Photo: Oregon Radio News Network
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says actions taken to reduce the spike in violent crime during the pandemic are working.
Garland made the comments in Portland where he met with the U.S. Attorney for Oregon, the superintendent of Oregon State Police, Portland's Police chief and other law enforcement officials.
Garland says there's been a nearly eight percent drop in violent crime in Portland from 2022 to 2023. Federal grants helped hire more local police and invest in ways to prevent violence before it occurs.
Garland's comments:
I am very grateful to be here and have the opportunity to talk to all of our federal, state, and local law enforcement here.
All of you are the partners that make everything work. You represent people who take risks every single day to keep the people of Oregon safe. I can’t thank you enough, and I very much look forward to hearing your perspectives and ideas for me to take back.
I am also grateful to have the chance to recognize the extraordinary work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.
For people of this state, this office is the face of the Justice Department. The attorneys and staff here understand that responsibility. And like all of our partners gathered around this table, you do outstanding work on behalf of those you serve.
Three and a half years ago, the Justice Department launched an ambitious strategy to fight the sharp spike in violent crime that took place during the pandemic.
We focused our efforts on the most powerful tools we have, which are reflected right here: our partnerships with federal, state, Tribal and local law enforcement.
We fortified those partnerships with substantial funding from our grantmaking components to help police departments hire more officers, to support our law enforcement task forces, and to invest resources in initiatives aimed at preventing and disrupting violence before it occurs.
And we brought to bear our unique prosecutorial authorities and new technologies that enable us to zero in on those individuals and gangs that are responsible for the most violence.
Today, we know that work is starting to pay off.
Data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association shows a nearly 8% drop in violent crime here in Portland between 2022 and 2023. And recent data shows an additional 4% decline in violent crime in Portland in the first nine months of this year compared to the same time period last year.
But, of course, there is no acceptable level of violent crime.
That’s why the Justice Department continues to work with our partners here to fight violent crime, disrupt illegal drug and firearms trafficking, and keep people safe.
In May, working with the FBI and the Portland Police Bureau, this U.S. Attorney’s Office secured a 14-year sentence for a leader of Portland’s 18th Street Gang. The gang leader conspired to traffic large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine into the Portland area for redistribution and sale.
In August, working with the Westside Interagency Narcotics Team and the Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program, this office obtained a sentence of more than 10 years for a man who sold deadly Oxycodone pills to a 20-year-old woman who died from acute fentanyl poisoning.
In September, working with the FBI and the Medford Police Department, this office secured sentences of three men for distributing counterfeit, fentanyl-laced pills that resulted in the death of a teenage girl.
In October, working with DEA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, IRS, and the Oregon State Police, and other state and local law enforcement, this office obtained a 57-month sentence for a chief money launderer for a drug trafficking organization operating in the Pacific Northwest and California.
The defendant laundered more than $4.6 million in drug proceeds and used laundered funds to purchase eight properties. Those properties were forfeited to the government and will ultimately be sold, with proceeds going to support crime victims and law enforcement.
That same month, in partnership with the FBI, the Klamath Falls Police Department, the Oregon State Police, and half a dozen other law enforcement partners, this office obtained the conviction of a man who brutally victimized two women. The man kidnapped and sexually assaulted both women and held one of them in a cell that he constructed for the purpose in his garage.
Thanks to the bravery and collaboration of our law enforcement partners, that man is being held accountable for his crimes.
Just a couple of weeks ago, this office secured a five-year sentence for a man who illegally possessed and manufactured more than 100 semi-automatic firearms and silencers.
During a search of his residence, investigators found methamphetamine, dozens of weapons, firearm manufacturing tools, and a 3D printer with a partially printed part for an AR15. When the defendant was arrested, he was carrying a semiautomatic pistol without an identifiable serial number.
That investigation and successful prosecution reflected the joint efforts of this office, ATF, and the Lane County Sheriff’s Office.
In addition to using our investigative and prosecutorial capabilities, we are also committed to using our grantmaking capabilities to invest in public safety.
So far this year, the Justice Department has awarded more than $64 million in grants to Oregon.
These funds will help law enforcement agencies in Oregon to hire more officers.
And they will help agencies and community partners prevent and combat violent crime and drug trafficking and improve services for survivors of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other crimes.
The Department of Justice remains committed to providing our law enforcement and community partners with the resources they need to protect their communities.
The examples I have just shared are just a snapshot of the extraordinary work that this U.S. Attorney’s Office is doing every day to protect people in Oregon and to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission to ensure the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.
I am extremely proud of the public servants who make up this office and of the extraordinary leader beside me, Natalie Wight. And I am equally proud of the relationships they have developed with the people around this table.
Your jobs are not easy. They are dangerous, but they are essential. Thanks to you for the many sacrifices you make to keep of this state safe.