A new way to fight gang violence could soon be coming to East Texas.
There are already six Texas Anti-Gang centers across Texas and Governor Greg Abbott plans to secure the funding for one in Tyler.
"Under my plan, Texas would establish two new Anti-Gang centers, one located in Tyler, another located in Waco, as well as provide additional resources to existing Texas anti-gang centers," Abbott said.
Governor Abbot's proposal is headed to the legislature in a few weeks and it is something that Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith says he has envisioned for quite some time.
“You get the intelligence part of it, and then you get federal state and local law enforcement in one roof working for one initiative,” Sheriff Smith explained.
Smith says the proposal is about maintaining control of an issue in Tyler that plagues the country with violence and drugs, utilizing cross-agency collaboration.
“This recent investigation we did here that culminated into an arrest last week was a result of teamwork," Smith said. "It is just not giving a care where credit goes but just that the job got done. That’s what I visualize for the TAG unit here in Northeast Texas."
Last year, he said a lengthy investigation led to a massive marijuana plant bust and the arrest of people who had ties to the cartel.
“Collecting drug debts for instance, there’s nothing for them to shoot up a house and that’s the kind of thing we don’t need in Northeast Texa,” Sheriff Smith said.
A TAG force was established in Lubbock a year ago, composed of about 50 team members according to Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe.
"It is the sheriff’s office, the police department, DPS, and participation from just about every one of the federal agencies,” Rowe said. "We've had much more successful case filings, we’re hitting these organizations much more significantly. There’s no question when you see the increases in the volume of individuals we’re identifying, we’re able to track better and get a lot quicker resolution to a lot of crimes. There’s so many benefits to it."
In anticipation of the proposal approval, Sheriff Smith will visit TAG centers across the state in a few weeks, including the one in Lubbock. He said the center could come to Tyler as soon as fall of 2019.