FBI-Led Task Force Joins Anti-Gang Effort in Minnesota

A federal effort designed to dismantle gangs at their core will roll out soon in the Twin Cities, months after the Metro Gang Strike Force was shut down amid allegations of misconduct and evidence mishandling.

The Twin Cities Safe Streets Violent Gang Task Force will be led by the FBI, and will investigate gangs as organized criminal enterprises, using federal tools such as anti-racketeering statutes to take down the whole group by going after its leaders. And unlike the strike force, the FBI says its venture will be tightly managed and funded by the federal government.

"The Gang Strike Force was more of the 'Let's go out and saturate a neighborhood and see who we can stop.' We just don't operate that way with any investigation," said Ralph Boelter, the special agent in charge of the FBI office in Minneapolis. "We're very calculated, very methodical, very thoughtful in what we do."

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