226
office: (313) 596-2918
steint@detroitmi.gov

Indianapolis, Indiana

2017 was the deadliest year on record for Indianapolis with 155 criminal homicides (136 were committed with a firearm), up from 148 in 2016, 148 in 2015,136 in 2014, and 129 in 2013. The Marion County Public Health Department has officially noted homicide as a public health concern. Additionally, nonfatal shootings incidents show a similar trend, increasing from 366 in 2014 to 438 in 2017. In 2017, Indianapolis/Marion County Police Department (IMPD) seized 2,800 guns that were associated with crimes, and over 1,700 guns were reported stolen in 2017. Indianapolis public safety leaders remain concerned because, while the rest of the nation’s homicide and violent crime rates are trending downward, Indianapolis is not following this trend – rather remaining steady or increasing in many violent crime categories.

In January of 2019, the ATF and IMPD officially launched the Indy CGIC.  The Indy CGIC is an interagency collaboration focused on the immediate collection, management, and analysis of crime gun evidence. The Indy CGIC will identify linked criminal shooting events, investigate and identify repeat shooters, and build strong criminal cases against repeat shooters by using the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) to identify shell casings and firearms from related crime scenes. The Indy CGIC will rely heavily upon the IMPD’s gun liaison program to ensure comprehensive forensic evidence recovery from firearms, ballistics, and shell casings at crime scenes to strengthen firearms prosecutions.  The Indy CGIC will partner with other crime reduction initiatives such as the Indianapolis Violence Reduction Partnership (IVRP) to leverage additional resources and will utilize the ATF National Tracing Center and other crime gun intelligence to further their investigations.  These investigations will result in the arrest and prosecution of repeat shooters, thereby disrupting the gun violence cycle, and ultimately reducing violent gun crime in Indianapolis.

Point of Contact:
Lt. Michael Bruin
Michael.bruin@indy.gov

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, MO, has a significant gun problem that jeopardizes the public health and well-being of its citizens. It has consistently struggled with violent crime, even though it is not among the nation’s largest metropolitan cities (FBI, 2014; 2015). Kansas City reported a 20% increase in aggravated assaults from 2014 to 2015 (KCPD Annual Report, 2015; InfoView Report, 2016), of those 25% were committed with a firearm. The number of aggravated assaults committed with a firearm in 2015 rose to 1190, nearly a 28% increase from 2014 (LERC, Aggravated Assaults, 2016). In an effort to focus resources, the Kansas City Police Department’s (KCPD) Law Enforcement Resource Center (LERC), in conjunction with the Midwest Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC), has identified a “Hot Zone”, where a disproportionately high percentage of aggravated assaults and homicides involving a firearm as well as drive by shootings occur. The Hot Zone represents approximately 10% of the city, by area. In the past two years, 71% of all firearm-related aggravated assaults have occurred in the Hot Zone (LERC, Crime Map, 2016). In the past five years, nearly 76% of the homicides committed with a firearm and 77% of the recorded “drive-by shootings” occurred in the Hot Zone (LERC, Analysis of Drive-By Shootings, 2015; KCPD Homicide Analysis, 2014; KCPD Homicide Analysis, 2015).

Under the Kansas City Crime Gun Intelligence Center Initiative, the KCPD and CGIC partners will fully implement the CGIC process that is in line with the ATF Governing Board’s CGIC best practices. KCPD will increase the frequency of evidence collection from district stations for NIBIN entry, will assign KCPD investigators and ATF special agents to the CGIC; will improve lab analysis turnaround time; will increase collaboration with state and local prosecutors’ offices and parole and probation; will work with CGIC researchers to measure outcomes; and will leverage existing analytical capacities.

Point of Contact:
Captain Justin Kobolt
Law Enforcement Resource Center
Kansas City Missouri Police Department
Main: (816) 949-1677
justin.kobolt@kcpd.org

Los Angeles, California

Despite years of decreases in violent crime, violent crime increased in Los Angeles from 2014 through April of 2016, by 14.3 % from 2013 through 2014 and by 21% from 2014 through 2015. Specifically, from January 1 to March 31, 2016, 185 people were shot, and over 38 people were killed in gun and gang violence. In 2015 and 2016, four divisions that make up only 17% of the city’s geographic population accounted for 34% of all violent crime in Los Angeles and 50% of its murders. In order to combat violent crime, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) developed a strategy that incorporates community partnerships, proactive deployment of officers, and the use of data-driven, evidence-based tactics. The establishment of the Los Angeles Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC) will greatly improve the existing strategy by focusing its efforts in the most violent area of the city, within the 77th Street Division.

