News
Release
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January
25, 2007
Attorney
General Gonzales Announces Additional Federal
Law Enforcement Resources To Fight Violent Crime In New Orleans
WASHINGTON – Today,
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced additional federal
resources to help combat the recent increase in violent crime in
New Orleans. These additional resources will support state and local
law enforcement officials who are struggling to meet the challenges
of fighting violent crime in the continued aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina.
The
announcement was also made at a press conference in New Orleans by
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten of the Eastern District of Louisiana, along
with Special Agents in Charge Jim Bernazzani of the FBI, David Harper
of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF),
William Renton of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Michael
Holt of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE), Acting U.S. Marshal Roxanne Irwin, New
Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley, and Regional Director of the Office
of Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding Donna Gambrell.
“The
people of New Orleans deserve the opportunity to rebuild their communities
without the fear of being victimized by violent criminals. These
new resources further demonstrate the Department of Justice’s
support of state and local law enforcement to meet the challenges
of preventing and prosecuting violent crime and to rebuild and strengthen
the criminal justice system in the continued aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina,” said Attorney General Gonzales. “Ultimately,
New Orleans’ violent crime problem must be solved by local
leadership and the hard work of local law enforcement professionals.
I commend all the federal, state and local law enforcement professionals
who dedicate themselves every day to the hard task of providing safety
and security to the residents of New Orleans.”
Justice
Department officials outlined the additional resources that will
act as a force multiplier to those state and local law enforcement
officers dedicated to fighting violent crime in New Orleans. The
additional federal resources include the following commitments:
-
The Department
has committed to extend funding for six Assistant U.S. Attorney
detailees to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern
District of Louisiana through the end of this fiscal year (FY
2007).
-
The U.S.
Attorney’s Office will spearhead an initiative that will
co-locate a small number of ATF, DEA and FBI agents with the
New Orleans Police Department around the clock. These federal
agents will identify cases that are subject to federal jurisdiction,
provide the necessary investigative assistance to make federal
arrests, and follow up with federal prosecutions.
-
The ATF will
provide six special agent details to supplement the six ATF agents
permanently assigned to the New Orleans Violent Crime Impact
Team (VCIT). Four of the six special agent details were assigned
to the New Orleans VCIT in August 2006, and the additional two
special agent details are currently reporting for duty. This
total increase temporarily doubles the standard ATF manpower
assigned to the New Orleans VCIT.
-
ATF has obtained
new equipment to replace the National Integrated Ballistics Identification
Network (NIBIN) equipment that had been deployed at a New Orleans
Police Department site, but was destroyed by Katrina. By the
end of February, ATF will move the NIBIN equipment to the new
ATF offices to facilitate use and access until the police department
is able to identify a suitable permanent site. Once the NIBIN
equipment is redeployed, New Orleans will be able to link up
with over 200 sites throughout the country to compare ballistics
information. NIBIN is a powerful tool in the fight to solve and
reduce violent crime because it allows law enforcement to link
together cold crimes and recovered weapons where previously very
few, if any, leads existed.
-
The DEA temporarily
has been provided authority to investigate and enforce all federal
criminal law, in addition to federal drug laws. This authority
will allow DEA agents to assist the New Orleans Police Department
in maintaining law and order in the City of New Orleans.
-
The FBI will
detail an additional nine agents to the New Orleans area to supplement
the 13 FBI agents permanently assigned to the Violent Gang Safe
Streets Task Force.
-
The FBI will
provide training to the New Orleans Police Department on Project
Pinpoint. Project Pinpoint combines mapping software with existing
police intelligence such as the location of crimes, bench warrant
information, source coverage and tips from the public. Using
this innovative technique, the FBI and its law enforcement partners
have been able to more efficiently use existing intelligence
to solve real crimes.
-
The U.S. Marshals
Service will continue its increased support of the Crescent Star
Fugitive Task Force by temporarily extending the additional three
Deputy U.S. Marshals and one investigative analyst detailed to
that Task Force in August 2006.
Last
August, the Attorney General toured state and local law enforcement
facilities and met with federal, state and local law enforcement officials
to discuss ongoing collaborative efforts to fight crime and rebuild
the community. The Attorney General also met with members of the Louisiana
congressional delegation and state and local government officials to
discuss how the federal government can best assist state and local
law enforcement in combating violent crime.
These
new resources build upon the Department’s efforts in the last
year. Following Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Attorney’s Office
in the Eastern District of Louisiana was a driving force in the creation
and continued vitality of the Southeast Louisiana Criminal Justice
Recovery Task Force, and the Department has made nearly $30 million
in grants available to the city of New Orleans and Orleans Parish
to help rebuild the criminal justice system. In total, the Department
has made available to the state of Louisiana over $61 million in
justice assistance grants and Katrina relief law enforcement infrastructure
funds.
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