State police deployment targets Trenton’s deadly violence

 In this Aug. 2013 photo, people read the names of victims as rows of shoes are placed on the Statehouse steps in Trenton, representing lives lost to gun violence. Trenton has seen nearly 30 homicides so far this year, prompting a sweep of the capitol city. (Mel Evans/AP Photo, file)

In this Aug. 2013 photo, people read the names of victims as rows of shoes are placed on the Statehouse steps in Trenton, representing lives lost to gun violence. Trenton has seen nearly 30 homicides so far this year, prompting a sweep of the capitol city. (Mel Evans/AP Photo, file)

The city of Trenton is just three homicides away from a record high. With 29 homicides so far this year and more than 150 people shot, the city has been grappling with the question of what to do about gun violence.

But Thursday before daybreak, boots hit the ground. More than 60 officers from county, state and federal law enforcement agencies swept the city as part of an initiative called TIDE — Targeted Integrated Deployment Effort. Acting state Attorney General John Hoffman says the operation snared several fugitives.

“We were focusing on about two dozen fugitives and and as of today we’ve gotten about a dozen and a half of the individuals we were after,” Hoffman said Friday.

TIDE is a joint effort between the attorney general’s office and state police. The deployment of state forces is the fourth since early 2012, but it was the largest yet. 

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In 2005, there were 31 homicides in Trenton, the most in recent memory.

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