Under the Los Angeles CGIC Initiative, the LAPD will work closely with its partners to reduce violent crime and gun crime, increase the production of timely and actionable information regarding violent crime, enhance collaboration among agencies in Los Angeles, and develop and implement Focused Deterrence to prevent gun-related crimes, among other goals. The LAPD will work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the LAPD intelligence analyst, and the JSS research analyst to conduct NIBIN analysis, gun crime tracing, and identification and arrest of armed criminals. A focused deterrence team comprised of law enforcement and community-based organizations will identify prospective clients for call-ins and work together to prevent and mitigate criminal offending with a firearm. A team of prosecutors comprised of members of the USAO, Los Angeles City Attorney (LACA), and Los Angeles District Attorney (LADA) will develop an overall strategy and work with the LAPD to review arrests, determine filing items, and manage offender cases. Finally, LAPD’s research partner, Justice & Security Strategies, will work with the LA CGIC to evaluate the effectiveness of its efforts.

Point of Contact:
Commander Gerald Woodyard
Operations-South Bureau
Los Angeles Police Department
Main: (323) 786-5080
Gerald.woodyard@lapd.online

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is plagued by gun violence. While the number of violent offenses in 2017 was 7.8% higher than in 2016, the number of violent gun offenses was 13.1% higher. During the first 3 months of 2018, violent offenses were 5.8% lower than during the same time in 2017, but violent gun offenses remained about the same. Most importantly, the proportion of violent crime committed with a firearm increased from 46.1% in 2016 to 48.4% in 2017. Comparing the proportion of violent crime committed with a firearm during the first quarter of 2018 to the same period in 2014, 2105, 2016, and 2017, it is at its highest level. In January-March 2018, 47.8% of all violent offenses were committed with a firearm, compared to 45.1% in 2017, 47.7% in 2016, 45.2% in 2015, and 45.5% in 2014.
Although existing entities and relationships have had measurable successes, Memphis still has a problem with gun violence. Having a CGIC on-site will strengthen these relationships, deepen collaborations, provide the opportunity to train officers on the importance of ballistics evidence, provide the opportunity to improve the analysis and use of ballistics data, provide the opportunity to integrate data from existing gun violence reduction programs, and dramatically improve the efficiency and effectiveness of all ongoing efforts in Memphis to reduce violent gun crime.

Point of Contact:
Major Darren M. Goods
MGU Operations Commander
3657 Old Getwell Road
Memphis, TN. 38118
Memphis Police Department
Main: (901) 395-6639
darren.goods@memphistn.gov

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The city of Milwaukee has historically been afflicted with high levels of firearm violence, fed by a steady source of firearms from commercial retailers, gun shows, stolen firearms, and internet based selling platforms. Milwaukee suffered a 42% increase in total violent crime between 2011 and 2015, and has the second highest violent crime rate per 100,000 U.S. residents. In order to combat firearm violence, the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) implemented the ShotSpotter gunshot location system, as well as embedded the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network within their Intelligence Fusion Center. In 2014, the MPD and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) entered into a collaborative effort to reduce gun violence through the creation of a Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC).

Despite MPD’s significant efforts and progress towards implementing the ATF Governing Board’s CGIC model, more is needed to improve system deficiencies, increase operational capacity by NIBIN/CGIC focused personnel, and provide enhanced real-time comprehensive NIBIN leads to the Milwaukee CGIC Task Force, MPD personnel, and other partners. To this end, the Milwaukee CGIC Initiative will focus on personnel expansion, improving program infrastructure, overtime, crime analyst training, and community outreach focused deterrence programs, with the assistance of multiple partners. Collaboration among different agencies is key in this initiative, and partners include the ATF, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Research partners include the Police Foundation and George Mason University’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy’s Dr. Christopher Koper, and these partners will work with CGICs to obtain data for effective performance measurement.

Point of Contact:
Lieutenant Patrick E. Fortune
Milwaukee Police Department
Intelligence Fusion Center
749 West State Street
Milwaukee, WI 53233
414-935-1200 (Office)
pfortu@milwaukee.gov

Phoenix, Arizona

The City of Phoenix has experienced a significant increase in violent crime over the past few years. Many of these violent crimes have resulted in homicides, aggravated assaults and robberies which generally have a firearm nexus. In order to address violent gun crime, the Phoenix Police Department (PPD) has worked closely with other agencies in the Phoenix area and has developed the Phoenix Metro NIBIN Program. This program incorporates 26 different agencies from around the state that enter their shell casing information into the PPD-based system. This collaborative approach facilitates cross-jurisdictional investigations of gun-related crimes and has been an extremely successful and productive program for all participating agencies. In order to enhance this and other existing strategies and to develop new gun crime reduction strategies, the Phoenix Police Department (PPD) and partners will establish a Phoenix Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC).

