Nine federal law enforcement agencies Friday swung their manpower and resources to help the District combat a recent spike in violent crime, pitting the nation’s top investigators against an increasingly aggressive and dangerous criminal element.

Led by the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, the Violent Crimes Task Force is a joint response to a jump in robberies and other violent crimes citywide. Housed in the FBI’s Washington field office, the task force will include 13 MPD officers and supervisors and 10 FBI agents, as well as investigators and prosecutors out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.