United States Attorney General B. Merrick Garland took a trip to Little Rock on Thursday to join federal, state, and local law enforcement leaders to discuss the progress of curbing violent crime in Arkansas.
During his visit, Garland said that the Justice Department has awarded the state of Arkansas more that $1 million in funding to the state under the DNA Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction Program. The Attorney General also announced that Arkansas received $4 million in funding under the National Criminal History Improvement Program this week as well.
This all comes as part of a strategy the U.S. Department of Justice launched three years ago to combat violent crime.
Little Rock has one of the highest crime rates in the United States and Attorney General Garland says this new strategy has seen progress through a decrease in homicides over the last year and violent crime continuing to decrease this year.
As part of this national strategy, the Department of Justice is working in conjunction with law enforcement agencies in Arkansas to arrest violent felons, seize and trace illegal firearms, and target gangs involved in violent crimes.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin noted the success with recent arrests carried out by the Organized Retail Crime Alliance (ORCA) that saw a multi-agency coordinated effort to disrupt criminal organizations that target big-box retailers.
Both U.S. Eastern District of Arkansas Marshall Cory B. Harris and Attorney Jonathan D. Ross were in attendance, along with Arkansas State Police, FBI, DEA and ATF agents.
“These funds will, among other things, help law enforcement agencies in Arkansas hire more officers, help to prevent and combat violent crime and drug trafficking, and improve services for survivors of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and other crimes,” Garland said.
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