On Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that his Justice Department is reviving a Bush-era crime policy that focuses on strict prosecution of gun and gang related crimes. The program is known as Project Safe Neighborhoods, and is the next step in the Trump administration’s tough-on-crime agenda.
According to POLITICO, the project is a large scale effort to crack down on drug traffic, gang violence, and gun crimes in communities. It develops plans for federal prosecutors to work with local police in order to get the most violent criminals off the streets.
“We cannot afford to be complacent in the face of violence that threatens too many of our communities,” Sessions said in his memo on the project. “All United States Attorneys must implement an enhanced violent crime reduction program that incorporates the lessons learned since the original program’s launch in 2001 and leverages new strategies to help turn the tide against violent crime.”
Project Safe Neighborhoods began as an effort to insure that those using guns in crimes got mandatory prison sentences. Part of the plan moves certain gun crimes to federal court, where they carry longer sentences in federal prisons. It also includes changes in how authorities process traces for guns used in violent crimes. Those linked to crime scenes would be given priority, with a goal of completing the trace in 24 hours.
Session’s department has been critical of the Obama administration’s handling of the project. DOJ officials noted that violent crime has risen over the past few years, making a federal response even more critical. The Department of Justice and Trump administration have set aside $70 million for the effort.
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