Suffolk District Attorney Hayden and local, federal partners announce first-in-New England gun trafficking initiative
BOSTON, May 12, 2022— District Attorney Kevin Hayden, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Boston Field Office James Ferguson, and Acting Boston Police Commissioner Gregory Long today announced a first-in-New England initiative combining local, state, and federal resources to stem the tide of illegal guns turning up on Boston streets.
The Boston Firearm Intelligence Review Shooting and Trafficking (Boston FIRST) program aims to use state-of-the-art ballistic tracking technology to reduce gun violence by identifying the source of crime guns and the individuals responsible for trafficking them into the City of Boston.
“This partnership will bring new resources to bear in the fight against gun trafficking and violence in our communities,” District Attorney Hayden said. “This program is not focusing on the frightened juvenile caught with a firearm. Rather, it combines resources to target the individuals who are responsible for flooding our streets with deadly weapons that lead to violence, bloodshed, and terror in our neighborhoods.”
As part of the program, two ATF special agents have been assigned to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Crime Strategies Bureau. This Bureau incorporates the office’s Crime Intelligence Unit, Gang Unit, Narcotics Unit, Human Trafficking and Exploitation Unit, Juvenile Unit and Juvenile Alternative Resolution (JAR) diversion program.
“Boston FIRST is a collaboration and partnership between multiple agencies, this initiative devotes the collective resources and expertise of its partners to identify, investigate and prosecute illegal firearm related incidents.” said Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Boston Field Division. “These efforts are strategically led using Crime Gun Intelligence and includes resources from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the Boston Police Department, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, ATF, the United States Attorney’s Office, and other law enforcement agencies. These resources focus on illegal firearms trafficking that fuels the violent shootings that destroy families and terrorize our communities.”
Two Boston Police detectives have been assigned to the project as well.
“The Boston Police Department will continue to work with our partners in every way possible to hold those accountable who engage in violence in our neighborhoods as well as traffic the firearms used to commit these violent acts,” said Acting Boston Police Commissioner Long.
The collaboration will utilize a federal ballistic database to track firearms and ballistic evidence seized during arrests in Boston. Linking the gun or ammunition to another crime or individual through the database will provide authorities the ability to build larger cases against illegal gun users, traffickers and suppliers.
“We’re combining technology, intelligence and personnel to turn street arrests into actionable data that can identify and hold accountable those responsible for moving large quantities of guns into our communities. We’re proud and excited to provide a blueprint for what should become a national standard for preventing gun violence,” District Attorney Hayden added.
The goals of the partnership are to better utilize federal law enforcement resources to benefit local communities, improve intelligence collection and sharing between partner agencies, increase the rate at which shootings are solved and coordinate investigations into the trafficking of firearms and across jurisdictions.
James Borghesani, Chief of Communications