ByJennifer Lifsey|January 28, 2020 at 8:11 AM EST - Updated January 28 at 10:00 AM
ATLANTA, Ga. (WTOC) - Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is trying to make good on his plan to reduce gang violence in the state.
Officials told a House-Senate panel Monday that gangs are a serious problem needing further action.
Governor Brian Kemp is suggesting several pieces of legislation, including one that would expand the jurisdiction of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He wants to allow agents to take over gang crimes without an invitation from local authorities.
Fighting gang violence has been a part of the governor's 2020 agenda for a while. At the start of the year, he sat down with WTOC to talk about his goals.
"These are the kind of people that we need to be going after, drug cartels, street gang members, and folks of the like. We're going to try to give our prosecutors some more teeth to be able to do that," said Gov. Kemp.
State lawmakers have also proposed a public gang registry that would function just like the current public sex offender registry, publicizing names and residences of convicted offenders.
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