Last Updated on July 11, 2007 by Paulette Brown-Hinds
SAN BERNARDINO
Congressman Joe Baca (D-43) and local and federal officials will announce the arrival of a Department of Justice Violent Crime Impact Team (VCIT), assigned to the city of San Bernardino.
Rep. Baca and his staff worked closely with the United States Department of Justice, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) calling on them to be involved in a series of crime summit meetings Rep. Baca hosted last year. Local non-profit organizations and law enforcement were invited to participate in these collaborative meetings to find federal solutions to crime in San Bernardino.
The goal of a Violent Crime Impact Team is to reduce homicides and firearms-related violence through identification, investigation, and arrest of those responsible for violent crime. VCIT brings with it additional resources and enforcement strategies that have proven successful in 10 identified areas of best practices, including the use of the full array of intelligence assets and the deployment of resources during peak hours of criminal activity.
“The residents of San Bernardino have witnessed a sharp increase in shootings and killings in the streets over the past few years. Deploying the Violent Crime Impact Teams to the city of San Bernardino is one of many tools we will use to deter crime,” said Rep. Baca. “The residents will benefit from this important partnership between the federal and city governments.”
The city of San Bernardino joins 27 other cities across the nation to have Violent Crime Impact Teams dispatched since its inception in June 2004. After 6 months of the initial pilot in 2005, VCIT areas saw a 17% decline in homicides committed with firearms compared to the same period the previous year.