U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, and Others Announce Joint Effort on Gun Crime in the Mahoning Valley

Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams joined with members of the region’s religious, business, and law enforcement communities, today announced the start of a joint federal, state, and local enforcement initiative that will target gun crimes in Youngstown and throughout the Mahoning Valley.

“We stand here today with a message for the area’s residents and for that small group that carries a gun and commits crimes,” Dettelbach said. “To the law-abiding majority, we are here to work with you and help safeguard your neighborhoods. To those who carry an illegal gun, our message is simple: pack it at the risk of going to federal prison.”

The plan announced today will include participation from: the Youngstown Police Department; the U.S. Attorney’s Office; the U.S. Marshal Service; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Federal Probation Service; the Ohio Adult Parole Authority; the Ohio State Highway Patrol; the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation; the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office; the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office; the Youngstown City Prosecutor; the Mill Creek Metroparks Police; the Austintown Police Department; the Boardman Police Department; the Campbell Police Department; the Struthers Police Department; and the Warren Police Department, among others.

These agencies will work together to put additional officers on the streets of Youngstown and surrounding communities to supplement regular patrols. They will also share intelligence and use crime mapping software and other technology to target specific neighborhood crime hot spots.

The goal is to identify repeat violent offenders, with an emphasis on reducing gun violence. Those arrested and found to be in possession of illegal firearms, drugs, or other contraband could then be prosecuted in either federal or state court.

The officers and agents participating have undergone extensive training in the past month about safeguarding suspects’ rights while searching for guns and other contraband.

Law enforcement leaders are also working on plans to use the patrols not just in Youngstown, but in surrounding communities throughout the Mahoning Valley.

The initiative is a modified resumption of the V-GRIP (Violence, Gun Reduction Interdiction Program) that federal, state and local authorities did in Youngstown in 2003. That program resulted in 369 arrests and 61 firearms seized, and there was only one homicide during the two months it was in operation.

The project will start after today’s announcement, but exact times and locations will not be shared with the public.