Attorney General’s Office ups the ante on tackling crime in Selma

The U.S. Attorney General’s Office has stepped up efforts to curb crime – specifically gun violence – in Selma. 

Aside from adding an office in Selma at the federal courthouse in the last few years, the federal government recently provided Selma with a sophisticated machine that captures and compares ballistic evidence to help solve and prevent violent crimes that involve firearms. 

Selma is the smallest city in the country to have a National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, or NIBIN, machine, which is usually found in metropolitan areas such as Birmingham, Atlanta and Nashville, said Andy Arrington, assistant attorney general in the Southern District that includes the Black Belt. 

“This is the federal government’s attempt to curb gun violence here,” Arrington told the Rotary Club of Selma on Monday. 

The Attorney General’s Office also unveiled a new “Report It” app that allows citizens to report crimes anonymously without fear of retaliation, an issue that stops many from giving information to law enforcement, Arrington said. 

The free app is an online tip line that sends reports from the community directly to the ATF field office in Nashville that supervises ATF agents in Dallas County. The report can be anonymous and provides a way for residents to report crimes without putting themselves or family in danger of retaliation, he said. 

“I want to empower the community to let them know that they can report crimes to give law enforcement an edge to try to go and stop these people,” Arrington said. 

The app goes a step beyond CrimeStoppers because it allows residents to upload photos or videos and choose a law enforcement agency to send the information to. That includes federal offices, which have a faster prosecution time and hand down tougher sentences. 

Arrington has introduced the app to Dallas County students to help curb the rash of teen shootings that escalated in the last school year.  

“Part of the problem in the community is that people know when the gunfire is occurring. And a lot of times they know who the shooters are, but no one wants to talk about it because they don’t want to get involved. They don’t want to be shot themselves,” Arrington said. “The app allows people, citizens, kids – anyone with a smartphone – to anonymously report gun crimes. And it goes straight to ATF, and from there it gets allocated and sourced out to agents here in the southern district.” 

You won’t be asked to be a witness, he said. But officers can use the information to get search warrants and make a case.  

“We just need information so we can move on in the right direction,” Arrington said.  

The Attorney General’s Office started investing in Selma in 2020 under former U.S. Attorney Richard Moore, who dedicated $1 million to restart a Weed and Seed committee with local shareholders and law enforcement. The committee still meets regularly to address crime issues. 

In 2021, Moore announced plans to open a Selma office inside the federal courthouse on Selma Avenue and Lauderdale Street. The office has been renovating the courthouse ever since, and work should be finished in the next six months, Arrington said. The long-term goal is to host monthly jury trials in the Selma courthouse inside of making law enforcement travel to Mobile to try cases. 

Once complete, the office will also add another assistant prosecutor like Arrington to increase the case load.  

The U.S. attorney’s office in Selma has focused on eliminating gangs, Arrington said. Several older, top gang leaders have been put in prison in the last several years, but they’ve seen many younger leaders take over – most of them in their teens, he said.  

Similar to District Attorney Robert Turner Jr., who said recently parents should be prosecuted for aiding and abetting their teens’ criminal acts, Arrington said his office has been also going after families that assist their criminal family member by prosecuting them for things like wire fraud.  

They are also prosecuting those buying guns for the gangs. The attorney general’s office recently secured prison time for four women who bought multiple guns for gang members who were later caught using those firearms in criminal acts. 

One woman was in nursing school but bought seven firearms that were then found to be used in crimes. She went to federal prison for the purchases. 

“We had to send a message that that won’t be tolerated,” Arrington said.