ONLY ON 8: U.S. Attorney’s new task force in the River Region targets crime on multiple levels
ONLY ON 8: A new task force is working with the Montgomery Area Crime Suppression Unit in targeting the city’s crime problem on multiple levels.
The sound of rapid, machine gun-style gunfire in County Downs last year — has become an all-too-familiar soundtrack in Montgomery neighborhoods, as law enforcement officials confront a growing threat.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama Kevin Davidson says the rise of machine gun conversion devices, also known as “switches,” has turned into a public safety crisis.
“It’s been in the last two years that it has just become an epidemic on the streets,” Davidson said. “It’s become the number one public safety issue here in our district and other districts, just because of the dangerousness of these devices.”
In April, five men were charged following what officials described as the largest single seizure of machine gun conversion devices in the district’s history — 53 switches were recovered in Montgomery.
That bust was a result of the Violent Offender Intervention and Deterrence (VOID) program, a federal initiative launched in March 2024 to address violent crime through enhanced coordination between federal, state and local agencies.
“Every month, two times a month, we meet here in the office with federal, state and local partners — usually more than 20 people — to talk about who the individuals are that are driving violent crime in the district,” Davidson said. “We talk about them and develop strategies for each of them to get them off the street.”
Davidson says the program improves communication between law enforcement agencies, helping to close gaps in oversight and enforcement.
“Sometimes it’s just a matter of one agency knowing someone is involved in criminal behavior, and another agency knowing he’s on probation — which would be a violation — but they’re not talking to each other,” he said. “This program gets everyone in a room to develop a plan.”
Davidson credits the VOID program with producing results.
“We’ve been able to indict numerous people for car-jackings, robberies, and shootings — both on the state side and federal side — as a result of the cooperation through the VOID program,” he said. “We’re just thrilled with the cooperation we’ve gotten from everybody involved.”
