LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) —Authorities in Lafayette Parish are getting tough on violent crime, and they’re seeing results. The Violent Offenders Task Force (VOTF) is a joint effort by Lafayette Police and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office.

“This is not a blanket crackdown operation. It was never designed that way,” said Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mark Garber. Since the VOTF was created at the beginning of this year, there have been 43 weapons taken off the streets. Garber says most of the weapons were stolen.

“It’s very important to take these guns out of the hands of the thugs, that are a very small part of our community, who are committing 90% of the violent crime,” said Garber. “These are the same weapons law enforcement carries. Glock pistols and AR-15 type weapons.”

There have been 47 drug investigations, and $350,000 worth of illegal drugs confiscated, including: marijuana, heroin, meth, and cocaine, sometimes laced with fentanyl. “Usually there are drugs involved. There are drugs in plain sight in the presence of weapons. We get probable cause then to conduct searches which lead to the charges,” said Garber. He says 46 new felony suspects have been arrested, along with 24 misdemeanor arrests. The mission of the VOTF is to deter violent crime.

“What you can do as law enforcement, while serving and protecting, treating people with dignity and respect, is you can affect their decision making on when and where they engage in abhorrent activity, to have open gun fights in public,” said Garber.

Sheriff Garber says the VOTF is targeting suspects, their associates, and the behavior they exhibit. However, the true measure of how well it’s working is to revisit the results in about a year from now.