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Gov. Kemp releases statistics into yearlong anti-crime initiative

Gov. Brian Kemp provided several measures of how a specially-formed "crime suppression unit" targeting metro Atlanta had performed in the last year.

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp said Wednesday that hundreds of arrests had been made and hundreds more stolen weapons and vehicles recovered out of a $5 million, yearlong anti-crime initiative announced last year.

Releasing the results of the initiative - a multi-agency "crime suppression unit" that targeted the metro Atlanta area - Kemp said that there had been 26 murder arrests, 451 arrests of wanted suspects, 342 stolen weapons secured and 312 stolen vehicles recovered.

Saying that "public safety is the No. 1 responsibility of government," the governor noted that a year ago the formation of the unit was meant to be a "force multiplier to bring the fight to criminals."

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"As I said shortly after this unit began this good fight, we will use every resource at our disposal to rid our communities of crime and keep Georgia families safe," Kemp said.

The governor also announced the unit's efforts had resulted in 23,600 vehicle stops, 588 DUI stops, 572 pursuits, 1,300 vehicles being impounded and 16,000 citations.

Kemp also called on the judicial system "to fulfill its responsibility, and sentence offenders appropriately so they don't end up right back on the streets."

"A revolving door of justice is no justice, and must end," he said.

Looking ahead, the governor said that resources would continue to be directed toward the effort.

"Just because we are a year in does not mean the end of these efforts. This is only an uptake," he said. "These resources will continue to patrol our streets and communities in support of our hardworking law enforcement officers who will continue to fight the good fight."

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