Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration (CGIC) Initiative

Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration (CGIC) Initiative is sponsored by U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). This competitive grant program provides funding to state and local government entities experiencing increases in gun crime.

BJA - The National Crime Gun Intelligence Center Initiative BJA helps to make American communities safer by strengthening the nation's criminal justice system: Its grants, training and technical assistance, and policy development services provide state, local, and tribal governments with the cutting edge tools and best practices they need to reduce violent and drug-related crime, support law enforcement, and combat victimization.

BJA is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Institute of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office for Victims of Crime, and Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking.

About the Local Law Enforcement CGIC Initiative The Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration (CGIC) Initiative, administered by BJA in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), is a competitive grant program that provides funding to state and local government entities that are experiencing precipitous increases in gun crime to implement comprehensive and holistic models to reduce violent crime and the illegal use of firearms within their jurisdictions by enabling them to integrate with their local ATF Crime Gun Intelligence Centers (CGICs).

The purpose of this initiative is to encourage local jurisdictions to work with their ATF partners to utilize intelligence, technology, and community engagement to swiftly identify firearms used unlawfully and their sources, and effectively prosecute perpetrators engaged in violent crime.

Even if your jurisdiction does not receive CGIC grant funding, the National Policing Institute welcomes and encourages other agencies to participate in this initiative by requesting direct support.

Grant funding has been awarded to the jurisdictions below: Successful Grant Application Examples If your agency is interested in applying to receive funding through BJA's local law enforcement crime gun intelligence integration initiative , consider reviewing the following successful applications that have previously been awarded to help guide your narrative.

Charlotte, North Carolina (FY21) Cuyahoga County, Ohio (FY21) Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FY21) Harris County, Texas (FY22) State of Connecticut (FY22) Successful Expansion Grant Application Examples If your agency is interested in applying for BJA's local law enforcement crime gun intelligence integration initiative expansion grant, consider reviewing the following successful applications that have previously been awarded to help guide your narrative.

Charlotte, North Carolina (FY24) The cities, selected with input and coordination from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), are: Albuquerque, New Mexico (FY20 Award) According to the New Mexico Vital Records, in 2013, the third leading cause of death for New Mexican children between the ages of one through eighteen was homicide with 74% of those occurring by a firearm.

Children ages 0–19 are killed by guns at a rate almost 60 percent higher than the national average and are murdered by guns at almost 40 percent above the national average. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “Fatal Injury Data” – New Mexico is the 10th worst state for gun deaths and it has 14. 6 gun deaths for every 100,000 people in the state in 2010 which is 40% higher than the national average of 10.

3 gun deaths for every 100,000 people. Albuquerque’s homicide rates have continued to increase over the past several years with a slight decrease only as recent as 2020. Figures 1-5 show the majority of homicides were committed in Albuquerque by a firearm.

Atlanta, Georgia (FY24 Award) The Atlanta Police Department (APD) seeks to establish the Atlanta Crime Gun Intelligence Center (ACGIC) through Category 2 funding under BJA FY24 Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration Initiative.

The purpose of this APD-led initiative is to respond to substantial and protracted levels of gun crime in Atlanta and the surrounding metro-Atlanta jurisdictions, specifically gang-involved and repeat violent offenders.

The initiative will allow for the creation of a standalone ACGIC forensic ballistic lab for prioritized and swift processing of ballistic evidence on gang and repeat offender- involved cases as well as the submission of National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) acquisitions by neighboring jurisdictions pursuant to signed memos of understanding.

Through streamlined processes within APD and access for outside jurisdictions, the ACGIC will significantly enhance the volume of NIBIN acquisitions and correlations yielded from the metro-Atlanta area and augment existing anti-gang and repeat offender apprehension strategies through targeted enforcement and collaboration.

APD will partner with Georgia State University to develop, implement, and monitor agreed upon performance measures and conduct process and outcome evaluations of ACGIC efforts.

Aurora, Colorado (FY22 Award) The Aurora Police Department will produce timely, precise, and objective Crime Gun Intelligence data to identify, focus, and coordinate their efforts and those of bordering agencies, and federal law enforcement, forensic, and prosecutorial resources on the most violent armed offenders in Aurora.

