3. Stopping the illegal trafficking of firearms
Maryland EXILE is committed to addressing the problem of illegal firearms possession by pursuing not just criminals who possess guns, but also those who supply them or help make them available. Under Maryland EXILE, firearms dealers who break the law will pay the price. In addition, friends, girlfriends and boyfriends, family members, or any other individuals who act as straw purchasers will face the same consequences as the felons they are helping – arrest, prosecution, and jail.
4. Providing training, support and information sharing among law enforcement agencies
Dismantling entire violent gangs and organizations is one of the primary missions of Maryland EXILE. Maryland EXILE’s team of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies is committed to working proactively to identify violent gangs and the most violent repeat offenders and to devise strategies for getting them off the streets as quickly and effectively as possible.
5. Protecting citizens who assist in law enforcement investigations
The communities of Maryland must be safe for honest, law-abiding citizens. Any efforts to threaten or intimidate witnesses will not be tolerated. Maryland EXILE’s team of federal, state, and local agencies is committed to protecting witnesses and prosecuting those who would attempt to harm them. We will use the full force of the federal and state criminal laws to pursue vigorously anyone who threatens, intimidates, or retaliates against any witness, and take them off the streets for as long as possible.
6. Conducting community outreach and public awareness
Taking back our neighborhoods and communities requires more than effective law enforcement. As a result, Maryland EXILE will emphasize community action and neighborhood renewal projects. Armed criminals are not just a police problem; they are the community’s problem as well. Only through concerted action by the entire community can we stem the rising tide of violent crime and make a lasting, long-term impact.
Maryland EXILE will help to initiate and fund community revitalization projects in certain neighborhoods that have been hit most severely by violent crime. The initiative will also work with local police departments to promote and expand the use of neighborhood watch programs and other types of activities designed to empower residents to take back control of their streets from drug dealers and other criminals.
Maryland EXILE is conducting an aggressive media/public relations campaign to send a message to criminals and to the broader community that any felon who carries a gun in Maryland is going to jail – that criminals will do hard time for gun crime. The campaign is designed to alert offenders to the crackdown on gun crime and to energize the community to support law enforcement efforts and, in particular, their local police. We are also working to identify felons in particular communities who are on parole or probation for violent crimes or firearms offenses and to communicate the message directly and unambiguously to those individuals that they are going straight back to jail if they commit another offense.
