Yesterday, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer participated in the 41st Annual National Night Out (NNO). Their participation in NNO events highlights the Justice Department’s partnerships with federal, state, and local law enforcement that have played key roles in its Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime, which focuses federal resources on identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the most significant drivers of violent crime.
Established in 1984 from a Justice Department Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grant, NNO aims to build relationships with and between communities and law enforcement, promote police-community partnerships, and enhance neighborhood camaraderie. The community-building campaign provides an opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances.
This year, NNO takes place as violent crime continues to decline nationwide, following an uptick during the pandemic in 2020. FBI data shows a decrease in violent crime in communities across the country in 2023 compared to the previous year, including an over 13% reduction in homicides. That is the steepest yearly decline in homicides, in over 50 years. Early data from 2024 indicates that this trend is continuing.
“Each year, National Night Out gives communities across the country the chance to celebrate and strengthen their partnerships with law enforcement,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This was a particularly meaningful National Night Out because it came after our country experienced one of the lowest nationwide violent crime rates in 50 years this past year. The Justice Department will never stop working to build on this progress because every person, in every neighborhood, in every community deserves to be safe from violent crime.”
The Attorney General participated in National Night Out events in Des Moines, Iowa. He was joined by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kahl for the Southern District of Iowa at an event hosted by the Urbandale Police Department, where they had an opportunity to engage with local law enforcement and community members.
This week, Attorney General Garland met with prosecutors and law enforcement partners from the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of Nevada, Eastern District of Wisconsin, Northern District of Iowa, and Southern District of Iowa. The Attorney General met with U.S. Attorney Jason Frierson for the District of Nevada and discussed his Office’s work as part of the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force program (OCDETF), which seeks to identify, disrupt, and dismantle high-level criminal and drug trafficking organizations. In Wisconsin, he spoke with federal, state, and local law enforcement leaders, including Milwaukee Sheriff Denita Ball and Police Chief Jeffrey Norman, about efforts to continue to decrease violent crime and reduce fentanyl on streets in the Milwaukee area. Attorney General Garland also touted the work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northen District of Iowa to secure sentences for multiple gun and drug crime offenders.
Deputy Attorney General Monaco attended two National Night Out events in Cincinnati with U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Kenneth Parker and Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge. She visited the Westwood and Roselawn neighborhoods, where she spoke with local community leaders and law enforcement officials about how they are partnering together to keep Cincinnati safe. Prior to her NNO stops, the Deputy AG attended roll-call at the Cincinnati Police Department’s (CPD) Third District to thank the women and men of the force for their commitment to public safety.
While in Cincinnati, the Deputy AG visited the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio to hear from the dedicated prosecutors and professional staff of the office about their work to carry out the Justice Department’s mission, especially tackling violent crime. The Deputy AG also toured the Cincinnati Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC), which imbeds ATF special agents and analysts with local law enforcement and prosecutors to swiftly identify unlawfully used firearms and their sources. Like the many other crime gun intelligence centers nationwide, the Cincinnati CGIC harnesses cutting-edge technologies – including the ATF’s National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) and eTrace systems – to rapidly develop and pursue investigative leads in order to drive case clearance rates up, which in turn can help drive violent crime rates down.
Prior to traveling to Cincinnati, the Deputy Attorney General delivered the keynote address at the 25th anniversary celebration of the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Foundation, where she emphasized the crucial role women in law enforcement play in protecting communities nationwide.
Acting Associate Attorney General Mizer joined U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley Jr. for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Special Agent in Charge Benny Mims of the ATF Charlotte Field Division, and U.S. Marshal Glenn McNeill Jr. for the Eastern District of North Carolina to attend two National Night Out events in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Acting Associate Attorney General visited Tarboro Road Community Center and The Village at Washington Terrace, where he met with law enforcement partners and community members and discussed issues of importance in Raleigh.
In addition to the federal, state, local, and Tribal partners, the 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices around the country are invaluable partners in the Department’s work to combat violent crime. All of the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices visited this week by the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, and Acting Associate Attorney General maintain ongoing participation in the Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, which builds on existing programs in each district to reduce gun violence, gun crime, and sustain those reductions.