During the early and mid-2010s, the crime problem in Chattanooga threatened to spiral out of control.
In 2013, this newspaper printed an article detailing the city’s “worst” criminals, a group of 32 men who were tied to more than 300 crimes.
In 2014, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke rolled out a Violence Reduction Initiative (VRI), which targeted gang members and included the hiring of a public safety coordinator, the services of a high-profile consultant, training for police, the promise of help from nonprofit agencies, and a warning to violent gang members to stop their behavior or face state and federal penalties.
In 2016, Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston responded to citizen complaints about gang-related crimes by creating a multi-agency team to target street gangs. The Tactical All-Region Gang Enforcement Team (TARGET) was said to be a joint effort of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies working to reduce gang related crime in the area while cutting the numbers of illegal guns and drugs on the streets.
In 2018, Pinkston said he would use the state racketeering law to indict 54 Chattanooga gang members (later amended to 55) for crimes including charges linked to five separate homicides. It was thought to be the first time a 2012 amendment to the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act had been applied to a local street gang.