WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice says it has joined the fight against violent crime and carjackings in D.C. The DOJ announced Friday it will bring additional law enforcement resources to the District.
Among the new tools is a multi-component Gun Violence Analytic Cell (GVAC), which is led by the FBI with partners from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Using data analytics, GVAC will identify additional federal investigations that should be opened to combat violent crime and carjackings.
To increase the capacity to prosecute the additional investigations generated from GVAC and other efforts, the initiative will also detail federal prosecutors from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division to work violent crime cases in D.C., and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is moving additional prosecutors within the Superior Court docket to focus on carjacking and both lethal and non-lethal firearms cases.
“We have been surgically targeting and prosecuting those driving violence within our community,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia in a press statement. “The surge of resources to these efforts will allow us to continue to expand on these efforts and to take even more drivers of violence off our streets.”
The DOJ says the surge in resources builds on similar ones throughout the country, and are part of the department's overarching Violent Crime Reduction Strategy, which was first announced in 2021.
“Last year, we saw an encouraging decline in violent crime in many parts of the country, but there is much more work to do — including here in the District of Columbia,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This surge in law enforcement resources will build on the Department’s efforts to target the individuals and organizations that are driving violent crime in the nation’s capital. The Justice Department will not rest until every community in our country is safe from the scourge of violent crime.”
Over the weekend, surveillance video captured the sounds of gunfire during a Saturday afternoon shootout in a Hill East neighborhood.
The shooting happened on 16th Street Southeast near Independence Avenue. D.C. Police say no one was injured.
"It sounds like a warzone right? This like automatic gunfire going off at 2 p.m. in the afternoon on a gorgeous Saturday," Adam Trister told WUSA9. His surveillance video was the one that captured the exchange of gunfire.
Neighbors tell WUSA9 they are watching closely how the DC Council advances Councilmember Brooke Pinto's crime bill with over 100 initiatives.