Strike force's work to get guns off Chicago's streets successful in first year, officials say
CHICAGO (CBS) – A special federal strike force has been working for more than a year to get the influx of off guns off Chicago streets.
They're targeting the worst of the worst gun traffickers and on Friday, CBS 2's Megan Hickey got a glimpse at whether it's working.
So far, the strike force has caught over 50 suspects red-handed here in the Northern District of Illinois. U.S. Attorney John Lausch said they've gotten lots of help from the state's neighbors.
You may not have heard of the Firearms Trafficking Strike Force, but since July 2021, they've been working behind the scenes on some of the highest-profile gun cases in the Midwest.
For example, tracking down Jamel Danzy, the Indiana straw purchaser who bought a gun at the request of a convicted felon who was charged with shooting and killing Officer Ella French last summer.
"Things happened for the wrong reason. I really don't want to talk more about it. It happened," Danzy told CBS 2 last year.
"When we have a crime, a horrific crime, like that, we were able to work with local law enforcement on both ends," Lausch said.
Lausch said the strike force has strengthened their connections with other U.S. attorneys across the Midwest, in places where the guns are often bought before they're used in Chicago-area crimes.
"We've seen it make a difference here," he said.
And that's not all the strike force has been up to.
They've been recruiting allies.
Like when the manager of a south suburban car wash was busted for trafficking more than 35 ghost guns, machine guns and rifles. The feds used a high-ranking gang member-turned-informant to record audio and video of the transactions.
"It allows us to get kind of a behind-the-scenes look as to what's actually happening and to help us identify who the main targets are and to help us bring them to justice," Lausch said.
He added a lot of the work with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been data driven.
They look at multiple purchases made by the same person, and "time to crime," or how long after a gun is bought before it's recovered at a crime scene.
"To try and piece crimes together and really identify the path of a gun and how it's used in violent crimes," Lausch said.
He added one year in, the strike force is here to stay in Chicago. They've also been working closely with the Chicago Police Department's Gun Investigations Team.
