Good afternoon. Thank
you very much for taking the time to join me today. I know we’ll all head downstairs after this
but if I don’t get the chance to say hello—Merry Christmas and Happy
Holidays. Thank you for helping us to
inform the American people about the important work the 115,000 employees of
the Department of Justice do to make this country safer and stronger.
As you have heard me say many times before, this President
was elected as the law and order President. He was elected to make American
safe again. And that mission has never
been more important.
I have met with the mothers and fathers whose daughters have
been brutally slaughtered by MS-13. I
have talked to pastors who fear the dramatic rise in violent crime in their
communities.
I have heard from our state and local law enforcement
officers who go to work every day knowing they might not come home at
night—like the two brave officers who responded to reports of gunshots and were
shot in the chest yesterday in St. Louis.
We are so thankful they were wearing their vests and
survived—but it is another reminder of how dangerous these jobs are and how
grateful Americans should be every single day to our law enforcement and their
families.
As Attorney General, I am deeply committed to combatting
this surge in violent crime and supporting the work of our police
officers. I have made it one of our top
priorities both in word and deed.
Over the last two years, we have seen a deadly increase in
violent crime. The overall violent crime
rate is up by nearly seven percent.
Robberies are up. Assaults are
up. Rape is up by nearly 11 percent. And murder is up by more than 20 percent.
And by the way, I recently read one of our Department-funded
studies that found that larger increases in drug-related homicides than in
other types of homicide show that “expansions in illicit drug markets
contributed to the overall homicide rise.”
According to the study, nearly a quarter of this increase in homicides
is the result of the increase in drug-related homicides.
There can be no question that drug trafficking is an
inherently violent business.
But as we all know, these are not numbers—these are moms,
dads, daughters, spouses, friends, and neighbors.
These are empty places at Christmas dinner tables and holes
in the hearts and souls of victims’ families that will never heal.
I will not accept this as the status quo. We will not allow the progress made by our
women and men in blue over the past two decades to simply slip through our
fingers now.
We will not cede a community, a block, or a street corner to
violent thugs who peddle poison or gangs who prey on our children.
Today, we take another important step forward in this fight.
As we know, 85 percent of law enforcement is state, local,
and tribal. To be effective, we must
utilize this force multiplier. It is
these authorities that have the critical street level intelligence regarding
the criminal element.
We are most effective when these experienced state and local
investigators are paired with the resources and expertise of the 15 percent
that are our federal law enforcement.
Put simply, this combined task force model is what truly
works to reduce violent crime and that is precisely what we have established
with our reinvigorated Project Safe Neighborhoods program.
This brings together Federal, State, Local, and Tribal
collaboration, targeting the violent offenders who commit a disproportionate
amount of violent crime.
Led by our 94 United States Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe
Neighborhoods task forces are hitting the streets across America to apprehend
and bring violent criminals to justice.
I have asked Congress for additional PSN funding next year because I
believe nothing will be more effective.
Under this program, I am asking a great deal of our United
States Attorneys. I am both empowering
them and holding them accountable for results.
To put them in the best position to impact and reduce violent crime, it
is my privilege to announce today that through a re-allocation of resources, we
will be enlisting and deploying 40 additional violent crime prosecutors across
the United States.
These prosecutors are being sent to hotbeds such as Central
Islip New York, where we will have 2 new federal prosecutors focusing solely on
violent crime and MS-13, and each of our southwest border districts will
receive additional prosecutors to focus on the cartels and the violence the
inflict in that region.
By working hard to find these additional positions, despite
a budget reduction, we are allocating prosecutors to many more cities,
including:
Oakland, California;
St. Louis, Missouri;
Toledo, Ohio;
Memphis, Tennessee;
Milwaukee, Wisconsin;
Las Vegas, Nevada;
Detroit, Michigan;
and many others.
These additional Assistant United States Attorneys can make an immediate
impact. I know—I have seen it firsthand.
A committed AUSA can supervise multiple investigations,
which in turn can apprehend and dismantle multiple criminal organizations
simultaneously. That means fewer
violent criminals on the streets and more concentration of resources on the bad
actors who are left. That is how you
reduce crime.
My expectations for these new AUSAs could not be higher, but
I know this is an investment that will pay dividends for years to come and one
that will make a readily discernable impact in these communities struggling
with violence.
I have personally worked to re-purpose existing funds to
support this critical mission. We have a
saying around here that a new federal prosecutor is the coin of the realm. That means when we can eliminate wasteful
spending, one of my first questions to my budget staff is whether this would
allow us to deploy another AUSA to a violence-plagued district.
Through these efforts, we now have 40 slots, but this is
just the beginning of our push to increase the tooth-to-tail ratio at this
Department to drive down violent crime.
We plan to push out an additional 260 AUSAs in the months to come.
I am also announcing today two new violent crime task forces
that will focus on the areas most in need in North Carolina and
Pennsylvania—two areas where violent crime far exceeds the national
average.
In many of the counties surrounding Pittsburgh, they suffer
from more violent crime per capita than Philadelphia.
So to the communities that are suffering, hear this: help is
on the way. We are marshalling our
resources and we will be relentless in our pursuit of violent criminals that
are victimizing your neighborhood.
I am also announcing that I will be traveling to Milwaukee,
Toledo, and Charlotte on Monday and Tuesday to personally observe the crime
problem and to deliver the good news that additional help is on the way.
This will mark my 32nd U.S. Attorney’s office visit this
year. At every one of those stops I have
met some fabulous and dedicated AUSAs. I
know I will see firsthand the impact that our prosecutors are having, and, more
importantly, I will reaffirm this Department’s unequivocal support for the work
done by law enforcement and prosecutors.
Our federal team of AUSAs, FBI, DEA, ATF, US Marshals, and Bureau of
Prisons are outstanding, and I am honored beyond words to lead them.
Finally, during this Christmas season and in the holiday
spirit, I want to personally express my deep appreciation and profound thanks
to all the women and men of law enforcement—state and local—and their families,
for sacrificing so much and putting your lives on the line every day, holiday
or not, so that the rest of us may enjoy the safety and security you
provide. We love you and honor your
work.
Know this, we have your back and you have our thanks.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
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