MAYOR DIXON AND MAYOR BLOOMBERG HOST MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS COALITION REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN BALTIMORE

Mayors Announce New Effort to Build Data-Sharing System to Fight Interstate Gun Traffickers

Mayor Sheila Dixon today hosted a regional conference of the bi-partisan coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The conference, held at Baltimore's City Hall, was attended by coalition co-chair New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and mayors and police chiefs from cities in seven states. Mayors Dixon and Bloomberg announced a new effort to build a regional data sharing system for illegal gun data. The ultimate goal of the system will be to create a clearinghouse of criminal evidence for police departments up and down I-95's so-called "Iron Pipeline" to tap into. The database will utilize aggregate gun trace data that was recently released by the federal government after the Mayors Against Illegal Guns waged a campaign against restrictions on the data.

"All of the mayors here today are fighting against the same illegal gun dealers and repeat offenders who threaten our ability to protect the citizens we serve," Mayor Dixon said. "Working together as a region, we have the resources and the commitment to fundamentally change the way we pursue and apprehend these criminals to make our cities safer."

"The kind of cooperation we are discussing today has the potential to dramatically alter the battlefield in the war against interstate gun trafficking," said Mayor Bloomberg. "A regional system would give police a far more complete picture of the illegal gun trade. This conference is just the first step – but I think it's the beginning of a much more intelligent, informed, and effective battle against illegal gun runners."

"The Trenton Police Department also is developing a system that other agencies can tap into for aggregate trace data and ballistics and gun trafficking information," said Trenton, New Jersey Mayor Douglas H. Palmer. "We are planning to link to our State Police data base and other systems to fully integrate public and private video surveillance systems for real-time intelligence as well. I look forward to working with Mayor Sheila Dixon and Mayor Michael Bloomberg to develop a regional information hub for gun trace data."

Last year, the Mayors Against Illegal Guns waged a successful campaign on Capitol Hill to allow cities to share the gun trace data that is crucial to law enforcement efforts. Additionally, the coalition's campaign to win access to the ATF's aggregate trace data led the ATF to begin releasing some of that aggregate data. Now, the regional data sharing system being developed by Baltimore and New York City will use the newly available data and couple it with other key data points, such as ballistics information and intelligence gathered from debriefings of gun offenders. The result will be a system that can help police officers track gun patterns in cities up and down Interstate 95's "Iron Pipeline."

In addition to the regional data sharing announcement, two expert panels at the summit guided a roundtable discussion. The first panel discussed intelligence gathering and regional data sharing, while the second discussed the costs of gun violence.

At the regional conference, Mayor Dixon and Mayor Bloomberg were joined by Dover, Delaware Mayor Carey; Wilmington, Delaware Mayor James Baker; Annapolis, Maryland Mayor Ellen Moyer; Jersey City, New Jersey Mayor Jerremiah Healy; Trenton, New Jersey Mayor Douglas Palmer; Lancaster, Pennsylvania Mayor Rick Gray; Reading, Pennsylvania Mayor Tom McMahon; York, Pennsylvania Mayor John Brenner and Alexandria, Virginia Mayor William Euille. Also at the summit were police chiefs and other representatives from Boston, Camden, Jacksonville, Newark, Philadelphia, and Richmond.

Founded in April 2006 with 15 members, Mayors Against Illegal Guns now has over 250 members that represent over 50 million Americans. Over the last 18 months, the coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns has held regional meetings in Chicago, Boston, and Atlanta. Today's summit in Baltimore is the first to focus chiefly on intelligence gathering and regional data sharing.