Efforts to rid Mississippi’s capital city of violent criminals are continuing with federal officials stepping in to help prosecutors in Jackson investigate violent crimes committed with firearms.
The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) New Orleans Field will be deploying a National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) mobile unit to Jackson that will assist law enforcement agencies in the city and throughout the Southern District of Mississippi with investigating crimes committed with firearms.
Additionally, DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a $675,000 grant to Jackson in 2022 as part of ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration Initiative. The grant, which will be spent over several years, is being used to improve Jackson’s access to NIBIN, a database of bullet casings recovered from crime scenes across the United States, to examine the use of firearms in multiple shootings and provide other tools to improve investigations of violent crimes committed with firearms.
This news follows the creation of “Operation Unified,” an all-hands-on-deck approach by federal, state, and local law enforcement groups to keep violent criminals off the streets of Jackson. Since the initiative was launched in January and publicly announced in February, more than 600 arrests have been made, over 200 illegal firearms have been seized, and more than 500 pounds of various drugs have been confiscated by various agencies.
“To those who are using our capital city as their criminal playground — your time here is over,” Gov. Tate Reeves said. “You don’t run this city, and you are not immune to the law. We will not surrender our streets to you, and we will never – and I mean never – rest until you are behind bars.”
Agencies participating in the operation include the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Capitol Police, Homeland Security, the Jackson Police Department, the Hinds County District Attorney, the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, the Mississippi Department of Corrections, the FBI, DEA, and ATF, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
