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National Drug Intelligence Center |
Violent crime, particularly drug-related violent crime, is a significant threat to the NE HIDTA region. Law enforcement officials throughout the region report a distinct relationship between drug trafficking and violent and property crime; they indicate that most robberies, thefts, shootings, murders, and cases of domestic violence have a drug nexus. All four violent crime categories and every property crime category except burglary decreased in the New England region from 2006 through 2007, according to the most recent data published in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 2008 Uniform Crime Report (UCR). (See Table 3.) This differs from the 2007 UCR that reported that violent crimes involving murder/nonnegligent manslaughter, robbery, and property crimes involving burglary and larceny/theft increased in the New England region from 2005 through 2006.
Table 3. Violent and Property Crimes Reported in New England, by Category, 2005-2007
| Crimes | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | Percent Change 2006 to 2007 |
Rate per 100,000 2005 |
Rate per 100,000 2006 |
Rate per 100,000 2007 |
Percent Change per 100,000 2006 to 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 45,922 | 45,247 | 43,334 | -4.2% | 322.1 | 317.1 | 303.8 | -4.2% |
| Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter | 363 | 370 | 357 | -3.5% | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.5 | -3.8% |
| Forcible rape | 3,671 | 3,496 | 3,395 | -2.9% | 25.8 | 24.5 | 23.8 | -2.8% |
| Robbery | 13,310 | 13,940 | 12,225 | -12.3% | 93.4 | 97.7 | 85.7 | -12.3% |
| Aggravated assault | 28,578 | 27,441 | 27,357 | -0.3% | 200.5 | 192.3 | 191.8 | -0.3% |
| Property crime | 341,953 | 341,602 | 337,359 | -1.2% | 2,398.8 | 2,393.8 | 2,365.1 | -1.2% |
| Burglary | 68,992 | 69,727 | 70,828 | 1.6% | 484.0 | 488.6 | 496.5 | 1.6% |
| Larceny/theft | 235,667 | 236,594 | 235,947 | -0.3% | 1,653.2 | 1,658.0 | 1,654.1 | -0.2% |
| Motor vehicle theft | 37,294 | 35,281 | 30,584 | -13.3% | 261.6 | 247.2 | 214.4 | -13.3% |
Source: Uniform Crime Report.
Note: Minor calculation discrepancies may exist because of rounding of figures.
Violent, armed street gang members who engage in midlevel and retail drug distribution, particularly of powder cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin, pose a significant threat to public safety in the NE HIDTA region. The level of street and prison gang involvement in drug distribution in prisons is also increasing in the region. According to NDTS 2009 data, 48 of 104 state and local law enforcement agency respondents in the NE HIDTA region identify crack cocaine as the drug that most contributes to violent crime in their areas; 23 of 104 identify crack cocaine as the drug that most contributes to property crime. Street gang members frequently commit violent crimes (such as assaults on police officers and others, home invasion robberies, shootings and assaults with dangerous weapons, and robberies) and property crimes (burglaries and thefts) to protect and expand drug operations and to collect drug debts. Home invasion robberies are a particular problem for law enforcement officials because victims are often drug traffickers who either do not report the crime or do not admit that their drugs or drug proceeds were stolen, even if they report the forced entry. Additionally, some drug traffickers in the region use threats of violence to intimidate witnesses in trials against them.
