EDWARDSVILLE — Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine orchestrated the first meeting of the new Cross-River Crime Task Force on Friday, April 9, at the Madison County Administration Building and he said it was a solid start.

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The new Cross-River Crime Task Force is comprised of law enforcement officials from the federal, state, county, and local levels, and will create and sustain a county-wide focus on crime flowing across the river into Madison County.

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“It was a fantastic group and force embarking on a really important project,” Haine said.

“The energy was great with leaders from every level from Madison County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshal’s office, FBI, ATF, Illinois State Police and about a dozen area police chiefs,” he said.

“Everybody was united in recognizing the size of the problem. The citizens of Madison County need action on this issue and there are solutions out there. Everyone in the room wanted to figure out a way to do it better and plan an initiative. We will set up three or four working groups and come up with a plan and get the ball rolling on this as soon as possible. We want to make sure this force is together for years to come.”

Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.

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