The Justice Department’s Violent Crime Reduction Steering Committee met yesterday to discuss the significant efforts undertaken by the Department to combat violent crime and the result of those efforts. The Steering Committee is chaired by Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General (PADAG) Marshall Miller and composed of leadership and representatives from across the Department, including law enforcement, prosecutorial, and grantmaking components.
After PADAG Miller called the meeting to order, the committee was briefed on the latest violent-crime statistics. Preliminary data from 85 cities showed that violent crime has continued to decline considerably in 2024, including a 17.5% decline in murder, 7.1% decrease in rape, 3.6% decrease in aggravated assault, and 7.8% decline in robbery over the first three quarters of the year.
“Over the past two years, we have turned the tide against the violent crime that spiked during the pandemic,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Additional data from 85 cities released today indicates that between January and September of this year, violent crime again declined, and murders dropped 17.5%. This builds on last year’s historic drop in homicides nationwide and one of the lowest levels of violent crime in 50 years. I am extremely grateful to the Justice Department’s law enforcement agents, prosecutors, and grantmaking experts, as well as our state and local law enforcement and community partners, for their difficult and life-saving work to combat violent crime.”
The committee received an update from the Criminal Division on the continued success of its Violent Crime Initiative (VCI), which works with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and federal, state, and local law enforcement in Hartford, Connecticut; Houston; Jackson, Mississippi; St. Louis; and Memphis, Tennessee, and surged federal law enforcement resources to Washington, D.C. The briefing specifically highlighted VCI achievements in Houston and Memphis, where crime rates have fallen significantly since the launch of the VCI initiative in those cities.
The committee received updates from the co-chairs of the Department’s Action Network to Terminate Illegal Machinegun Conversion Devices (ANTI-MCD) Committee; U.S. Attorney Robert Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma; and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Deputy Assistant Director Timothy Jones, on the efforts of the ANTI-MCD Committee to address the proliferation of MCDs, including the development of district-specific initiatives targeting MCDs in every federal district across the nation, as well as additional trainings and resources for prosecutors, law enforcement agents, and officers.
The committee also heard from ATF representatives regarding ATF’s recent tracking efforts using e-Trace – an internet-based system that allows authorized law enforcement agencies to submit and receive firearm traces to the ATF National Tracing Center – and ATF’s ongoing intelligence and technology outreach efforts. Finally, the committee heard from FBI regarding the establishment and implementation of carjacking task forces in districts around the country.
At the conclusion of the meeting, PADAG Miller indicated that the Steering Committee will report to Department leadership on developments from the Department’s violent crime reduction initiatives and provide recommendations regarding additional policy and enforcement strategies.