CLEVELAND — Violence in the city of Cleveland has been a topic on the minds of city leaders, business owners, residents and visitors.
The latest numbers show that there has been 150 homicides in the city in 2023, with most of the murders committed with illegal or stolen firearms.
At Temple Emanu El in Orange Village, ATF Director Steve Dettlebach presented "Gun Violence, A National Emergency."
Dettlebach spoke with 3News' Lydia Esparra via Zoom where he said, "We are going to create, in Cleveland, with our partners a 'crime gun intelligence center.'"
It will be a data-driven approach through the everyday work of the ATF with the Cleveland Division of Police.
More than a quarter of a million firearms are stolen each year and often those end up in the hands for people who commit violent crimes.
Daryl McCormick is the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), he said, "A lot of the shootings are done by repeat offenders that are repeat shooters so those are who we are trying to focus on."
Studies by the ATF show firearms crimes are heavily influenced by drug-related crimes, which include the sale and use of fentanyl, cocaine and other narcotics. Gangs and domestic issues are also heavy contributors, and McCormick says big changes are on the way.
"As law enforcement, we are coming together like never before and you are going to see things over the next several months that reveal that," McCormick says.
In Cleveland, he adds, 70 percent of the shootings investigated have been connected to other shootings via ballistics testing, which means the same gun is used for multiple crimes. Valuable information to all who attended.
"I had no idea you can trace the casings or that you can get DNA off the casing," one attendee said.
"I wasn't surprised weapons were used over and over but I was surprised by how many times," another told 3News.
While the ATF admits you can never completely get rid of gun violence they say some of it can end if people behave better and act more civil toward one another.