Feds nab 11 gang members in two day sweep in Brockton aimed at curbing violent crime (Enterprise News)

Feds nab 11 gang members in two day sweep in Brockton aimed at curbing violent crime

By Maureen Boyle
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Posted Jun 12, 2008 @ 11:53 AM

BROCKTON —
Eleven gang members were arrested in a federal immigration sweep aimed at ridding the streets of violent street gangs.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, along with Brockton police, arrested 11 gang members and associates along with 11 others with criminal records for deportation.

The two-day operation, ending today, is the latest in the ICE Operation Community Shield enforcement effort.

Those arrested had criminal records for chargse ranging from assault to kill and racketeering to witness intimidation and malicious destruction of property.

Those arrested as part of the operation are foreign nationals from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Haiti, according to ICE.

Of the 22 arrested, 16 were permanent residents with criminal convictions making them eligible for deportation. Five were illegally living in the country and one was wanted on a warrant for deportation.

The sweep comes as federal, state and local law enforcement officials try to find ways to keep violence down in the city as the weather heats up.

State police have boosted patrols in the city, working side-by-side with Brockton officers on some patrols, in one attempt to keep the lid on crime.

Working with federal officials and agencies has also been another way to target some violent criminals in the city.

“Public safety is a significant part of ICE’s role in protecting the homeland, but it is also a shared law enforcement mission,” said Bruce M. Foucart, special agent-in-charge of ICE’s Office of Investigations in Boston, in a prepared statement. “ICE works closely with other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to keep our communities safe, which in this case is the removal of criminal gang members and others who threaten the safety of Brockton neighborhoods.”