Law enforcement who run metro Atlanta’s jails are teaming up to fight gang activity and contraband among their inmates.

Some 120 members from sheriff’s departments in DeKalb, Gwinnett, Clayton, Rockdale, and Fulton Counties and the City of Atlanta Jail conducted their first search at DeKalb’s jail.

Sheriff Jeff Mann says a rise in gang activity both inside and outside of jail is behind the coordinated shakedowns.

“We’re attempting to identify potential gang members that are housed in this facility in addition to finding whether or not there’s any contraband in the facility,” he says.

Contraband includes cell phones, shanks, medication, and sheets.

The searches will be rotated at all the participating jails and will be unannounced.

“You have inmates whose job it is to deal with contraband, to try to get contraband, and our job is to disrupt that process,” says Patrick Labat, chief of the Atlanta Department of Corrections.