Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on May 26 a new three-pronged initiative to help combat the surge of violent crime in several U.S. cities in the wake of George Floyd’s death last summer.
Garland’s strategy consists of directing the Justice Department’s 94 U.S. attorney’s offices to adopt a set of principles focused on improving the department’s approach to reducing violent crime, such as improving community relations and investing in prevention programs.
The initiative will also require U.S. attorney’s offices to work closely with state, local, federal, tribal, and community partners to address violent crimes seen over the summer, such as murders, shootings, and robberies. The current Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program also will be updated.
“The deputy attorney general is issuing a comprehensive strategy to deploy our federal resources in the most effective way, disrupting the most dangerous threats and supporting the ground-level efforts of local law enforcement.”
It’s not immediately clear how Garland’s initiative will compare with Operation Legend, given that both measures sought to reduce violent crime.
Garland’s initiative will also augment further resources to state and local law enforcement efforts from the FBI; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the United States Marshals Service.
The department will also provide grants that will highlight community programs targeting gun violence, sharing information about community violence intervention programs, and provide training and technical assistance to support the violent crime reduction work.
“In this endeavor, we will engage our communities as critical partners. And through our grantmaking, we will support programming at all stages—from the earliest violence interruption strategies to post-conviction reentry services,” Garland said.