St. LOUIS, Mo. (TNND) — The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday announced results from Operation Show Me Justice, an eight-week law enforcement crime surge focused on violent crime reduction in St. Louis.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the operation resulted in 435 arrests, the seizure of 80 kilos of drugs, 166 guns, as well as more than $1 million.
“Through Operation Show Me Justice, the teams arrested 435 individuals for drug crimes, firearm crimes, [and] other crimes. That includes 412 outstanding warrant arrests,” McCotter said during a news conference, adding that one of the offenders had seven outstanding warrants.
These are people who have been wanted for a long time. A lot of them are still operating in their neighborhoods — well, until now, because now they’ve been arrested and taken off the street,” he said.
McCotter, who said the operation was led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), appeared at the St. Louis briefing with U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, ATF Director Robert Cekada, U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces Serralta, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Robert J. Tracy, and Thomas C. Albus, who is the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri.
They characterized the effort as a concentrated enforcement push targeting violent criminals. The DOJ said the operations focused on illegal guns, drug trafficking, and repeat offenders
“We don’t have to accept violent crime,” McCotter said. “It’s not something you have to shrug your shoulders at. This is not a fact of life in a city or anywhere else if you have the political willpower.”
Source: local12.com
