nothin Chief Plans “Operation Corridor” | New Haven Independent

Chief Plans Operation Corridor”

On the heels of two homicides, New Haven’s new police chief is planning to send a wave of extra cops this weekend to target hot spots” of drugs and guns.

New Haven Police Chief Frank Limon, a drug-gang-busting Chicago cop who just took office on Monday, is planning to roll out Operation Corridor” Friday. He will send cops to target a corridor” of New Haven that has been riddled with gun violence this year.

Our focus is to target drug[s], guns and some of the gang members that are out on the street,” said Limon in an interview in his office Wednesday. Cops will saturate the area with high visibility,” he said. They will focus on gun arrests, and aim to arrest drug-buyers, too. The new resources will be overtime cops and will not take away from other neighborhoods, he said.

Click on the play arrow above to watch his explanation.

Limon said he put together the plan after analyzing crime statistics with his top staff in a two-hour meeting Monday. He pointed to a map on his wall showing the corridor” of crime, which spans parts of Newhallville, Dixwell, Dwight, the West River, and the Hill. So far this year, there have been 31 non-fatal shootings, eight murders and 151 firearm discharges, according to police. Those figures concern Jan. 1 through Monday, April 4.

Of those, 57 percent of the shootings and murders took place in the corridor,” according to police.

Melissa Bailey Photo

Limon (pictured) was asked if Operation Corridor is a result of last weekend’s violence, including two homicides. He said the decision was based on my experience,” and on crime stats.

His description of Operation Corridor sounds a lot like ID-NET, a since-disbanded unit that targeted hot spots” to saturate neighborhoods with police presence. The idea was to rack up street arrests.

Operation Corridor is a short-term solution to the violence, meant to complement other long-term strategies, Limon said. For example, by making gun arrests, police may glean more information on people in gangs, he said.

One challenge will be reining in R2, a new Newhallville gang that police believe is responsible for a lot of the violence that has been happening. Limon said he has been briefed on the gang.

They’ve got our attention,” Limon said.

Limon is no stranger to groups like R2. In the final three years of his 30-year tenure on the Chicago police force, Limon supervised 600 people as head of the Organized Crime Department (OCD). That department focused on gangs, drugs and guns, he said.

At OCD, Limon’s squad did major takeovers” of gangs about every other month, he said. Cops used a lot of wiretaps,” and collaborated with state and federal officials.

To dismantle R2, the best way is to target the gang and its top leaders through a long-term investigation,” he said.

In the next 60 days, the chief said he’ll be meeting community members and assessing his department’s operations.

To get to know his new city, former Police Chief Francisco Ortiz rode a Mercedes bicycle through neighborhoods. The bike is still in the basement of police headquarters. Limon said he aims to get to know neighbors, but I’ll probably be walking.”

NHPD Graphic

Map shows unlawful discharge of firearm (gun icons), shootings (red/black circle) and homicides (human icons) for the past three months.

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