A new Hopkinsville task force is forming to coordinate efforts in investigating illicit gun traffickers and armed violent offenders.
U.S. Department of Justice Attorney Russell Coleman said the Hopkinsville Gun Crimes Task Force comes as a result of last year’s significant increase of violent crimes in Christian County and Hopkinsville, and was also spurred by the shooting of two Hopkinsville police officers. He said federal agencies are also meant to serve smaller towns and not just Lexington and Louisville.
“Whether you live in the Purchase or the Pennyrile, whether you live in the river counties, you shouldn’t expect less in terms of federal law enforcement. We are working very hard collaboratively to protect all 53 counties of western Kentucky that I serve,” Coleman said.
Coleman said collaboration between local and federal agencies is the new approach to law enforcement.
Hopkinsville’s Gun Crime Task Force is multi-agency effort including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Hopkinsville Police Department, Christian County Sheriff’s Office, and the Office of Christian County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling.
In a release, U.S. Department of Justice officials also announced federal indictments, handed down Tuesday by a federal grand jury sitting in Paducah, for four individuals accused of violent crimes. Coleman said west Kentucky should expect to see more joint efforts from federal, state, and local agencies that led to the indictments.
(This report first ran on WKMS.org.)
Hannah Bullard is a Murray State Journalism major. She found her place in radio during her second year in Murray. She is from Herndon, Kentucky, a small farming community on the Kentucky/Tennessee stateline. She first discovered her love for NPR when she stumbled upon "This American Life" while traveling. She believes everyone has a story worth telling. Her favorite pieces to produce are centered around people and their community. She hopes to continue a career in journalism through broadcast or non-profit work.
