DALLAS — On Monday, the United States Attorney's Office, ATF Dallas, and the Dallas Police Department announced an initiative aimed at curbing violent crime.
Operation Take Aim will focus on federally prosecuting offenders "most likely to harm the community when at large and by proactively engaging with these offenders to discourage them from committing further crimes and entering the federal system," according to the United State's Attorney's Office.
Federal charges carry significantly stiffer sentences on some crimes than state charges do. There is no possibility of parole.
“Violent crime rips through communities. Our neighbors turn into casualties. Talk to any violent crime survivor and they’ll tell you: Their blood pressure never quite returns to normal. Once you’ve been victimized, life always feels precarious, no matter where you go,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton.
This plan is an add-on to law enforcement efforts already in place, known as hot spot policing, which focuses on specific locations. Operation Take Aim hones in, specifically, on repeat offenders with violent criminal histories.
Simonton said it isn't necessarily about how many criminals are prosecuted, but who.
“Javier Dominique Suttles is one such offender," said Simonton of violent repeat criminal offenders.
According to an affidavit, Javier Dominique Suttles, 26, robbed a Metro by T-Mobile store and a Braum’s restaurant in late May -- both on Inwood Drive in Dallas. Suttles, who has a prior criminal history, threatened to “shoot up the entire store,” and allegedly ordered an employee to strip naked.
When Suttles was arrested, he was found with a handgun with an extended magazine.
"It was something he never should’ve had, much less used as a person who is already under community supervision for prior violent crimes," said Simonton.
Suttles was indicted with two federal crimes: interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
Dallas Chief of Police Eddie Garcia said going after repeat offenders, and properly sentencing them, helps target the root problem of violent crime in Dallas.
“The violent crime that’s being committed are being committed by individuals that shouldn’t have a firearm to begin with," Garcia said. "So we need to start there."
If Suttles is convicted, he faces up to 27 years in federal prison.
Operation Take Aim builds on Garcia’s focused deterrence program, an initiative funded in part by a Justice Department grant that endeavors to change the behavior of high-risk offenders through a combination of deterrence, arrest and community involvement.
The initiative includes a deterrence program called "Reentry Nights" for people in the state criminal justice system. The program encourages offenders to pursue an education, among other productive life paths, to keep them from repeat offending.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is devoting more prosecutors to handling the cases in Operation Take Aim.
“Every one of these cases causes trauma. We are committed to putting these people in jail. ATF has doubled down here in Dallas,” said ATF Dallas Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Boshek.
Law enforcement and prosecutors will focus on gun crimes, including prohibited person in possession of a firearm, unlicensed dealing, straw purchasing and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.