Gainesville Police formed a task force Monday dedicated to reducing property theft throughout the city.
The Special Operations Unit consists of 13 officers and two sergeants, said GPD spokesman Ben Tobias.
The unit absorbed the duties of the department’s Gang Intervention Unit, Neighborhood Street Crimes Unit and the Property Detectives, he said.
The group will also handle street-level drug problems and respond to emergency calls if they are needed, he said.
Officers will work in uniform, as well as undercover, as they investigate property theft cases.
During the Christian Aguilar investigation in the Fall, the city experienced a slight increase in burglaries, Tobias said.
“GPD had so many resources, including property detectives, tied into the investigation that the caseload for the property detectives was getting huge,” he said.
The department formed a temporary task force to investigate the burglaries during the Aguilar investigation.
The unit later became a permanent fixture in the department after GPD officials saw its potential to reduce crime, Tobias said.
“They’re going to immerse themselves in the world of burglaries to figure out who the major players are and figure out if there are any patterns to anything,” he said.
Contact Kathryn Varn at kvarn@alligator.org.
