Monday, February 27, 2017
Remarks as prepared for delivery
Good morning, and thank you, [Senator] Luther [Strange], for
the kind introduction. The people of
Alabama are well represented in the Senate.
Let me begin by thanking the National Association of
Attorneys General for inviting me here to speak today. You can be sure that I did not expect to be
in this position. Two decades ago I had
the privilege of serving as the Attorney General of Alabama, and I was a member
of this group. But I must confess to you
that I wasn’t a consistent dues-paying member.
So, I brought my checkbook with me today, just in case you still want me
to pay up.
Today I want to discuss something that I know is on your
minds, and that greatly concerns me as well
– the recent, disturbing rise in
violent crime in our nation. I want to
talk about exactly what we’re seeing; what the causes might be; and what we can
do to confront this challenge together.
First, let’s put things in context. Overall, crime rates in the United States
remain near historic lows. Murder rates
are half of what they were in 1980. The
rate of violent crime has fallen by almost half from its peak in the early
1990s. Many neighborhoods that were once
in the grip of gangs and drugs and violence are now vibrant places, where kids
can play in the park and parents can enjoy a walk after sunset without fear. There is no doubt that in the past four
decades – under leadership from both political parties,
and thanks above all to the work of prosecutors and good police using science
and professional training – we have won great victories against crime in
America. Hundreds of thousands of
Americans are alive today as a result.
But in the last two years, we’ve seen clear warning
signs –
like the first gusts of wind before a summer storm – that
this progress is now at risk.
The latest FBI official data tell us that from 2014 to 2015,
the violent crime rate in the U.S. increased by more than 3 percent – the largest one-year increase since
1991. The murder rate increased 11
percent – the largest increase since 1968. The rape rate increased by over 4 percent,
and the aggravated assault rate rose by nearly 4 percent.
If this was a one-year spike, we might not worry too
much. But the preliminary data for the
first half of 2016 confirmed these trends.
The number of violent crimes in the first half of last year was more
than 5 percent higher than the same period in 2015. The number of murders was also up 5 percent
over the same period the year before, and aggravated assaults rose as well.
Just last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that since
2014, the murder rate in 27 of our country’s 35 largest cities has gone
up. Homicide rates in Chicago,
Baltimore, Milwaukee and Memphis have returned to levels not seen in two
decades. Last year, Chicago had more
than 4,000 shooting victims and 762 murders, and Baltimore’s murder rate was
its second-highest ever.
These numbers should trouble all of us. My worry is that this is not a “blip” or an
anomaly, but the start of a dangerous new trend that could reverse the hard-won
gains of the past four decades – gains that made America a safer and more
prosperous place.
While we can hope for the best, those of us charged with
protecting public safety can’t afford to be complacent or take for granted the
achievements of recent years, because when crime rates move in the wrong
direction, they can move quickly.
We know this, because those of us above a certain age have
lived it. In the early 1960s, crime
began to rise in our country; by 1973, crime rates in almost every category –
violent crime, murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary and car
thefts – had doubled over where they were just a decade before. And as the 1970s went on, levels of crime and
violence that we once deemed unacceptably high became the “new normal” in
America.
As someone who lived through that dark time in our history,
and dealt with its consequences every day as a prosecutor, I can assure you: We
do not want to go back to those days. We
cannot risk giving up all we have achieved in our fight against crime.
I’ve thrown a lot of numbers at you to illustrate my
point. But we must remember that these
data represent real neighborhoods and real people whose safety and lives are at
stake. Each victim of this recent spike
in violent crime is someone’s parent, or child, or friend. And every loss of a young life to guns or
drugs is a tragedy we must work to prevent.
While this spike in violent crime is not happening in every
neighborhood or city, the trends should concern all of us. It is a basic civil right to be safe in your
home and your neighborhood. We are
diminished as a nation when any of our citizens fears for their life when they
leave their home; or when terrified parents put their children to sleep in
bathtubs to keep them safe from stray bullets; or when entire neighborhoods are
at the mercy of drugs dealers, gangs and other violent criminals.
So we need to act decisively at all levels – federal, state
and local – to reverse this rise in violent crime and keep our citizens safe. This will be a top priority of the Department
of Justice during my time as Attorney General.
We know the first step in fixing something is recognizing
you have a problem. For anyone who still
doubts that today’s rise in violent crime is real and significant, I’ve done my
best here to make that case. And I’m not
alone, because police chiefs and sheriffs and mayors across our country are
saying the same thing.
Once we recognize the problem, we need to examine the causes
and take action. It’s still early, but
people with long experience in law enforcement and crime research are beginning
to draw some conclusions.
We know that our nation is in the throes of a heroin
epidemic, with overdose deaths more than tripling between 2010 and 2014. Meanwhile, illegal drugs flood across our
southern border and into cities and towns across our country, bringing
violence, addiction and misery. In
particular, we’ve seen an increase in the trafficking of new, low-cost heroin by
Mexican drug cartels working with local street gangs. As the market for this heroin expands, gangs
fight for territory and new customers and neighborhoods are caught in the
crossfire.
In recent years, we’ve also seen a significant shift in the
priority given to prosecuting gun and drug offenders at the federal level. While numbers don’t tell the whole story, I
still find the following statistics troubling: at the end of 2015 there were
more than 7 percent fewer federal gun prosecutions than five years before. In
that same five-year period, federal drug prosecutions declined by 18 percent.
