The New York Police Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives created a joint intelligence center that will seek to crack down on the illegal gun trade following a surge of shootings in the city.
The center will use new technology and traditional detective work to trace the source of weapons involved in crimes, said John DeVito, the ATF’s special agent in charge of New York State, said at a press conference Tuesday with Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“It’s not a matter of if, but when we’ll come calling,” DeVito said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who’s been contending with a 77% increase in shooting incidents citywide this year, described the effort as a “seamless team-up” and an “unprecedented partnership to reduce illegal guns in New York City.” NYPD’s intelligence division will deploy officers who will be “designated as federal agents” in the effort to hunt down the sources of guns used in crimes, de Blasio said.