The proposed model will be built upon the best practices set forth by the National Crime Gun Intelligence Governing Board, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and Bureau of Justice Assistance. Aurora will generate timely and comprehensive NIBIN and Crime Gun tracing data to be used as proactive, objective investigative tools to provide fast, accurate, and relevant information to both investigators and prosecutors.

Investigators can quickly follow-up on NIBIN leads to investigate recent shootings, determine the sources of Crime Guns, link otherwise unrelated shooting crimes, and identify violent suspects for priority proactive investigations. Prosecutors can use Crime Gun Intelligence as compelling, scientific proof in the courtroom to link firearm evidence to additional violent crimes, thus enhancing bonds and sentences.

The Crime Gun Intelligence concept is based on the premise that evidence, casings recovered from the scenes of all shooting crimes, and every qualifying pistol and rifle taken into police custody will be test fired and entered into the NBIN database. In addition, Crime Gun Intelligences overlays Crime Gun tracing with NIBIN Leads to identify the first retail purchasers of firearms that have actually been used to commit shooting crimes.

The project’s main goal and impactful expected outcomes are: The primary goal of Crime Gun Intelligence is to develop timely actionable leads that will identify armed violent offenders for investigation and prosecution.

Meaningful, timely, and ongoing collaboration with ATF, bordering police agencies, local crime laboratories, probation and parole, prosecuting attorneys, U.S. Attorneys’ Office (USAO), crime analysts, community groups, and academic organizations. Reduce the rate of homicides and non-fatal shootings. Baltimore, Maryland (FY19 Award) Baltimore is the largest city in the state of Maryland.

Gun violence and homicides have plagued the City of Baltimore for the last five years. To deal with the increase in gun violence and the numbers of homicide victims, the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) developed a strategy that incorporates proactive deployment of officers, the use of data-driven, evidence-based interventions, and community engagement.

In the Western and Eastern Districts, the BPD has created Strategic Decision Support Centers (SDSCs) that follow the Chicago and Los Angeles police department models. These are hubs of data and technology where local commanders, officers, and analysts focus on identifying crime patterns, communicating and sharing information across the district, and creating daily patrol missions that target specific crime locations.

Following this strategic step, focus was then placed on crime guns and violence associated with guns and seen as the next logical step in Baltimore’s strategy to reduce crime in the city. To further the Department’s primary goal of reducing crime and violence, the City of Baltimore will improve and expand upon the Baltimore Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC), a necessary component to BPD’s overall strategy.

The CGIC business model established by other agencies across the country provided important lessons for Baltimore. Incorporating CGIC business practices will enhance collaborations and allow BPD to specifically target gun crime. Through this model Baltimore will enhance their ability to use actionable intelligence through leads from the National Integrated Ballistic Integration Network (NIBIN) and eTrace.

Working with the ATF, BPD will follow up with crime gun investigations and work with the US Attorney’s Office (USAO) and the Baltimore State Attorney’s Office (SAO) to prosecute those offenders to the fullest levels possible. BPD’s Research Partner, Justice & Security Strategies, Inc. (JSS), will assist with data collection, analysis, and the process and impact evaluation of CGIC.

The CGIC concept, which has already been implemented citywide in Baltimore will be expanded upon to refine and strengthen the current business processes. There will be an extreme focus in the Eastern and Western Districts where Strategic Decision Support Centers have been firmly established and where data and technology are used routinely and ShotSpotter is a key component.

BPD will work in concert with ATF and other key stakeholders to improve our current workflow process, as well as investigative process which includes patrol, NIBIN, case investigators, ATF Task Force Officers and Agents, analysts, and other BPD operational components.

Improving Baltimore’s CGIC will strengthen existing relationships, provide the opportunity to train officers on the importance of the recovery of ballistic evidence, provide the opportunity to improve the analysis and use of ballistics data, and dramatically improve the efficiency and effectiveness of all ongoing efforts in Baltimore to disrupt the shooting cycle and reduce violent crime.

