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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The rising rate of violent crimes is troubling to everybody.

And federal law enforcement agencies are working with their local counterparts to try to make our streets and neighborhoods safer.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms are using crime-fighting technology to track down criminals.

The ATF can track guns, bullet shells, and DNA recovered at crime scenes like fingerprints. And once they start piecing evidence together it’s not unusual to see that a gun used in one crime has been used in other crimes as well.  

“We’ve had success in the past with one crime scene and the police department being able to charge the person and convict, and that firearm linked to multiple other sites one’s which were cold cases that didn’t have leads – and suddenly they have a suspect,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge, Kurt H. Thielhorn. “Now they can start approaching it and try to clear out other crimes that happened in the past.”

By the way, the Greater New Orleans area isn’t the only area seeing an increase in violent crime.  The ATF said rapid spikes are also taking place throughout Louisiana – and Mississippi.