ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr touted their records on crime Thursday, five days before they ask voters to return them to office.
The state’s new Gang Prosecution Unit gained 11 indictments of 46 suspected gang members in 13 counties during its first month of operation, Carr said during a news conference at the Georgia Capitol.
“We are serving as a force multiplier by working hand in hand with those who are on the ground and in our communities,” he said. “Together, we are already producing incredible results.”
The Gang Prosecution Unit was formed after the General Assembly passed legislation this year authorizing the attorney general’s office to work with local law enforcement agencies to investigate gang activity. Lawmakers approved $1.3 million in startup funds for the effort.
The unit is a follow-up to the Gang Task Force Kemp created in 2019 during his first year in office and assigned to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
During the last year, the task force investigated 446 gang-related cases in 100 counties, leading to charges against more than 170 suspects, Kemp said Thursday.
The third leg of the governor’s anti-crime efforts is the multi-agency Crime Suppression Unit he formed last year to work with local law enforcement agencies in the Atlanta region. The unit also has been active in Macon and Columbus.
“Every weekend, we’re taking more criminals off the streets and making our communities across this state safer,” Kemp said.
The governor said some of the suspects the Gang Prosecution Unit has investigated were trying to recruit children. If reelected, he said he will ask the General Assembly to pass a bill increasing penalties for those who recruit kids into gangs.
Kemp’s opponent, Democrat Stacey Abrams, said during a debate last weekend that gun violence is behind the increase in crime in Georgia.
Abrams criticized Kemp for pushing a bill through the legislature that lets Georgians carry concealed firearms without a permit.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.