The NJ Police Chief Magazine Volume 23, Number 9 | Page 15

The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | November 2017
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Back in February, just weeks after taking office, President Trump issued an executive order that asked DOJ to
enhance the protection and safety of our law enforcement. This is a critical mission for us. Law enforcement is a
noble profession and one that demands respect.
I’m here today on behalf of President Trump and the Department of Justice to say thank you. I am proud to stand
with you. The Department of Justice is proud to stand with you. We have your back.
In addition to his ‘back the blue’ order, President Trump sent us a second order: reduce crime in America. His third
order was to dismantle transnational criminal organizations.
In order to fulfill these important goals, I changed the charging policy for our federal prosecutors, trusting them once
again and directing them to once again charge the most serious, readily provable offense.
Further, I ordered our prosecutors to focus on taking illegal guns off of our streets. Since then we have seen a 23
percent increase in the number of criminals charged with unlawful possession of a firearm. That makes all of us
safer—but especially the law enforcement officers who are conducting searches and making arrests and going into
dangerous situations. I know that this is a priority for IACP and for police chiefs across America.
We understand our state and local partners are our strongest allies, our greatest resources, and that you deserve
our support.
That’s why, in July, we reinstituted our adoptive sharing program, ensuring that criminals will not be permitted to
profit from their crimes. As President Trump knows well, civil asset forfeiture is a key tool that helps law
enforcement defund organized crime, take back ill-gotten gains, and prevent new crimes from being committed, and
it weakens the criminals and the cartels. In departments across this country, funds that were once used to take lives
are now being used to save lives.
IACP has been a long-time advocate for this approach, and we’re pleased to respond to your priority request.
For the equitable sharing program to be effective, however, we need to maintain public confidence. That’s why last
week, I directed Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein to appoint a Director of Asset Forfeiture Accountability to
oversee the Department’s asset forfeiture program and ensure no errors or overreach.
I want this director to begin work immediately on recommendations like updating the Asset Forfeiture Program’s
policy guidance. Better asset forfeiture practices will make us more effective and better partners with you.
The Department of Justice also provides help through our grant programs. Today I am announcing that the IACP and
several other law enforcement agencies will be receiving awards through the Department’s Office of Community
Oriented Policing Services, or COPS.
The IACP will receive more than $200,000 for its Institute for Police and Community relations, which aims to build
trust and cooperation between law enforcement and the communities they serve. We know that any professional
department must focus every day on community relations.
Additionally, we will fund $5 million for training across the country to improve rapid responses to active shooter
events. And as I just announced this past weekend, the Department will soon award about $100 million in grants to
state and local law enforcement agencies to hire more police officers.
The number of police officers per capita in this country increased steadily from 1992 to 2007. At the same time, we
saw historic decreases in the crime rate. But from 2007 to 2012, the number of police officers per capita fell by
nearly six percent. Since then, the number of federal prisoners decreased by one-eighth in just three years.
Now, we might be tempted to congratulate ourselves on that. But crime is up. The murder rate has suddenly jumped
by more than 20 percent in the past two years, and the violent crime rate by nearly seven percent.
It seems to me that we don’t have a sentencing problem: we have a crime problem. Hiring more police can help
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