The multi-agency, five-month long investigation, was initiated based upon criminal information that revealed an increase in violence related to gang activities and open-air drug dealing in various areas of Morris County. Known members and associates of local street gangs and drug dealers, who had a history of such behavior, were identified as the alleged perpetrators of this illegal activity.
The Violent Crime Initiative identified significant targets and then aggressively investigated and documented their illegal activities. As the result of tenaciously applying various investigative techniques, coupled with exemplary inter-agency cooperation, the Morris County Violent Crime Initiative arrested and charged 22 individuals who were allegedly conducting their illegal activities in residential areas of Morristown, Dover, Victory Gardens and Wharton.
Of the 22 defendants charged, 19 were identified as violent offenders, in that they had prior arrests and/or convictions for violent crimes.