Agencies team up to crack down on gangs in Colorado Springs, Pueblo
For the last three months, law enforcement agencies have teamed up for a special operation on gang violence in Colorado, and we learned Wednesday just how many suspects were arrested.
Operation Triple Beam is part of a nationwide effort, but starting in May, federal, state, county and city officers got together to focus on arresting as many gang members as possible.
The operation came to an end this month but proved to be successful. A total of 156 arrests were made; and 26 firearms, including 10 fully automatic assault rifles, were seized from gang-affiliated criminals.
Local agencies like the Pueblo Police Department said they’ve seen several crimes happen in their area specifically because of gangs.
“I’m talking about loss, assaults, homicides, and the degradation of the quality of life in neighborhoods and communities,” said Pueblo Police Chief Troy Davenport.
Officers who made the arrests said they had to be planned delicately and then executed quickly, and while the suspected gang member is in the act of doing something illegal.
“To arrest someone, you always want to strike at a moment of opportunity, but it’s even better to catch them in the act of some kind,” said Brian Alfano, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals. “When you know they’re going to be doing something bad or illegal — that’s when we like to arrest them, get them in custody and present cases to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
Colorado Springs has seen a rise in crime since 2016, and while not all of it can be attributed to gang violence, it’s something Police Chief Pete Carey says he has to pay attention to.
“It is, in my opinion, significant and it’s something that requires, from a police perspective, constant vigilance and constant maintenance,” Carey said.
In this operation, no officers, civilians or criminals were injured as part of these arrests. Echoed over and over again to the press Wednesday morning was that this operation wouldn’t have been successful had it not been for cooperation between agencies.
