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| Members of the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Youth Gun Violence Task Force |
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Youth Gun Violence Task Force recently completed its three-month-long mission, executing more than 100 warrants, affecting dozens of arrests and seizing numerous illegal firearms from perpetrators.
The Youth Gun Violence Task Force continued efforts this summer that originally began in July 2020. Since June of this year, the reformed task force executed 105 search warrants, made 65 arrests and seized 19 guns in its work in St. Mary’s County.
The task force’s mission included a high visibility presence in at-risk neighborhoods to reduce the frequency of gun violence; interdiction enforcement to recover illegally possessed firearms from persons and vehicles; using covert investigative strategies to identify suspects involved in gun crimes; review and evaluation of both open and closed gun cases for intelligence and engagement with community members and organizations for information and support.
“Over the past three months, the task force worked tirelessly to investigate and arrest violent criminal offenders who terrorized our community with a callous disregard for the sanctity of life,” said Lt. Shawn Moses, Youth Gun Violence Task Force Coordinator. “The cumulative results produced by the task force undoubtedly serves as a testament to how the community and law enforcement can work together to investigate and deter violent crime,” he said.
“I am immensely proud of the extraordinary hard work conducted by the Youth Gun Violence Task Force this summer,” Sheriff Tim Cameron said. “Their efforts in removing illegal firearms and arresting those carrying them has made a significant improvement in the quality of life in the St. Mary’s County community. Our work is not done. Our agency and our partners will continue to address these issues through community engagement, intervention efforts and prevention efforts,” he said.
“I would also like to sincerely thank our law enforcement and prosecution partners on the local, state and federal levels for all of their support for the task force,” the Sheriff said.
The work of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Youth Gun Violence Task Force was a collaborative effort with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); the US Attorney’s Office; the Maryland State Police (MSP) and the State’s Attorney’s Office for St. Mary’s County to ensure the safety and security of all residents, through the arrest and prosecution of those seeking to do harm onto others through gun violence.
