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'Prioritize illegal gun possession': Bibb sheriff, district attorney announce 50+ arrested in 'Operation United Front'

More than 50 people were arrested and dozens of guns were recovered in a 40-day operation.

MACON, Ga. — On Thursday, Bibb County Sheriff David Davis announced the ending to a 40-week sting, "Operation United Front."

"We have some pistols, we have some long guns, but this is the type of weapons we have that are plaguing not only our community, but other communities throughout our country."

The goal? To get illegal guns off the streets.

"We hope that some of the individuals that we've arrested in this, maybe we've stopped them from doing some violent activities," he says.

His office, along with the Macon District Attorney's office, says this is the beginning of a new way they plan to crack down on illegal weapons.

"We are going to prioritize illegal gun possession, stopping that, as well as stopping, as the sheriff said, the senseless gun violence in this community that is wreaking havoc on this community. Our children deserve to have a safe community," says Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita Reynolds Howard.

Davis says two of the ways they recovered guns were from responding to calls of shots fired and having undercover deputies buy them in what they're calling "hot spots."

Some of the neighborhoods he mentioned were Unionville, Pleasant Hill, and south Macon, but Commissioner Al Tillman in District 9 says there also needs to be a focus in west Macon.

"I know that there's a lot of crime and gun violence in Bloomfield and Bellevue, which is the district I represent. The sheriff apparently is taking it one segment or one district at a time," says Tillman.

But he adds that the sheriff's efforts along with county leaders can make a difference.

"The sheriff is willing to walk the streets, he's willing to sit down with you, he's willing to come to the table with you. We got a sheriff that's willing to do that."

The sheriff's office says they'll run shell casings from these recovered firearms through a national database to see if they've been used in any crimes.

    

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