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GARY RESPONSE
INVESTIGATIVE TEAM (GRIT)
In 1997, at the direction of Attorney General Janet Reno, the FBI initiated the GRIT Task Force comprised of members of the FBI, the DEA, the Gary Police Department, the Indiana State Police, the United States Attorney's Office, the Lake County Prosecutor's Office, and the Indiana Army National Guard to combat the high crime problem in the city of Gary, Indiana.
In that same year, Congress designated Northwest Indiana a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) and forwarded a $3 million dollar grant to the area.
GRIT was formed specifically to combat drug trafficking organizations and violent crime attributable to gangs in the City of Gary, Indiana, and is the first task force of its kind.
GRIT's Accomplishments:
616 arrests
Over 200 federal convictions
283 handguns, assault rifles and shotguns seized
Dozens of gang operations disrupted, numerous totally dismantled
Homicide rate continues to drop
1997 - 98 homicides
1998 - 79 homicides
1999 - 74 homicides
2000 - 67 homicides
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