LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- The violent crimes Apprehension team is Little Rock's newest department and they’re already cracking down on crime in the metro.
Lt. Don Brown said they’ve made 15 arrests and 9 recovered weapons in the last two weeks, “several felony warrants we've made arrest and key gang leader members, to be a new team we're doing pretty good.”
The department said they waste no time; they start the day lining up and discussing goals and target areas, then they hit the streets.
They patrol downtown, midtown, John Barrow road, and what they said is one of their top problem areas, Harrison Street. We wanted an inside look at a day on patrol so we followed along, shortly after their lineup meeting they got a phone call of a possible location of a suspect; they got their plan together and we followed them to the house. Within five minutes of approaching the house the team made an arrest and now another criminal is off the streets.
Lt. Brown said their arrest comes from their teamwork and data intelligence system, “we have a crime analysis that plots where our heavy loads are as far as violent crimes and we focus our energy in that direction.”
The officers and Lt. of the squad hope this task force becomes permanent, “I hope this stays in effect because we definitely need it.”
The Lt. said they've also had help from surrounding departments like Jacksonville, Sherwood, and Pine Bluff; he said they're all in this together when it comes to keeping the streets safe.
