Crime fighting cited in fewer Hartford killings

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The rate of killings in Hartford is on track to be among the lowest this year since the early 1980s as police credit coordinated federal, state and local crime-fighting.

The Hartford Courant reports that a fatal shooting in October was the 20th in 2012, representing a 20 percent drop compared with the same period last year.

If no one else is killed in Connecticut's capital city before the end of the year, 2012 will have the fewest homicides since 2004.

Officials cite the work of the Hartford Shooting Task Force, a team that came together after last year's violent summer. Members are from the chief state's attorney's Office, state Department of Correction, State Police, federal Drug Enforcement Administration and East Hartford, Hartford, Manchester and West Hartford police departments.

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Information from: The Hartford Courant