Law enforcement agencies announce joint crackdown on crime

ALBANY — Representatives of local and federal law enforcement agencies gathered at the downtown Albany Law Enforcement Center to announce their joint operation to reduce violent crime in Albany. The agencies have been meeting throughout the week, resulting in more than 50 arrests of violent drug and gun offenders, as well as offenders with outstanding warrants.

Among the agencies present were the Albany Police Department, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office, the Dougherty County Police Department, and the Department of Community Supervision and Homeland Security. Charles Peeler, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, has also been a part of the operation.

Peeler addressed the negative social and economic effects that violent crime has on Albany.

“Albany, Georgia, is a wonderful city with wonderful citizens and wonderful corporate partners; unfortunately, Albany is not immune to the rise of violent crime that has plagued so many cities across our country,” Peeler said at the press conference. “It’s a moral issue. Citizens deserve to live in safe neighborhoods. But it’s also an economic issue. Businesses relocate to safe neighborhoods. Businesses grow in safe neighborhoods. Jobs are created in safe neighborhoods.”

Peeler said that he is convinced that the way to reduce violent crime in communities is through forming partnerships between federal, state and local law enforcement to identify the most violent individuals and incarcerate them for as long as possible. The local partnership among these agencies is called Operation Arrowhead.

“This coalition is not going to stop until violence in Albany, Georgia, ends,” Peeler said.

John Edgar of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force for the U.S. Marshals announced that the decision to execute Operation Arrowhead came from the city’s high population of gangs. With Albany’s crime rate above the national average, the city was in high demand for local and federal law enforcement agencies to form a coalition to focus on eliminating gang violence from the city.

“This was a huge endeavor and well worth the work that was put into the success of this operation,” Edgar said.

Albany Police Department Chief Michael Persley said that not only do local law enforcement agencies aim to imprison violent offenders, they want to address the issues that are plaguing the community. Some of the criminals apprehended this week were arrested for probation violations, but their records were a cause of concern for the community based on their violent history.

“It is our plan and our hope that with this, our community can breathe a sigh of relief for a moment, but we’re still in the fight,” Persley said. “We still need the community’s help to point out those persons who are threats, and even for those people who are threats to the community, there is an opportunity for them to turn over a new leaf and live among the rest of us in peace and harmony in our great city.”

Persley said the recent joint work is just the beginning and that multiple components to Operation Arrowhead will be unveiled. He said that the people who pose threats to the community need to be held accountable.

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