The Danville Police Department recently conducted a five-day operation focused on violent offenders and fugitives linked to firearm-related offenses. Operation Blitz took place from May 22-26 and resulted in 25 arrests and 31 charges, the seizure of 11 firearms, 244 grams of cocaine, 262 grams of methamphetamine, 72 grams of fentanyl, and 4.7 pounds of marijuana.

On Thursday the department held a press conference to discuss some of the specifics of the operation. The department said they used proactive and predictive policing using data driven activities through the stratified model of policing.

“The police department utilized crime analytics over the last three months to identify parts of the city where violent crimes are likely to occur,” said Matt Bell, Danville Police Public Relations Specialist.

The department also revealed that some of the people arrested are gang members, but didn’t specify which offender or what gang. Two of the offenders also weren’t identified because they are 15 and 16-year-old juveniles.

During the press conference the department noted that many members of the community provided information to help with the investigation.

“Anytime we have gun violence that is a community problem, obviously the police department cannot arrest their way out of any issue like that. So that is a response from the entire community. Our community engagement efforts have increased our intelligence flow from our community members. Our community members identify our issues and then our law enforcement works with our community to resolve those issues,” said Lieutenant John Dixon.

According to the department, Operation Blitz was a response to an upward trend in gun violence in Danville. More charges could still be coming from the operation. The Danville Police Department noted that they will continue to focus on reducing gun violence this summer.