BATON ROUGE — While Baton Rouge may not have the type of gang activity seen in bigger cities, the people who run in these so-called 'street groups' have been getting arrested for crimes as of late.

"I wouldn't say that we're going after specific gangs, we're going after people who are committing violent crimes," Baton Rouge Police Chief T.J. Morse said. "A lot of times, those people associate with...violent street groups/gangs."

In April, BRPD arrested four members of the SGK gang for the shooting death of 27-year-old Trevor Harrison, a plumber who was caught in the crossfire while sitting in his truck.

Fast forward to June and the arrests have still been rolling in.

"If they claim to be part of these specific violent groups/gangs we are looking at them," Chief Morse said.

Morse says it's part of a summer initiative to crack down on crime, but it began with the creation of the Special Investigations Division when he took office.

"They've been doing really great work. They're the division that got the largest fentanyl seizure in state history last year, they brought charges related to gang activity that got federal indictments with the District Attorney," Morse said.

Earlier this month, East Baton Rouge Parish deputies, along with BRPD, arrested more than a dozen suspected members of the Vultures gang after a months-long investigation. The group is said to be connected to multiple shootings.

This week, BRPD arrested Jaquael Robinson, a member of SGK, for drug and gun charges, including having 20 grams of fentanyl.

The same day, BRPD announced arrests for the shooting death of educator Teressa Calligan, including David Catherine, known as 'ReelBleeda', and Roger Parker, a suspected gang member tied to several other shootings including the murder of 8-year-old Diellon Daniels.

On Thursday, BRPD arrested 22-year-old Anthony Thomas Jr., an alleged member of the Youngin's Taking Over, a Bleedas affiliate, for car theft and having an illegally modified gun.

"I mean we are being kind of intentional in saying this person associates with this lifestyle," Morse said.

Morse added that he wants the public to know who is out there doing crimes, and if they are repeat offenders, something he says frustrates the department often.

"There's no stipulation on the bond, they're not wearing ankle monitors, they're not doing anything like that and we're having to arrest them over and over again for some serious things," the chief said.

One way they are trying to overcome that cycle is by getting the feds involved. They will likely take over prosecution of the Vultures members arrested earlier this month.

"One of the points is trying to get federal charges to go along with them because we could arrest somebody for having a machine gun and they could be held responsible in the state, but they can also be held responsible federally, so definitely by setting that up and including them [at] the beginning of the investigation it encourages those prosecutions to happen," the chief said.