Chicago police are recruiting federal agents to help them fight the record-high number of violent carjackings that have plagued the city.
The Chicago Police Department announced Sunday that they are enlisting the help of federal authorities, especially agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Fox News reported.
“We’ll look at the patterns and trends and we’re bringing federal resources to bear because quite frankly they have some things that they can realize that we can’t on the state and local level,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.
Johnson added that the anti-carjacking force would also consist of state police officers, prosecutors, and police officers from neighboring suburban areas.
The Chicago police superintendent said that increased enforcement efforts would also lead to more prosecutions in federal court where those who break the law face stiffer penalties than at the state level.
“We’re not playing around,” he said. “They want to continue to go out there and take the easy path of taking someone’s vehicle, then we’re going to take that path of punishment to the fullest extent of the law.”
Fox 32 Chicago reported that the city task force might use a federal helicopter to track carjacked vehicles reported to the authorities.
Carjackings in Chicago reached a ten-year all-time high in 2017; the city recorded more than 950 carjackings in 2017. The last time the city had that many carjackings in one year was in 2007 when the city recorded 898 carjackings that year.
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