Remarks by President Biden and Attorney General Garland on Gun Crime Prevention Strategy
JUNE 23, 2021
Location: Not determined

4:55 P.M. EDT
 
ATTORNEY GENERAL GARLAND: Good afternoon, Mr. President. It’s good to be here with you, and with local elected and community leaders, and with representatives of law enforcement.
 
Protecting our communities from violent crime is a top priority for the Department of Justice and one of our most important responsibilities.
 
I’m glad the President brought us together today to discuss a subject of such importance to the public we serve. As our participants in today’s roundtable have noted, the increase in violent crime in 2020 and early 2021 is deeply troubling.
 
That is why, last month, the Justice Department launched a comprehensive violent crime reduction strategy. This strategy is built around four principles: setting strategic enforcement priorities; fostering trust with and earning legitimacy in our communities; investing in community-based prevention and intervention programs; and measuring the results of these efforts through a decrease in violent crime, not merely by arrests and convictions, as if they were ends in themselves.
 
Now, we know that the lion’s share of violent crime reduction work is shouldered by our state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement partners. Core to our strategy is targeted support of the critical work that you will be doing in the weeks and months ahead.
 
Every one of our U.S. attorney’s offices is working with its local partners to establish an immediate plan to address the spike in violent crime that typically occurs during the summer. And the law enforcement components of the Department are making enhanced resources available to help prevent and disrupt violent crime, and to focus on the most dangerous, most violent offenders.
 
The Department is also strengthening our Project Safe Neighborhoods — our cornerstone initiative that brings together law enforcement and community stakeholders to develop solutions to pressing violent crime problems.
 
Community-led efforts are vital to preventing violence before it occurs. The Justice Department has available over $1 billion in funding through over a dozen grant programs that can be used to support evidence-based, community violence intervention strategies.
 
And I want to say that’s what I found particularly useful in our discussion just a few minutes ago — was the fact that there are such evidence-based programs available. And I’m hoping that you will get together with us so that we can spread those across the country — as well, of course, funding your own.
 
A properly functioning criminal justice system is essential to our efforts, as well. The Department has grant funding available to help cities resume court operations and services that were curtailed during the COVID-19 pandemic. That includes funding for technology and equipment for courts to address the backlog of cases and enhance access to justice.
 
We know that an effective violent crime reduction strategy must also address the illegal trafficking of firearms and focus on keeping guns out of the wrong hands. And so the Department is delivering on the promises we made here at the White House in April.
 
On May 7th, we issued a proposed rule to help address the proliferation of ghost guns. On June 7th, we issued a proposed rule to clarify that pistols equipped with certain stabilizing braces are subject to the same statutory restrictions as easily concealable, short-barreled rifles. And on the same day, the Department published model Extreme Risk Protection Order legislation for states to consider as they craft their own laws to reduce gun violence.