Salinas Police launching Violence Suppression Task Force

Salinas Police say a special unit going after violent criminals will now work year-round.

Officials say they put their violence suppression unit on hiatus, but brought it back two years ago and just this summer they’ve made 127 arrests, taking lots of criminals off the streets.

Guns and gangs–they often go hand in hand on Salinas streets.

Police showed off evidence of the success of their suppression units at today’s news conference.

“This is just the beginning of this violence suppression task force, which the main focus will be to address gang violence and illegal drugs being exchanged in the city of Salinas,” says Assistant Police Chief Roberto Filice.

And those drugs are a big concern.

This summer alone, officers confiscated 107 pounds of marijuana and 80 grams of cocaine. They also arrested two people for murder.

‘We decided that due to the great success of this unit that we would keep the expansion going and then fortify it with our federal and local law enforcement,” says Chief Adele Frese.

And with all the claims of success, police say the key ingredient to combating crime is help from the public.

“This is not a Salinas police department fight. It’s a fight that the community needs to fight with us. So they need to assist us in fighting the gangs. And together we can definitely win the war against the gangs,” says Filice.

These gang suppression sweeps proved so successful Chief Frese says they’re devoting more resources to the program.

That means 7 full-time officers and more partnerships with the CHP, FBI and even Homeland Security.