Jun 28th, 2017
With violent crime up in the recent months, the prime targets for MPD’s Operation City H.E.A.T. (Heightened Enforcement and Apprehension Tactics) are repeat criminals. Year to date, 134 adults and two juveniles have been arrested for 118 felony-type crimes. And, police have seized a total of 22 weapons.
“Getting career criminals off the streets is our focus,” said Major John Barber of the Field Operations Division. “The department utilizes intelligence-driven data to target specific individuals and direct officers into certain geographical locations that are experiencing an increase in criminal activity.”
Barber explained that the department is not seeing random acts of violence but deliberate acts between individuals known to each other that erupt into deadly encounters.
Of the 19 homicides committed year to date, five of those were domestic-related, and another nine involved individuals who were known to the victim. Five of the homicides are unsolved.
“When we make an arrest on an individual with a criminal record dating back over 10 years that is when we as law enforcement must engage our federal and state partners to aggressively prosecute offenders to ensure they are locked up and removed from our community,” Barber said.
MOBILE POLICE DEPARTMENT