New ATF task force to target Las Vegas

Jace Radke

Thursday, June 24, 2004 | 11:01 a.m.

Las Vegas is one of 15 cities that will be getting extra help in fighting violent crimes as part of a violent crime initiative involving Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives-led task forces, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced today.

Dan Bogden, U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada, was scheduled to announce the Las Vegas Violent Crime Impact Team at a press conference this morning.

"The violent crime rate has plunged to the lowest level in 30 years, but we view these impressive results as just the beginning," Ashcroft said. "Our goal is to make an immediate impact on these communities by targeting repeat offenders with tough prosecutions and tough sentences."

According to the FBI's annual crime report, violent crime rates in Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County increased by 2 percent last year while declining by 3.2 percent nationwide. Some of the other cities receiving a task force have also reported increasing violent crime rates even as the nation's crime rate has dropped in recent years.

Others on the list have falling crime rates but have specific problems that federal authorities are being assigned to address.

Nationally, homicide was the only violent crime on the increase, rising last year by about 178 cases, or 1.1 percent. Metro reported a 5 percent increase in homicides; there were 137 in 2002 and 144 last year.

Ashcroft told reporters that the violent crime teams would target "the hottest zones of criminal activity" in cities where high murder and violence rates persist.

Besides Las Vegas other cities that will get the new violent crime teams include Albuquerque, N.M.; Baltimore; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Tampa, Fla.; Miami; Richmond, Va.; Greensboro, N.C.; Tulsa, Okla.; Pittsburgh; Columbus, Ohio; Philadelphia; Los Angeles; Tucson, Ariz.; and the Washington, D.C.-Northern Virginia region.

Teams of agents from the ATFE; U.S. Marshals Service; and Drug Enforcement Administration will be assigned to each of the 15 cities for six months. A Justice Department prosecutor will handle cases of those charged.

Investigators will focus on prosecuting people for firearms violations, which often accompany gang activity, illegal drug organizations and organized crime groups. The 15 Violent Crime Impact Teams will use high-tech surveillance and other techniques to identify the worst offenders.

The initiative also aims to reduce the traditional summer increase in murder and violent crime, he said. Firearms offenses are the main focus because they are often more readily proven in court than other crimes.

"We hope this will be successful early - that this summer will be a different kind of summer," Ashcroft said. The ATFE is leading the effort because of its expertise in gun crime investigations and ballistics, said ATFE Director Carl Truscott.

The task forces are expected to cooperate with the local and federal agencies already working with another Justice Department Program, Project Safe Neighborhoods. The program targets gun and violent crime.

Southern Nevada has already seen a 400 percent increase in federal indictments for gun crimes from 2001 to 2003, said Natalie Collins, a spokeswoman for Bogden's office.

The number of federal gun-crime indictments charged in the region increased from 39 in 2001 to 147 in 2002 and 162 in 2003. Between July 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004, 66 defendants were convicted and sentenced in federal court in Las Vegas for gun crime offenses, according to court statistics.

"Through the efforts of the Project Safe Neighborhoods team, we have removed hundreds of violent recidivist offenders from the Las Vegas community," Bogden said. "Based on those successes, I am confident that the Violent Crime Impact Teams will provide the means to strengthen and continue that trend."

The Associated Press

contributed to this story.