Attorney General Of The United States Carr: In First Six Months, Gang Prosecution Unit Indicted 50 Alleged Gang Members

Attorney General Chris Carr promoted the work done by his brand-new Gang Prosecution System released in July; ever since, the unit has prosecuted 50 declared gang members throughout 13 counties, he informed lawmakers on Wednesday.

The Georgia gang detectives estimate that 60 percent of violent criminal offenses are gang-related, so this unit's production is completely timed to be a force multiplier in this fight," Carr said in a discussion to the cash committees. "With the brand-new unit, we've been working hand-in-hand with regional, state, and federal law enforcement to guarantee that violent bad guys are strongly prosecuted and put behind bars."

He said the system likewise works alongside the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, introduced in 2019.

In 2022, the General Assembly authorized legislation offering the attorney general's office jurisdiction to prosecute criminal gang activity and passed $1.3 million in costs for the Gang Prosecution Unit in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget plan.

On Wednesday, Carr requested an additional $1.75 million in Fiscal Year 2024 to money data storage technology for the unit.

" Building gang cases and gathering digital evidence requires our office to shop and retain exceptionally large amounts of information, and in particular video data," Carr stated.

That consists of local authorities body camera video, video footage from private citizens' doorbell video cameras, and security cameras from federal government and companies.

Carr also stated lawmakers and the administration need to do more to block gang recruitment activity and cited a gang founded at a Georgia high school in 2017 that has members as young as 10 years old.

" With the rise of social networks, it's assisted to broaden the reach and frequency of this prohibited activity. Recruitment is on the rise, and the age of the members is trending younger and more youthful, from 7, eight, and nine years old," he stated.