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Operation Community Shield Impacts Gang Members in New England In August 2008, law enforcement officials in Massachusetts reported the arrests of 52 gang members and associates and 28 other criminals during Operation Community Shield, an initiative that targeted violent street gangs. The arrestees were members of 24 different gangs, including 18th Street, Bloods, Crips, Deuce Boys, MS 13, and Tiny Rascal Gangsters. The arrestees included 55 permanent residents who, based upon their criminal history, may be removable from the United States--14 illegally residing in the United States, 2 wanted on warrants of deportation, and 3 who reentered the United States illegally following previous deportations. The arrestees all had criminal records and included foreign nationals from Barbados, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Portugal, Trinidad, and Vietnam. In June 2008, law enforcement officials involved in Operation Community Shield also arrested 11 gang members and associates in Brockton, Massachusetts; the arrestees were foreign nationals from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. Under Operation Community Shield more than 450 criminals were arrested in the Boston area from 2005 through August 2008, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. |
The acquisition and use of firearms by street gang members pose an increasing threat in the NE HIDTA region. Gang members generally obtain firearms through either direct or intermediary purchases, by theft, and in exchange for drugs. Some gang members also acquire firearms illegally from sources in other parts of the United States or purchase them from other gang members and criminals in the NE HIDTA region. For instance, in October 2008, law enforcement officials in Hartford reported that a previously convicted felon was sentenced for his role in the theft of more than 70 firearms from the bonded warehouse of a trucking company; the weapons were sold to several individuals, including known drug dealers and gang members.
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Violent Crime Impact Team Targets Weapons-Related Violent Crime in Areas of Hartford Violent Crime Impact Teams (VCIT) were established by ATF in Hartford and more than 20 major cities across the United States to aggressively identify, arrest, and prosecute violent offenders who threaten communities with weapons. From April 2005 through 2007, 589 individuals were arrested and charged with firearms offenses, and 1,255 firearms were recovered in Hartford under the VCIT program. A significant number of firearm-related arrests and firearm seizures that took place in Hartford during 2008 were attributed to the VCIT program, according to preliminary ATF data. In one case nearly 90 firearms were seized from individuals who routinely exchanged weapons for cocaine and heroin. In another case 50 individuals were indicted in Hartford on federal narcotics and firearms charges. During the investigation law enforcement officials seized firearms, powder and crack cocaine, heroin, drug paraphernalia, approximately $100,000 in cash, and vehicles that had been used in furtherance of drug trafficking activities. Many of the arrests and firearms recovery incidents involved street gang members. The number of reported incidents of gang-on-gang violence that involve firearms appears to be increasing in Hartford, according to law enforcement officials. Source: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. |
In 2007 (the latest year for which such data are available), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) traced 4,263 firearms that were recovered in New England during criminal investigations conducted by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies; nearly 70 percent of the recovered firearms were traced to an initial purchase outside of New England. Handguns (pistols, revolvers, and derringers) accounted for approximately 67 percent of the firearms recovered and traced in New England in 2007. (See Table 4.)
Table 4. Number of Firearms Recovered and Traced by ATF in New England, 2007
| State | Type of Firearm Recovered | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pistols | Revolvers | Rifles | Shotguns | Derringers | Destructive Devices |
Other* | Machine Guns | Tear Gas Launchers |
Number Recovered and Traced |
|
| Connecticut | 709 | 418 | 322 | 241 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1,714 | |
| Maine | 134 | 63 | 119 | 86 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 412 | ||
| Massachusetts | 760 | 336 | 204 | 151 | 15 | 35 | 13 | 5 | 19 | 1,538 |
| New Hampshire | 63 | 25 | 26 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 127 | |||
| Rhode Island | 162 | 63 | 31 | 30 | 5 | 291 | ||||
| Vermont | 76 | 23 | 56 | 25 | 1 | 181 | ||||
| Total | 1,904 | 928 | 758 | 544 | 38 | 38 | 20 | 14 | 19 | 4,263 |
Source: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, National
Tracing Center Division.
* "Other"
includes a combination gun and unknown types.
According to law enforcement officials, illicit drug abusers in the HIDTA region have robbed pharmacies to obtain supplies of CPDs for personal use and for resale to other addicts to finance their addictions and also commit a host of violent and property crimes. Heroin and crack cocaine abusers are often implicated in incidents of domestic violence, including child abuse and neglect and spousal abuse. Some drug abusers in the region commit burglary, forgery, fraud, and theft of scrap and/or precious metals to support their addictions. Moreover, some CPD abusers have committed bank robberies in the HIDTA region.
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