chief danny whiteley is leading that effort. >> danny whiteley: something bad's going to happen, andt one to say, "i told you so." >> o'donnell: he's the longest- serving police chief in the history of poplar bluff, a small city near the ozarks that he says has a big-city gun violence problem. chief whiteley told us, he's no longer working with federal prosecutors, and misses the help. >> whiteley: number one, they have a lot of resources that we don't, manpower-wise and forensics-wise. and, if they get convicted in federal court, they're going to do 85% of the time. >> o'donnell: he shared with us summaries of nine recent alleged gun crimes he says he would usually refer to the nearby u.s. attorney's office for prosecution. yeah, i've looked at some of them, and one of them is a guy who shot at his ex-girlfriend, shot at her vehicle in a 6convenience store. >> whiteley: correct. >> o'donnell: but you're not going to refer that to a federal prosecutor? >> whiteley: that's correct. >> o'donnell: why? >> whiteley: because of the $50,000 fine. >> o'donnell: several policemen and sheriff