SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — The Springfield Police Department is taking a new approach to combatting gun violence in the city by partnering with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.

Springfield Police Chief Ken Scarlette and Agent Christopher Amon, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Chicago Field Division, announced on Thursday the formation of a new joint initiative called the Springfield Firearms Task Force. Consisting of both Springfield police officers and ATF agents, the task force is designed to investigate and prosecute violent firearm crimes.

The task force has been active since last fall, department officials wrote, and its efforts have already led to arrests and charges throughout Springfield.

“The Springfield Police Department remains committed to utilizing all resources possible to not only reduce senseless gun violence in our community, but also ensure those responsible are held accountable,” Scarlette said in a press release. “Ongoing relationships with our federal partners of the ATF will act as a force multiplier in our commitment to keep the citizens of our community safe from these heinous crimes.”

“This unique mission, working closely with our local and state law enforcement partners in concert with Springfield Police, is vital to holding accountable those responsible for the gun violence in our communities,” Amon said. “This partnership, in conjunction with the ability to utilize Crime Gun Intelligence via tracing recovered firearms and comparing ballistic evidence within NIBIN, is a game changer. It will help us pinpoint the few individuals responsible for violent crime in the community and hold them accountable.”

The National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) is an ATF-administered network that Springfield Police uses to investigate gun violence by linking shooting incidents in one jurisdiction to shooting incidents in other jurisdictions. It’s one of several tools and techniques the task force is using to target people actively involved in or associated with firearm-related violence.

That violence includes straw purchases of guns, unlawful possession, armed drug trafficking and possession of switches — devices that convert a semi-automatic weapon into a machine gun.

The goal of the task force and its effort is to reduce violent crime and gun violence and strive to make neighborhoods safer.