The BPD’s current relationships with outside agencies will continue to be strengthened through evaluation, the implementation of MOUs, and the sharing of best practices and success stories achieved through CGIC partnerships thereby making the sustainability of the CGIC model attainable.

Bridgeport, Connecticut (FY22 Award) Bridgeport is the largest city in Connecticut, with a racially and ethnically diverse population of nearly 149,000 residents. With approximately 23% of those residents living below the poverty line, it is also one of the state’s most impoverished cities. Bridgeport has seen a precipitous increase in gun-related crime over the past several years.

The period of time between calendar years 2019 - 2021 saw gun violence incidents increase dramatically, with firearm-related homicides increasing by 44. 2% from the previous three-year span and firearm-related assaults also rising 20% from 296 incidents to 355 incidents. ShotSpotter data indicated that the City recorded 1,556 incidents of shots fired during the same period.

The nature of this violence, which is largely gang-related, poses a serious challenge for law enforcement. The Bridgeport Police Department has already made substantial investments in its efforts to combat gun violence. The Department developed Fusion Center, its strategic operations center, to bring together citywide surveillance systems with crime-monitoring technology such as ShotSpotter.

Fusion Center is currently staffed by 5 full-time Bridgeport police officers, along with 1 full-time police lieutenant and a full-time school security officer. Bridgeport Police also commenced a city-wide investigation into ongoing gang violence with comprises federal, state, and local partners from agencies including the FBI, DEA, and ATF.

The Department also began weekly intelligence meetings where a similar coalition of federal, state, and local stakeholders share updates, resources, and discuss best practices. The purpose of this grant will be to enhance these existing efforts through the development of a Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC).

This will be accomplished with the purchase of additional technology, including an expansion of ShotSpotter coverage, ShotSpotter Connect technology, access to NIBIN, and expanded surveillance.

BPD will convene a CGIC Integration Team to develop and implement processes governing the collection and analysis of ballistic evidence, as well the dissemination of NIBIN hits and leads through daily intelligence meetings and weekly collaborative meetings.

The expected outcome of these efforts is to improve response time, bolster the collection of ballistic evidence, and facilitate federal, state, and local investigations with the ultimate goal of prosecuting gun criminals and reducing gun violence overall.

As a part of this project, BPD will report on deliverables including, but not limited to: MOU agreements formed with partners, new policies and procedures implemented, ShotSpotter and NIBIN data, trainings received, and the resulting number of investigations and convictions. Broward County, Florida (FY22 Award) Broward County is the 17th most populous county in the United States and second-largest in the state of Florida.

It includes 31 municipalities and a current population of over 1. 9 million residents.

The Firearm and Toolmark (FATM) unit of the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) Regional Crime Laboratory is charged with test firing of firearms for function determination, comparing fired knowns to unknowns recovered from a crime, the recovery of obliterated serial numbers, making muzzle to target distance determinations as well as database searches utilizing the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) ATF currently is one (1) of two (2) agencies with local Crime Gun Intelligence Centers (CGIC). The FATM strives to provide leads and hits to the CGIC in a timely fashion; however, an increase in workload has led to increased times of lead notifications. From 2018 to 2020, Broward County has observed a staggering 42% increase in violent crimes committed with a firearm.

The rise in crime guns has led to increase turnaround times for results coming from the FATM unit which has resulted in a growing backlog of cases. Additionally, Risk Protection Order (RPO) law has resulted in hundreds of cases where firearms are seized and need to be examined and entered into the system as well. Many of these cases involve numerous firearms.

The end goal of the collaborative efforts using Crime Gun Intelligence centers and their methodology is to reduce the amount, and overall impact of firearms-related crimes. To stem the tide of rising violent crime, the FATM unit will work with prosecutors and investigators to quickly deliver actionable information via NIBIN and E-Trace.

These programs along with the FATM being joined to the National Correlation Center will provide information to investigators within five (5) days of the crime lab receiving the evidence, which will allow for more timely and more accurate arrests as well as a higher case closure rate. The FATM will communicate with law enforcement partners, ATF, and prosecutors monthly to ensure that information is being shared effectively.

