FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Fort Myers Police Department is cracking down on people who illegally carry firearms. Undercover vice and uniformed patrol removed 18 guns from city streets during the month of September.

The department says Operation Safe Neighborhood is a proactive approach to reduce crime and improve quality of life in Fort Myers. A task force assigned to the operation works to identify and arrest people that commit violent crimes and to arrest individuals who illegally possess firearms.

In addition to gun interdiction, the directed patrols have had positive results:

3,361 Citizen Contacts

877 Traffic Stops

927 Traffic Tickets

174 Arrests

102 Felony Charges

Chief Doug Baker unveiled the operation to community leaders in 2008 and says the anticrime effort couldn’t be possible without a partnership with the community.