Lynch speaks in LR
Lynch addresses LR meeting
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch opened an anti-violence meeting in Little Rock on Monday with a message that “the best ideas for combating violence will come from the local level.”
Addressing an audience consisting largely of law enforcement officers and prosecutors gathered to share and receive training on violent reduction efforts, Lynch emphasized that the U.S. Department of Justice stands ready to provide support for local anti-violence efforts.
“We have to ensure a comprehensive approach to this difficult challenge,” she told those gathered for the Violence Reduction Network’s meeting.
Lynch said the Justice Department will award more than $20 million in grants to more than 100 law enforcement agencies across the nation to help establish or enhance their use of body cameras.
The effort comes on the heels of widespread protests after several fatal shootings of black men by police, with the latest coming last week in Tulsa and Charlotte, N.C.
Another $33 million will be available to 28 jurisdictions to help inventory, test and track backlogged sexual assault kits, Lynch said.
Assistant Attorney General Karol Mason also said an additional $13.6 million will be awarded to help develop innovative, data-driven approaches to crime; reduce and more effectively prosecute gun crimes; and increase public safety through community-based partnerships.
“Violent crime endangers lives, destroys families and paralyzes neighborhoods,” Lynch said. “It stifles opportunities and spreads fear. It deters investment and discourages education. And it undermines America’s founding promises of life, liberty and opportunity for all.
“It affects all of us, and this is why all of us have a responsibility to end it.”
The Violence Reduction Network was established in 2014 as a way for the Justice Department to collaborate with communities to understand the root causes of violence, build law enforcement partnerships and enhance existing violent crime strategies with proven practices. The department also provides technical training to improve awareness of the ways in which the department is “poised to assist” the communities.
Since 2015, both Little Rock and West Memphis have been a part of the network, which operates in 15 cities and focuses on areas with violence levels exceeding the national averages, according to the Justice Department.
Lynch gave examples of grants the department has made available to communities to help reduce violence, suggesting that the federal grant money can be key to the success of local efforts. She noted that “effective public safety involves more than arrests and prosecutions. It requires winning — and keeping — the trust and confidence of the citizens we serve.”
Lynch also praised local agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for helping clear a backlog of more than 1,300 firearms cases, and thanked the Pulaski County prosecuting attorney’s office and Chris Thyer, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, for working together to increase the prosecution of gun crimes, “getting dangerous weapons off the street.”
“This is a partnership that is working,” Lynch said. “This is a team.”