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Brunswick DA gets grant to help area combat street gang crime

Brunswick News - 10/21/2022

Oct. 21—A $200,000 federal grant recently received by the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office will be used to fight street gang activity, which accounts for much of the crime in the area, law enforcement officials say.

The grant comes from the 2021 State Homeland Security Program, and is presented through the state's Emergency Management Agency, Brunswick DA Keith Higgins said.

The money will be used to gain access to an investigative case file system known as Formlytics, used by government agencies to prosecute street gangs and other groups responsible for violent crimes against communities, he said.

The DA is providing local law enforcement agencies with access to the system, including the Glynn County and Brunswick police departments, the county sheriff's office, county schools police and the Georgia State Patrol.

It is also being used by law enforcement agencies throughout the judicial circuit's five counties, which encompasses Camden, Wayne, Appling and Jeff Davis counties in addition to Glynn.

The Buckhead-based system is being used by law enforcement throughout the state, from Atlanta to Savannah, allowing agencies to work together to combat crimes committed by the thousands of street gangs in Georgia.

The cloud-based case file system allows investigators to better track gang activity across jurisdictions and to better present cases for prosecution.

"The collaborative use of this investigative and intelligence-sharing platform by our law enforcement partners will ultimately improve prosecution of gang-related crimes in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit," Higgins said following a training session on Formulytics this week.

"I am grateful to Gov. Brian Kemp and Harlan Proveaux of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, who awarded the sub grant that makes all of this possible."

Law enforcement throughout the Brunswick DA's circuit report about half the crimes committed involve gangs or are gang-related, Higgins said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation pursued 446 gang-related cases in some 100 counties just in 2021, he said.

"It could definitely be a good investigative tool," said Brunswick Police Lt. Jose Galdamez, commander of the department's investigative division.

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