In addition, grant funding will support a second Brasstrax unit for NIBIN entry, two (2) additional Forensic Technicians dedicated to firearm operability/screening and entering cases in NIBIN, and an Administrative Secretary to compile CGIC data and support the unit’s grant objectives.

Charlotte, North Carolina (FY21 & FY24 Award) The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) is a local law enforcement agency, comprised of 1,982 officers and 475 civilians employees, dedicated to providing problem-oriented, data-driven, and evidence-based practices that improves its service delivery to the 951,287 residents of the City of Charlotte and unincorporated areas of Mecklenburg County.

The primary mission of the CMPD is to protect lives and enforce North Carolina State Law. The identification of firearm related violent offenders aligns with the CMPD’s mission and is critical to protecting lives. The CMPD’s jurisdiction has experienced a significant increase in population growth in the last five years.

They have also experienced a significant increase in firearm related violent crime. Chattanooga, Tennessee (FY20 Award) The City of Chattanooga, located in Hamilton County, Tennessee, has a disproportionate amount of gun violence. Between the years of 2015 – 2019, 80% of gun violence occurred in 24% of the city (33sqmi).

According to FBI UCR data, homicides per 100,000 residents have increased from 13. 2 per 100,000 persons in 2015 to 19. 94 per 100,000 persons in 2019.

In contrast, the city has experienced a decrease in non-fatal shooting victims during that time frame. For instance, in 2015, Chattanooga had an aggravated assault with a firearm of 58. 74 per 100,000 persons compared to 49.

29 per 100,000 persons in 2019. Despite this downward trend, the gun violence within a city the size of Chattanooga appreciably exceeds the US average per 100,000 persons.

With funding through the BJA CGIC Initiative, the Chattanooga Police Department (CPD) seeks to 1) develop analytical support to improve police response to gunshots fired utilizing report management systems, eTrace, and additional technology; 2) collaborate with ATF to investigate likely shooting incidents by ensuring that every crime gun is submitted to the ATF National Tracing Center; 3) support and promote collaborative partnerships with multiple regional agencies to ensure effective prosecution of CGIC cases; and 4) ensure the sustainability of the CGIC through MOUs with partners and continuing education and outreach with future partners.

Chicago, Illinois (FY22 Award) While still pervasive in several specific geographical spots in the city, available statistics will show that gun-related crime in Chicago was on a downward trend through 2019.

However, in 2020 through 2021, despite pandemic-related lockdowns, Chicago's diverse communities experienced a precipitous upsurge in fatal and non-fatal shootings, and an evident increase in the number of police-recovered illegal firearms.

In 2022, statistics maintained by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) demonstrate that roughly 50% of shootings in the city occur in just seven of the city’s 22 police Districts – Districts that have been designated by the US Attorney’s Office (USAO) as Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) Districts.

Of the 639 shooting incidents and 161 homicides recorded through April 1, 2022, 340 shootings and 82 homicides have occurred in the PSN Districts. Located on the city's South and West sides, these Districts account for more crime than the 15 other police Districts combined. National research shows that homicide rates increased by an unprecedented 20% in 2020, with the trend appearing to continue in 2021 for Chicago.

Through April 2022, while our overall crime numbers are down, Chicago has recorded more homicides than New York or Los Angeles. Our records also show that our officers recovered more than 12,000 illegal firearms in 2021. The increase in gun violence can be attributed to numerous factors and may, indirectly be a result of increased public distrust and anger toward the police.

What is incontrovertible is that law enforcement needs: more effective tools; improved data and intelligence sharing between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies; improved collaboration between all public safety stakeholders to drastically reduce crime guns on the street; and ensure prosecution of gun offenders.

CPD will use FY2022 CGIC Integration Initiative funding to implement the CGIC business practice in seven PSN Districts by enhancing our capacity to produce additional investigative leads and better corroborating physical evidence aimed at strengthening crime gun cases for effective prosecution.