Under my leadership at the Department of Justice, this trend
will end. Our agents and prosecutors
will prioritize cases against the most violent offenders, and remove them from
our streets so they can no longer do us harm.
We’ve also heard from law enforcement leaders, including the
FBI Director and many police chiefs, that something is changing in
policing. They tell us that in this age
of viral videos and targeted killings of police, many of our men and women in law
enforcement are becoming more cautious.
They’re more reluctant to get out of their squad cars and do the hard
but necessary work of up-close policing that builds trust and prevents violent
crime.
This is a terrible place to be, because we know that tough
and effective law enforcement can make a real difference. It can reduce crime and save lives. We’ve seen it happen in our country over the
past four decades – and many of you in this room have been part of this noble
work.
What do I mean by good, effective law enforcement? It means effective prevention programs. It means selfless, dedicated police officers
who know the people they serve and protect.
It means a humane prison system that keeps dangerous criminals off the
streets. It means prosecutors who work
tirelessly, within the bounds of the law, to put offenders behind bars. It means judges who serve under the law, who
interpret it faithfully as it is written, and who apply it to all equally, with
vigor and integrity. All of these
elements of our justice system must work together.
The immense social costs of crime are indisputable. Yes, incarceration is painful for the
families of inmates, and every conviction represents a failure on multiple
levels of society. But the costs of
rising crime are even more severe. Drug
crimes and violent felonies change the lives of victims forever. Neighborhoods hit by rising crime suffer deep
economic harm. And if more young men
choose to commit crimes because jail time is less daunting than before, that
means they are forgoing more hopeful courses for their lives and their
communities. In the midst of a terrible
heroin epidemic and a rise in violent crime, we should not roll back the tools
law enforcement has to go after federal drug trafficking and firearms felons,
or release thousands more.
The federal government has a key role to play in addressing
this crisis. I pledge that under my
leadership at the Department of Justice, we will systematically prosecute
criminals who use guns in committing crimes.
We will work to take down drug trafficking cartels and dismantle
gangs. And we will enforce our
immigration laws and prosecute those who repeatedly violate our borders.
I also pledge to listen to the stories and concerns of those
who are most affected by this rise in violent crime. Over the coming months I plan to travel
around the country, from border towns to big cities, to talk with and learn
from our law enforcement partners, crime victims, community leaders and others.
Earlier this month, the President also gave us clear
direction. He signed three executive
orders aimed at reducing crime and restoring public safety, protecting our law
enforcement personnel, and dismantling the transnational cartels that are
bringing drugs and violence into our neighborhoods.
To carry out the first of those orders, today I’m announcing
the formation of a Department of Justice Task Force on Crime Reduction and
Public Safety.
The Deputy Attorney General will chair the task force, which
will include crime reduction experts throughout the Department of Justice,
including the heads of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S.
Marshals Service. The task force will
evaluate everything we are doing. It
will look at deficiencies in our current laws that have made them less
effective in reducing crime, and propose new legislation. It will make sure we’re collecting good crime
data, and think of ways to improve that data so we can all better understand
crime trends. We will insist that every
agent and prosecutor is deployed effectively, fully supported and highly
productive. Finally, the task force will
consult with our partners in law enforcement at all levels, as well as law enforcement
organizations, victims’ groups and community groups.
But the federal government cannot meet this challenge
alone. States and cities and towns have
always played the lead role in criminal law enforcement in our country – and
that must continue, for two reasons.
First, it’s the most effective way for us to work. Many of the law enforcement techniques that
helped make our neighborhoods safer in recent decades – such as community-based
policing – were developed and refined at the local level. So it’s a good bet that the best new ideas
for meeting this current crisis will also come from innovators in state and
local law enforcement.
The second reason is sheer numbers. About 85 percent of all law enforcement
officers in our nation are not federal, but state and local. Today they are better educated, trained and
equipped than ever before. These are the
men and women on the front lines – the ones doing most of the tough and often
dangerous work that keeps our neighborhoods safe.
Unfortunately, in recent years law enforcement as a whole
has been unfairly maligned and blamed for the unacceptable deeds of a few bad
actors. Our officers, deputies and
troopers believe the political leadership of this country abandoned them. Their morale has suffered. And last year, amid this intense public
scrutiny and criticism, the number of police officers killed in the line of
duty increased 10 percent over the year before.
To confront the challenge of rising crime, we must rely
heavily on local law enforcement to lead the way – and they must know they have
our steadfast support.
For the federal government, that means this: rather than
dictating to local police how to do their jobs – or spending scarce federal
resources to sue them in court – we should use our money, research and
expertise to help them figure out what is happening and determine the best ways
to fight crime. We should strengthen
partnerships between federal and state and local officers. And we should encourage proactive policing
that ensures our police and citizens are communicating and working well
together.
The new challenge of violent crime in our nation is real
– and the task that lies before us is
clear. As President Reagan used to say,
there are no easy answers, but there are simple ones; we only need the courage
to do what is right. We need to resist
the temptation to ignore or downplay this crisis and instead tackle it head-on,
to ensure justice and safety for all Americans.
We need to enforce our laws and put bad men behind bars. And we need to support the brave men and
women of law enforcement as they work day and night to protect us.
Let us act to meet this challenge, so that our children and
grandchildren will not look back and say that our generation let slip from our
grasp all we had done to make our country a safer and better place.
I welcome your ideas and your advice, and I look forward to
working with all of you in this cause.
Thank you for having me here today.
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