'Operation Cease-Fire' Leads To 26 Arrests In Brevard County

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'Operation Cease-Fire' Leads To 26 Arrests In Brevard County
http://www.wftv.com/news/4426367/detail.html
POSTED: 12:25 pm EDT April 28, 2005

VIERA, Fla. -- Dozens of convicted felons were on Brevard County streets with guns in hand, until now.

While everyone else has been going about their daily business over the course of the last year, undercover agents have been infiltrating gangs and purchasing the guns. Thursday, they declared the operation a success.

Law enforcement officers showed off many of the high-powered weapons they have seized in Operation Cease-Fire over the course of the last year.

Federal and local agents worked together to track down what they say are some of the most violent people in Brevard County and, under new gun laws, are prosecuting them in federal and state courts to ensure they are put away for as long as the law will allow.

"They put a gun in their pocket like you or I put a shirt on and really give us new meaning to the term 'dressed to kill' and they are out in our community every day," said state attorney Norm Wolfinger.

Of the 26 they have arrested, all but three are still in custody awaiting their trials.

Two of the men, police say, were gang leaders who were arrested while they were planning a violent home invasion and robbery.

Authorities say there are still some arrests to come and say they may be starting a new operation based on the success of the one they just completed.
 
"They put a gun in their pocket like you or I put a shirt on and really give us new meaning to the term 'dressed to kill' and they are out in our community every day," said state attorney Norm Wolfinger.
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So do I. What's your point?












I keed, I keed. Mine's in a holster, not a pocket.
 
i wanna know what "high powered" weapons were confiscated. i think they are probably refering to AK etc. if gang bangers were smart, they would get cheap SKS rifles, but now, they are dumb as dog excrement. that, and i dont want gang members to use my favorite rifle :D
 
Sounds like the local government was empowering the local hoodlums in their attempt to trade up by paying top dollar for their old discards.

This reeks of a covert buyback program. Felons don't have the right to own arms. The authorities should not be rewarding them with cash for divesting themselves of arms.

Regards,
Rabbit.
 
First of all,
Felons don't have the right to own arms.
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is the subject of considerable debate, even around here. I'd agree that felons are denied the right own arms, though.

Second, assuming Operation Cease-Fire refers to the same Project Ceasefire I keep hearing advertised on the radio, it's not a buyback program; it's a program to aggressively prosecute felons-in-posession. Among other things, I think it includes a turn-in-your-neighbor campaign, as well as substantial cooperation and information-sharing between local and federal law enforcement agencies. Mostly, it's a way to send people to jail for posessing inanimate objects, particularly as a penalty amplifier for drug charges.
 
A years worth of undercover work for 26 arrests and no convictions?

Of the 26 they have arrested, all but three are still in custody awaiting their trials.
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Sounds like an excellent use of resources.
 
c. yeager, I must opine it IS a good use of resources, from an efficiency standpoint (although I am concerned that the "Cease Fire" initiative will serve to demonize firearm ownership, in general).

Look at it this way: 99.99...% of gun owners are honest, upstanding, law-abiding citizens who will never use a firearm except for legitimate purposes. The minuscule minority who use firearms illegally (for robbery, street gang warfare, etc.) do so repeatedly!

Every criminal arrested probably represents a multitude of felonies annually.
Let's say 12 per year (and I suspect that's conservative; most are criminals 24/7 . . .). If they actually wind up serving an average of 3 years apiece (I've been out of law enforcement a lotta years; this figure is pure supposition), 26 x 12 x 3 = 936 crimes prevented.

I do agree with focusing on known violent offenders rather than law-abiding gunowners. I just wish this "big picture" were reported more fairly in the media, so we're not painted with the hoodlums' brush!
 
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