Federal and local law enforcement agencies on Wednesday, March 20, announced a new initiative targeting the region’s most violent criminals with an emphasis on those involving gun-related violence and offenses, as well as commercial robberies.

As part of Operation Safe Cities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will take on more cases involving the “worst of the worst” and “the most violent criminals” in Southern California, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said at a Wednesday morning press conference.

Part of the initiative includes federal prosecutors working with local police agencies to identify cases that warrant federal prosecution, where federal sentencing guidelines could put criminals in prison for longer periods of time with no parole, officials said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna and Los Angeles Police Department Chief Dominic Choi were among those who joined Estrada at Wednesday’s press conference. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office was also partnering with the U.S. Attorney’s Office on the initiative.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will also be involved in working investigations and cases for federal prosecution, officials said.

The Department of Justice anticipates more local agencies will join in the initiative, officials said.

“People in all neighborhoods deserve to live in safety,” Estrada said. “It’s not right that people feel unsafe going to stores, it’s not right that people feel unsafe while buying food, it’s not right that people feel unsafe walking down the street. It’s important we take action.”

The initiative, Estrada said, is in response to the rise in violent crime in recent years across the country, which he attributed to an ease of access to guns, “especially with the rise of ‘ghost’ guns, which allows anyone to make a gun,” leading to brazen crimes on the streets and guns being used in robberies, extortions and kidnappings.

Estrada characterized Operation Safe Cities is an expansion of the relationship the U.S. Attorney’s Office already has with federal, state and local agencies. Representatives from all agencies planned to meet periodically – starting with once a month – to monitor cases and to make sure appropriate cases are brought to the federal level involving gun crime.

Teams of federal prosecutors will go meet with local detectives to train them on what’s required to bring a case to the federal level, Estrada said.

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“We’re aiming our powerful federal resources and federal sentencing statutes directly against violent gun criminals,” Estrada said. “The goal of this partnership is to substantially increase the number of cases we take federally involving gun crime.”

Luna and Choi both welcomed the initiative.

“Public safety and violent crime reduction is absolutely our top priority,” Luna said. “We have a responsibility to ensure the safety of our families, children and communities across our region. Threats of violence against our communities are not acceptable.”

In recent years, officials said, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has prosecuted serial robbery groups, recently bringing charges against two men from Hawthorne and Downey who were accused in a series of armed robberies at massage parlors in Orange County and Torrance. The two men were arrested Feb. 20, officials said, and were charged in a 12-count indictment in connection with five armed robberies. If convicted, the men each face more sentences of more than 100 years in federal prison.

Federal prosecutors this week also charged two additional men, part of a robbery crew called the “all-armed bandits,” who were involved in a string of 19 robberies in 2023 that spanned Los Angeles County, federal officials said. The two men were arrested in November following the robbery of a CVS store in Inglewood and a pursuit that ended in a crash. Six men have been charged in connection with the robberies and all face maximum sentences of more than 40 years in federal prison if convicted.

Grand juries in 2023 indicted 16 Hobbs Act robbery cases and 18 Hobbs Act robbery cases in 2022, officials said. Hobbs Act robbery is that which affects interstate or foreign commerce.

“The bottom line is this: violent gun criminals are on notice,” Estrada said. “If you think that violent gun crime is a good way to make a living, you’re severely mistaken.”