The PPD will utilize the ATF Governing Board’s CGIC best practices by developing a workflow process/ investigative process that includes patrol, NIBIN, case detectives, the PPD Gun Squad and ATF operational manpower. In developing the CGIC, the PPD will form an Executive Steering Committee that will involve a broad collaboration that includes partners from the Phoenix Metro NIBIN program, county and federal prosecutors, community organizations, ATF subject matter experts and a research partner from the Arizona State University. These partners will develop processes and make them into protocols and policies to support the CGIC operations.

Point of Contact:
Mark Heimall
Lieutenant – Violent Crimes Bureau / Crime Gun Intelligence Unit
Phoenix Police Department
Phone: 602-534-5925
mark.heimall@phoenix.gov

San Francisco, California

In half of San Francisco’s ten police districts, 80% or more of homicides were by firearm, exceeding the national average of 68%. Gun violence is geographically concentrated in San Francisco, with just three police districts (Mission, Ingleside, and Bayview) accounting for more than 50% of all firearm homicides, and more than 60% of all crimes involving a firearm. The CGIC approach is ideal for addressing the regional, interconnected nature of firearms crime in San Francisco, and identifying, investigating, and prosecuting gun crime drivers to sustainably reduce gun violence. San Francisco proposes the implementation of CGIC practices and core principals citywide, building upon a close collaboration of the SFPD Investigations Division and District Attorney George Gascón’s Crime Strategies Unit (CSU), and emphasizing advanced strategic data analysis to address serial gun offenders and gun violence crime drivers.

Point of Contact:
Commander Greg McEachern
Bureau of Investigations

Tulsa, Oklahoma

The City of Tulsa has been ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. In January of 2018, CBS News published a list based on data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association Violent Crimes Survey that placed Tulsa at 12thamong 61 U.S. urban centers with the highest murder rates per capita. While rankings are often debated, they reflect an urgent need to improve efforts to reduce violent crime in the community.

The upward trend in violent gun crime emphasizes the need to change current processes to improve effectiveness in reducing violent crime. Short-term task forces were used to address violent crime within the city limits, but long-term and broader approaches are needed. The Tulsa Police Department is committed to adopting modern strategies that address crime trends and technology advancements.

Point of Contact:
Tara Brians
Laboratory Director
City of Tulsa PD Forensic Laboratory

Washington, D.C.

Over the past two years, Washington, DC has experienced an increase in the proportion of gun-related violent crime.* Between 2014 and 2015, homicides in the city increased by 54 percent. While the number of homicides declined in 2016 when compared to 2015, the proportion of gun-related homicides continues to rise. In 2014, firearm-related homicides comprised 69 percent of all homicides and in 2015, 76 percent of all homicides were associated with guns. That number increased to 78 percent in 2016. These gun crimes are concentrated in several neighborhoods in the District, impeding development in these areas even while other parts of the city experience an economic boom.

A major contributing factor to gun crime in Washington, DC is the availability of guns in surrounding jurisdictions. An ATF report on firearms recovered and traced in Washington, DC shows that in 2014, more than 50 percent of guns recovered in the District with known source states were traced back to Maryland or Virginia.** Less than five percent of guns recovered in Washington, DC originated in the District.

Under the Washington, DC Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC) Initiative, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) will work closely with local and federal partners, including the DC Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS), the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and surrounding jurisdictions to target and reduce gun crime. CGIC partner agencies will work to:

1. Ensure the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) and eTrace databases contain comprehensive data;
2. Coordinate investigations that span jurisdictional boundaries;
3. Mitigate intelligence gaps among agencies; and
4. Facilitate violent crime investigations and prosecutions, among other objectives.

To achieve these objectives, executive partners, including senior managers from the MPD, DFS, USAO, and ATF, will meet to discuss the status of NIBIN and CGIC operations and end user needs on a quarterly basis. Tactical team partners, including ATF and MPD enforcement groups, will conduct the daily operations of the CGIC. Research partners will coordinate with CGIC analysts to obtain the appropriate data for effective performance measurement. MPD serves as the lead agency for the CGIC initiative, with continued support from the ATF, DFS, PGPD, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), and USAO.

*Violent crime is defined as homicide, assault with a dangerous weapon (ADWs), and robbery.
**Source: https://www.atf.gov/about/docs/report/district-columbia-firearms-trace-data-%E2%80%93-2014/download

Point of Contact:
Heidi Fieselmann
Executive Office of the Chief of Police
Metropolitan Police Department
Main: (202) 727-9318
heidi.fieselmann@dc.gov