With 13 homicides reported in the first 13 days of the year, Prince George's County Police started saturating parts of the county Wednesday night with an additional 200 officers.
But that's not all. Officials said federal officers are also helping the county. The FBI, ATF and DEA are all getting involved. That hasn't happened since the 1990s when crime and violence was very high.
As for the additional patrols, they are specialty officers being added from other departments, such as drug task forces and traffic enforcement. Maryland State Police and officers from other jurisdictions (those that have personnel to spare) are also part of the added enforcement.
Officials said they want to have as much exposure as possible in the areas where these homicides have occurred -- such as Districts 1, 3 and 4. They will be doing this all week.
The police chief will hold a community meeting Thursday night to address the recent spike in violence.
