A new federal initiative to reduce crime will put teams of ATF agents, U.S. marshals, DEA agents, and federal prosecutors in selected cities to work with local law enforcement to identify and arrest the most violent offenders in each city.

The program, called the Violent Crime Impact Teams Initiative, or VCIT, will assign federal agents from ATF, DEA, and U.S. Marshals Service to each city for a period of approximately six months. Many of the teams will include a federal prosecutor from the Department of Justice to handle the prosecutions of those arrested under the program.

Targeted cities were chosen based on recent crime statistics and the ability for law enforcement to significantly reduce violent crime in a short period of time.

Communities that will be involved in the VCIT program include: Albuquerque, N.M.; Baltimore, Md.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Tampa, Fla.; Miami, Fla.; Richmond, Va.; Greensboro, N.C.; Tulsa, Okla.; Pittsburgh, Penn.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz.; and the Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia region.

“The goals of the VCIT initiative,” says ATF Director Carl J. Truscott,” are to decrease, within six months, the number of homicides, number of firearms related to homicides, number of violent crimes, and number of violent firearms crimes.”

For more information visit www.atf.gov.