Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds has been appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to lead the GBI.

Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds has been appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to lead the GBI. / Facebook

Incoming Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vic Reynolds said taking down criminal gangs throughout the state is a priority.

The Cobb County District Attorney was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, who also sees gang activity as a major problem.

Reynolds intends to carry out Kemp's plans, which Kemp announced at his State of the State address, for a task force to help local law enforcement tackle gang crime. Kemp also plans to fund the Criminal Street Gang Database.

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Concern over the issue arose after Attorney General Chris Carr said in a September press release that there were 71,000 validated gang affiliates and more than 1,500 suspected gang networks in Georgia.

Trends across gang-related data can be difficult to track as law enforcement agencies generally do not record criminal offenses as “gang-related,” according to the National Gang Center.

Larceny topped the GBI’s 2017 crime index, but the percentage of gang-affiliated reports remains unknown.

Reynolds is expected to be sworn in sometime this month.

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