VIP stats released

June 4, 2014 at 12:02a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

The police department has seized more than 30 guns since beginning its Violence Interruption Patrols about a month and a half ago.

Statistics released Tuesday that are updated through June 1 show that officers working the detail have seized 36 illegal guns so far. That number includes weapons seized by all officers, not just those on the VIP patrols.

VIP patrol members also have made 90 arrests on 155 various charges and have written 134 citations, said Capt. Kevin Mercer, who is helping to head up the patrols.

The patrols use a mixture of officers from various agencies such as U.S. marshals, the Adult Parole Authority, the Violent Crimes Task Force, the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, the juvenile probation office and other agencies to patrol areas where statistics show there has been a lot of crime, especially where firearms were used.

The Mahoning County prosecutor’s office and federal prosecutors for the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio also are taking part in the program by deciding if someone arrested should face state or federal charges. For some offenses, such as weapons offenses, federal sentences are stricter.

Mercer said almost all of the patrols since the program began in late April have been on the South Side, primarily in the Brownlee Woods area and the area around South Avenue. He said that is because the department’s crime statistics show that those areas are two of the busiest in the city.

Mercer did add that supervisors have the ability to shift patrols to other areas of the city should statistics show that extra officers are needed there.

The patrols also have yielded 25 search warrants, 264 citizen contacts and the seizure of 755 and a half grams of drugs, which is mostly marijuana, Mercer said.

The program is expected to continue until Labor Day.