AG Merrick Garland Opens Crime Gun Intelligence Center in Cleveland

Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers remarks at an event honoring the anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, at the Justice Department in Washington on May 14, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Attorney General Merrick Garland opened a Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC) in Cleveland on June 25 to give police better tools to investigate gun crime across Northeast Ohio.

Speaking at a news conference, Mr. Garland said the new CGIC will give law enforcement agencies access to cutting-edge ballistic analysis and firearms tracing technology to solve gun crimes.

“With this CGIC, it does not matter if a crime is committed in a city, a suburb, or a rural area. The law enforcement investigators who investigate will have cutting-edge technology at their fingertips and a lineup of experts ready to assist,” he told reporters.

This centralized CGIC will also help investigators detect patterns in cases in which a single firearm is used to commit crimes in multiple jurisdictions across Northeast Ohio, according to Mr. Garland.

“No one in this country should have to live in fear of gun violence. No family and no community should have to grieve the loss of their loved ones to senseless violence,” he said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) operates more than 60 CGICs nationwide. These intelligence centers are equipped with cutting-edge technologies, including the ATF’s National Integrated Ballistic Information Network and eTrace systems, to help law enforcement agencies develop and pursue investigative leads.

The Northeast Ohio CGIC will be the first intelligence center situated within the jurisdiction of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

It was designed to execute a two-pronged approach: one focused on an intelligence component led by ATF and the other on investigations led by the Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program.

This CGIC will bring together more than 30 agencies across federal, state, and local law enforcement. The DOJ stated that federal and state prosecutors will also participate in ballistics testing and firearms tracing to ensure the timely charging of perpetrators.

ATF Director Steven Dettelbach said firearms tracing has yielded results in Cleveland, with homicides involving firearms down by more than 33 percent year to date.

“Because when you put cops, detectives, deputies, agents, prosecutors, analysts from all different agencies—federal, state, local government—in the same location reviewing evidence from the previous night’s shooting and working together with real time intelligence, it is a true game changer,” he told reporters.

Gun Violence Declared a Public Health Emergency

Mr. Garland’s announcement comes as Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued the first surgeon general’s advisory on firearm violence on June 25, declaring gun violence a public health crisis.

According to the advisory, firearms-related injuries have become the leading cause of death for U.S. children and adolescents, surpassing motor vehicle crashes, cancer, and drug overdoses.

“54 percent of adults in America report that they or family members have experienced a firearm-related incident, whether they’ve been personally threatened with or injured by a firearm, lost a family member, witnessed a shooting, or shot a firearm in self-defense,” Dr. Murthy said.

The unprecedented advisory calls for a public health approach to address what Dr. Murthy describes as a “moral crisis” that demands immediate and decisive action.

Chase Smith contributed to this report.