Morrow Police Chief Jeff Baker made a recent trip to Washington, D.C. seeking federal support for a statewide task force to prevent counterfeiting and piracy.

He met with Congressional representatives and federal law enforcement agencies to discuss the need for a statewide Intellectual Property task force in Georgia. The crime of intellectual property theft — from fake brake pads to bogus medicines to antifreeze-laced toothpaste — is becoming increasingly rampant in Georgia, according to Dr. Mark Esper, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Intellectual Property Center.

The Morrow Police Department partnered with private industry and other law enforcement agencies to create a local task force, which will be introduced early this year.