Published: 10-30-08
Austin Brownsville Corpus Christi El Paso Houston Laredo and McAllen also receive funds to combat transnational gangs
AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry today allocated $500000 to the Dallas Police Department and $225000 each to the Arlington Fort Worth Garland and Irving police departments to help target transnational gang activity. These grants are awarded under the federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program and distributed by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division (CJD).
“No one has a better grasp of the situation on the ground than the peace officers who patrol our neighborhoods and tackle the challenges of law enforcement every day” Gov. Perry said. “These officers are the key to our fight against transnational gangs and Texas is committed to ensuring that they are well equipped to combat these organizations.”
The governor will allocate a total of $4 million in CJD grant money to Arlington Austin Brownsville Corpus Christi Dallas El Paso Fort Worth Garland Houston Irving Laredo Mc Allen and San Antonio. The funds will be used as overtime pay for officers who patrol hot spots of gang activity.
As part of his gang strategy Gov. Perry’s plans to ask the 2009 Legislature for continued border security funding including $110 million in sustained border security funding as prescribed by the Border Security Council report’s findings of past successes under the strategy as well as $24 million to combat transnational gang activity across the state.
Transnational gangs such as the Mexican Mafia Texas Syndicate Barrio Azteca and MS-13 operate in every region of the state and are involved in extortion retail drug distribution vehicle theft child prostitution money laundering and drive-by shootings. They recruit members from high schools and prisons and have become highly adaptive increasingly using technology to thwart law enforcement efforts.
Gov. Perry’s gang initiative builds on the proven border security strategy of working with local law enforcement and increasing resources for surge operations as well as providing resources for investigations and prosecutions. The initiative calls for a multi-jurisdictional gang strategy that includes:
• Expanding the sharing of vital gang information at all levels of law enforcement across the state;
• Centralizing gang intelligence;
• Expanding effective local law enforcement gang operations in identified “hot spots”;
• Increasing resources dedicated to multiagency criminal enterprise investigations targeting leadership of the most dangerous gangs;
• Seeking enabling legislation to arm law enforcement with essential gang fighting tools; and
• Expanding gang prevention efforts.
“Securing our international border is a federal responsibility one that Washington has yet to fulfill” Gov. Perry said. “As a result the Texas Legislature took decisive action last session by providing the necessary funding to secure our border. I ask that they continue to support this critical effort to protect our communities and combat the escalating threat of gangs in Texas.”
