On back of the arrests of 14 alleged gang members, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says his agency is not stopping.
"We've identified what we believe are the top 10 most dangerous gangs here."
Among them, locally based ones like the Firehouse Click in Riviera Beach and the notorious MS-13, known for its high number of illegal immigrant members.
"These are bad guys. They're thugs. That's all they are are street thugs and their life is crime. They did multiple shootings. Some of them are homicides."
That's why the sheriff has partnered with several local and federal law enforcement agencies to form the Multi-Agency Violent Crimes Task Force.
It allows the Sheriff's Office to bust suspects anywhere in the country.
"Some of these guys, they think that 'well I can do something in West Palm and go to Georgia and I'll be safe.' No, you can't. You're not safe anywhere."
Bradshaw says it's something that happens frequently. Gang members from elsewhere will infiltrate communities in Palm Beach County.
"We've actually had gang members from Jacksonville come down here and try to do something down here."
He says these gangs will do anything to get money, including human trafficking and he promises more arrests are on the way.
"Get the message out to the gangs, 'Here we come. Look over your shoulder and don't go to sleep, (be)cause two o'clock in the morning I might be kicking your door in."
Sheriff Bradshaw is also sharing the story about some of his deputies who were making some of these gang arrests this week when they noticed a house fire nearby and sprang into action.
"We had the people inside in custody and were searching the house when one of the detectives noticed some smoke two houses down and sure enough there was a fire down there. So, the detectives and the people involved in the search warrant left the deputy there to guard the people that we had in custody, ran down to that house and rescued the family and the family dog out of the house so nobody got burned up and killed in there. Then they ran back and grabbed the bad guys."
He joked that they were "multi-tasking that day."
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