Twin Cities Announce Task Force

On April 1, 2010, the Twin Cities Safe Streets Violent Gang Task Force (TCSSVGTF) opened for business. The task force consists of investigators and analysts from the Minneapolis and St. Paul Police Departments, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), and the Minneapolis FBI Division. Investigators from the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and some of the FBI agents assigned to the task force participated in MPD's Violent Offender Task Force (VOTF) prior to April 1, 2010. The TCSSVGTF moved into its own office space in Minneapolis during early September 2010.

Plans to create the TCSSVGTF began in January 2009. The task force is funded primarily with federal funds, and overall management of the task force is the responsibility of the FBI. The mission of the TCSSVGTF is to identify and investigate the most violent street gangs operating in the Twin Cities or those gangs trafficking large quantities of illegal drugs. The ultimate goal of the task force is to dismantle those gangs targeted by the task force. Investigations are presented to the U.S. Attorney's office for prosecution, but some investigations are referred to local district attorney offices if they are deemed to be better suited for state prosecution.

In early October 2010, four members of the north Minneapolis-based Beat Down Posse gang were charged in Hennepin County on state charges of making terroristic threats, committing second degree assaults and theft by swindle, and being prohibited persons in possession of firearms. Our hope is that communities affected by gang violence and influence, as we saw in the Beat Down Posse investigation, will become safer and better places for our citizens to live and work.