To achieve this, funds will be used to fill an operations analyst’s position dedicated to the PSN Districts to assist in the prosecution of CGIC-qualified cases and purchase a comparison microscope to allow the CPD Ballistics Lab to prioritize gun cases from the PSN Districts and develop more timely NIBIN Leads/BIA Alerts for investigators.

Meanwhile, grant funds will also be used for investigative overtime to support case investigations and prosecution.

Cincinnati, Ohio (FY21 Award) The Cincinnati Police Department of Cincinnati, Ohio, in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office, United States Attorney’s Office, Hamilton County Probation, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office and the University of Cincinnati, seeks to enhance its initiative to locate the areas of chronic, sustained and active gun violence, including those areas which have been impacted by the precipitous increase, and quickly exploit crime gun intelligence to target participants in violent crimes, including violent offenders, illegal possessors of firearms, firearms traffickers, and sources of crime guns on a regional scale.

Columbia, South Carolina (FY19 Award) The City of Columbia, SC, is the capital and second largest city in the State of South Carolina. Although overall crime in the State has been decreasing, Columbia’s violent crime rate has averaged more than double the national average over the past decade. One of Columbia’s most pressing problems has been a precipitous increase in gun-related violence.

From 2017 to 2019, murders committed with a firearm rose 128%, and the non-fatal shootings within our most challenging areas have also continued to increase since 2016.

In response to these increases in violent crime, the Columbia Police Department (CPD) leveraged our strong partnerships with area law enforcement, prosecutors and community stakeholders, to create initiatives aimed at identifying violent and repeat offenders and removing them from our communities.

A large part of our strategy has been developing our intelligence processes, with an emphasis on crime-gun intelligence, to ensure that we are focusing our resources on the offenders who are impacting gun-related violent crime. In 2019, after CPD made improvements to our crime gun tracing and NIBIN processes, and acquired ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology in our most violent areas, we created a Crime Gun Intelligence Unit (CGIU).

Our CGIU, which is comprised of CPD and ATF personnel, follows CGIC best practices and established workflow, to identify, analyze and investigate crime gun intelligence, with the goal of producing actionable intelligence (or “leads”) to assist in identifying, arresting and prosecuting offenders who unlawfully possess and/or use firearms, and identifying illegal sources for crime guns that are being used in our city.

Connecticut State (FY22 Award) The project’s purpose is to develop a statewide CGIC in the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP). This CGIC will be a collaboration of the Connecticut State Police (CSP), Gun Tracing Task Force (GTTF), CSP Watch Center, and the Division of Scientific Services (DSS).

The Watch Center is an investigative intelligence gathering Unit in the CSP dedicated to gun crimes and works closely with the GTTF, FBI, ATF, and the major city police departments in the State of Connecticut. The DSS is the state’s forensic laboratory that has three NIBIN Acquisition Units - two of which are available to all law enforcement agencies 24/7.

DSS works closely with all the law enforcement agencies in the State of Connecticut including Federal agencies, the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney’s (OCSA), and the Department of Criminal Justice’s State’s Attorneys. The primary activity of this project is to provide law enforcement agencies in this State with pertinent forensic information associated with NIBIN leads.

Currently, NIBIN leads are disseminated to all the agencies to which a gun crime is associated. The CGIC will communicate forensic results to all the agencies involved, that incorporates information from CODIS (DNA database), AFIS (fingerprint database), drug, electronic evidence analysis and other forensic evidence related to all associated cases that were established by the original NIBIN lead.

In addition, DSS will incorporate eTrace information for all guns submitted to the laboratory for NIBIN entry. Currently, over 50% of guns submitted have not had an eTrace conducted. The funding will be used to create an interface between law enforcement record management systems and the DSS laboratory information management system to share data.

Additionally, a Research Analyst will be funded to work cohesively between DSS and the OCSA to collate the intelligence data from the Watch Center/DSS to the State’s Attorney’s Office linking the information to dockets for individuals being prosecuted for gun crimes.

