The Justice Department is tackling a rise in violent crime by launching gun trafficking 'strike forces' in five cities

• The DOJ is launching five gun-trafficking "strike forces" with the goal of stemming violent crime.
• They will monitor gun trafficking routes to major cities and work with local law enforcement.
• While most crime is steady or down, homicides and gun violence are up in many US cities.

The Justice Department announced Thursday that it has formed gun trafficking "strike forces" in an effort to fight the recent surge in gun violence in the US.

The five strike forces will focus on known trafficking corridors to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington, DC, according to the DOJ. They will be led by US attorneys who will coordinate with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and state and local law enforcement.

"Our firearms trafficking strike forces will investigate and disrupt the networks that channel crime guns into our communities with tragic consequences," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a written statement. "This effort reflects our shared commitment to keep communities safe."

The DOJ strike forces are a part of the Biden administration's larger attempt to reduce crime. While the rates of most common crimes are holding steady or even down from previous years, homicides and gun crime are rising in many cities.

During the summer of 2020, homicides increased an average of 30% or more over the same period the previous year, according to Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist whose research was recently cited during President Joe Biden's meeting with police chiefs on the state of gun violence in the US.

That spike, which Rosenfeld said was the most significant rise in homicides that he's seen in a single year, began in the wake of George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis at the end of May 2020.

While Rosenfeld observed a rise in homicides across the country in the first half of 2021, he said it wasn't as sharp, and he expects violent crime to fall to pre-pandemic rates over time.