The Pine Lawn Police Chief says some of the suspects his officers have taken off the steets are "animals." They prey upon the elderly. Some are suspects in home-invasion burglaries. He calls them "terrible." They've been linked to drugs, shootings and homicides. Many of them are young. Just teenagers.

Police held a news conference today to show us some of the weapons they'd recovered and update us on a gang task force.

After we'd completed our live-shot for the 6pm newscast we were packing up the truck when the mayor of Pine Lawn popped his head into the truck to find out what was going on. We filled him in and then spent a few minutes talking with him. He spoke of his "no tolerance" policy that he's trying to push through in Pine Lawn. The mayor says in these tough economic times a lot of people are looking for smaller, more affordable homes or perhaps "starter homes." The mayor says Pine Lawn has those homes. But he sure can't promote his city if he can't keep the crime rate low.

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