Cuyahoga County, Ohio (FY21 Award) The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office, with its local, state and Federal partners, looks to expand, enhance, and improve the Cuyahoga County Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC) established two years ago to become a national model for jurisdictions facing similar issues. A recent CGIC assessment identified gaps in personnel, and delays that affect timely correlations.

Requested grant funding will address these gaps and improve the CGIC business process to use innovative technology and provide timely intelligence to disrupt the shooting cycle to preventing shootings and increase prosecutions.

Detroit, Michigan (FY18 & FY24 Award) 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. East Baton Rouge, Louisiana (FY18 Award) 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.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FY21 Award) The Fort Lauderdale Police Department will utilize funding to formally establish a CGIC in the city, which will be the first in Broward County. A major component will be the creation of a CGIC Team to focus solely on the armed violence, specifically aggravated assaults/batteries and homicides, within the targeted enforcement area.

With the assistance of criminal justice partners, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department will employ tools such as ShotSpotter and NIBIN to increase their ability to gather intelligence and develop leads. The strategy seeks to end the increase, and ultimately reduce, the incidences of gun crimes in the neighborhoods adjacent to downtown Fort Lauderdale. This area has 42% of all homicides involving a firearm and non-fatal shootings.

Over the course of the three year period, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department hope to have disrupted this cycle and improve the safety of the community. Harris County, Texas (FY22 Award) The Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) is requesting $700,000 over a three-year period to increase its collaboration with the ATF Crime Gun Strike Force and expand the existing Houston-area CGIC.

This grant will enable Harris County to hire three additional personnel to enhance its capability to identify violent gun offenders, build criminal cases, and curb gun violence. Harris County is a very large urban county with the nation’s third largest county population at 4. 7 million residents.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is the primary law enforcement agency for the 2 million individuals who reside in the unincorporated areas. Unfortunately, Harris County has a significant and growing violent crime problem. During the period of 2019 to 2021, the total number of gun-related aggravated assaults handled by HCSO rose by 66%.

Aggravated assaults are a serious concern for Harris County residents. The Sheriff’s Office has taken a number of important steps to combat this problem. HCSO is an active participant in the ATF Crime Gun Strike Force, which utilizes collaboration between law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies to share intelligence with the goal of detecting, investigating, and prosecuting violent gun crime.

HCSO currently has a Task Force Officer detailed to the local ATF office. In addition, HCSO entered into an MOU with ATF and installed a BrassTRAX system at the Crime Laboratory to process cartridge cases recovered from crime scenes. The system is staffed by licensed NIBIN technicians trained in image acquisition protocols.

HCSO patrol deputies bring all fired cartridge cases from crime scenes to the accredited crime lab, where the ballistic evidence undergoes NIBIN analysis. Despite implementation of these best practices, violent gun crime in Harris County is on the rise. Grant funds will be used to hire three additional personnel dedicated to combatting the increase in aggravated assaults.

HCSO will add two Task Force Officers to work collaboratively with the Crime Gun Strike Force to identify linked shootings and develop leads. These deputies will focus on reducing Harris County’s aggravated assault numbers. In addition, Harris County will create a Criminal Research Analyst position at the District Attorney’s Office to support the work of prosecutors who handle violent gun crime cases.

Finally, HCSO will promote the importance of gun safety at community meetings and events. Henderson, North Carolina (FY20 Award) The City of Henderson has a population estimate of 14,936 as of 2018. It is the only incorporated municipality in Vance County, North Carolina, and serves as the seat for county government, as well as the employment and retail center for the region.

The City of Henderson experienced a 51% increase in violent crime from 2016 – 2018, and its homicide rate more than doubled since 2016. Firearm-related robbery increased from 2016-2018, and firearm-related aggravated assaults rose from 64 in 2016 to 98 in 2019.

Due to this high level of firearm-related crime, and its relation to firearm-related crimes in the surrounding area, Henderson Police Department (HPD) is often the primary agency working with state and federal law enforcement partners in the region.

The Henderson Police Department seeks to enhance existing responses to gun crimes and develop new approaches to responding to gun crimes through the establishment of the North Central Piedmont