CLEVELAND — The Surgeon General has now declared gun violence a public health crisis in America. 

He is calling for preventive measures similar to past campaigns against smoking and traffic safety. 

The question now is how to fight this crisis, and Cleveland is hoping a new Crime Gun Intelligence Center, modeled after one in Cincinnati, will help. 

United States Attorney General Merrick Garland was in Cleveland on Tuesday to announce a new crime gun intelligence center, also known as a CGIC. Garland said CGICs are centralized law enforcement hubs that will help to investigate and prevent gun violence by bringing law enforcement officers and prosecutors together at every level, providing access to firearms tracing technology.

“Through enhanced collaboration and advanced technology, CGIC’s help investigators generate leads to get shooters off the streets and dismantle the trafficking networks that supply violent criminals with their guns,” Garland said.

Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Cleveland native, Stephen Dettelbach, said the CGICs have the ability to take a particular piece of evidence to help solve gun violence crimes.

“… a shell casing, a fingerprint, a LPR reading, a traffic light camera, a ring camera, and to take that piece of evidence and turn it to actionable intelligence in realtime,” Dettelbach said.

Garland said the CGIC’s across the country are already supporting law enforcement investigations, like the one in Columbus, that helped locate a shell casing from a crime scene in only 2 days, compared to taking 40-60 days before the center.  

“No one in this country should have to live in fear of gun violence, no family and community should have to grieve the loss of their loved ones to senseless violence, that is why we are here today. The Northeast Ohio Crime Gun Intelligence Center will help us leverage our partnerships and technological innovation to solve gun crimes and save lives,” Garland said.

But Garland also pointed to obstacles like a new proposal to cut the justice department’s budget by almost $1 billion. 

“This effort to defund the justice department and its essential law enforcement functions will make our fight against violent crime all the more difficult. It is unacceptable,” Garland said.

Garland said he thinks the decision by the Surgeon General to declare gun violence as a public health crisis will help draw public attention to the matter. 

“This CGIC does not represent the culmination of the justice department’s efforts to stop gun violence in this region, it marks a new chapter,” Garland said.