HOUSTON — Violent crime in our area has increased. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said it’s partly to do with COVID-19. The other reason: he believes some local judges are to blame.
"No matter how hard our prosecutors are trying, our activist judges are not holding violent criminals accountable people are dying and being victimized," Chief Acevedo said. "They are not held accountable because of the activist judges."
To help with that problem, Chief Acevedo said they’ve leaned on their ATF federal partners. In 2019, they formed a task force called the Crime Gun Strike Task Force targeting violent crime in the Houston area, like shootings, armed robberies and homicides.
So far, they say it's working.
"In fiscal year of 2020, which ended Sept. 30, this task force has conducted 293 arrests," said Fred Milanoswki, ATF special agent.
The ATF has brought over a mobile unit to help. This is the only one in the nation and can capture evidence from guns, bullets and shell casings much faster. The best part is it compares evidence to link criminals to multiple crimes using a system called NIBIN, a national database of ballistic evidence.
"It allows to close more open shooting cases linking 6 or 7 or 8 shootings together, knowing it's the same gun," special agent Milanoswki said.
The chief hopes this serves as a warning to those violent criminals, letting them know they will be caught and will face the federal charges.
"When we catch these crook, they are not going to hug a thug. They will go to the federal system where they will be sure they will behind bars awaiting trial," Chief Acevedo said.
The task force will also be adding 10 more officers.