NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — With violent crime still a major concern since the COVID pandemic began, the City of Niagara Falls is among those municipalities aiming to get more illegal weapons off the street.
That led to a focused effort on some of the worst offenders Tuesday night.
Just like central communities and cities around the country, the City of Niagara Falls has seen a rash of violent crimes with homicides and shootings. So on Tuesday night for seven hours, a team of local, county, state, and federal agents totaling 85 law enforcement personnel took part in this concerted effort to seek out and take violent criminals off the streets.
Five guns were seized, and some of the 12 arrested suspects now face more serious federal level weapons charges.
Niagara Falls Police Superintendent John Faso said, "The quality of the firearms we seized was somewhat concerning, a bit surprising"
Niagara County Sheriff Michael Filicetti noted, "This is a continuing effort to intervene in violent crime in Niagara Falls."
Federal agents, connected to what's called the anti-crime Viper program in Buffalo, are also assisting in the Falls to trace illegal weapons and help go after those violent criminals.
Faso emphasized, "This isn't just a willy-nilly situation where we're going after someone. We know who they are, and we have very, very good intelligence."
The sheriff says he'll also continue to send deputies in to help the city department combat crime, as he said, "Crime doesn't know borders so this is a countywide effort."
Mayor Robert Restaino says that of Wednesday morning he's received mixed feedback about this anti-crime effort.
"Some in the business community are glad that we reached out for more assistance to go after the violent crime problem," Restaino said. "I have also heard from some people who did express objections to the efforts to go into the neighborhoods, even with the federal firearms charges but also with the vehicle and traffic issues."
But Restaino pointed out that traffic stops sometimes do lead to the arrests of violent offenders with guns in their vehicles.