Gwinnett ramps ups police presence

Extra officers will hit the streets of Gwinnett County over the next four days to “neutralize any criminal activity,” police said.

Gwinnett County Police insist crime has not spiked, but they are trying to make the county safer.

“The goal is make contact with citizens in residential and commercial areas and to also neutralize any criminal activity,” police spokeswoman Cpl. Illana Spellman said in a statement.

Police also insist the operation was planned and is not in response to this week’s crime spree - including a drug-related shootout that one dead and three injured, and the seizure of 351 pounds of crystal methamphetamine.

The operation is scheduled to run Thursday through Sunday and will focus on the West Precinct, which includes unincorporated Norcross, Interstate 85 and Jimmy Carter Boulevard.

Police won’t say how many extra officers will be out, but said “Operation Conscious Community” will include traffic enforcement, bike and foot patrols.

Officers from the gang, crime prevention, DUI, crime suppression, highway interdiction team and community response units will participate. Sheriff’s deputies, parole officers, probation officers and interpreters from the district’s attorney’s office will also help out too, Spellman said.

“This operation will show the community that we are continuing to make a concerted effort to keep a foothold on criminal activity of all levels,” West Precinct commander Major John Strickland said in a statement. “We also want citizens to become empowered through crime prevention education to help us drive criminals out of our communities.”

On Monday, several men exchanged gunfire at a home on Buckingham Place in unincorporated Duluth. A North Carolina man was killed and three unidentified men are in the hospital in critical condition, police said.

Police have arrested two men and are searching for several others, Spellman said.

On Wednesday, federal Drug Enforcement Administration announced the seizure of $6 million worth of crystal methamphetamine in Gwinnett. The bust resulted in the arrest of four men, including several who live on Buckingham - down the street from the site of Monday’s shooting.

FBI reports show violent crime rose 2.9 percent from 2006 to 2007 in Gwinnett. Property crime decreased 2.6 percent during that same period.