Targets violent crimes, drug offenses
By Meagan McGone
mmcgone@hometownnewsol.com
BREVARD - Within a 22-day period, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, along with the Florida Sheriff's Task Force, arrested 501 individuals on felony charges in the county.
Operation "Felon Sweep" was an initiative by the Florida Sheriff's Task Force, which aimed to remove violent felons, felons with outstanding warrants, and sexual offenders and predators from Florida communities by working with 44 sheriff's offices throughout the state.
Statewide, the operation resulted in 11,875 felony arrests, as well as seizures of more than 900 pounds of marijuana, 30 pounds of cocaine and 6,000 prescription pills. Across the state, agencies also seized $410,000 in illegal cash proceeds, according to a news release from the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.
From Sept. 28 to Oct. 19, deputies and agents of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office arrested 501 individuals on felony charges, including the service of 275 felony warrants. After checking the status of sexual offenders and predators, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office arrested 11 individuals for violating probation or failing to comply with the stipulations of their releases.
Brevard County Sheriff's Office Major Vic DeSantis said the operation yielded a significant number of individuals arrested for felonies.
"We arrested more than 500 people in a 22-day period - that's a pretty good number of people that we caught for the focused effort we put forth," Major DeSantis said.
The county-wide effort included assistance from the GAMEOVER Task Force, a group of law-enforcement personnel that targets targeting gang-related violence and other forms of violent activity throughout Brevard; the Special Investigations Unit of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office; and the Sexual Offender Registration and Tracking Unit of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.
"We were proud that Brevard County law enforcement could play a role in this large scale operation," Brevard County Sheriff Jack Parker said in the news release. "Arresting more than 500 people in Brevard alone for felony crimes, many of which were dangerous and evading authorities, is a successful operation by any measure."