Justice Department picks 12 cities for crime-fighting help

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico



By JOSH GERSTEIN 06/20/2017 08:45 AM EDT

The Justice Department has picked a dozen U.S. cities for intensive assistance fighting a rash of violent crime, including murders.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the coordinated help Tuesday from various branches of the Justice Department, including federal prosecutors in U.S. Attorneys offices, agents from the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, and officials who oversee law-enforcement-focused grants.

“Turning back the recent troubling increase of violent crime in our country is a top priority of the Department of Justice and the Trump Administration, as we work to fulfill the President’s promise to make America safe again,” Sessions said as the Justice Department kicked off a two-day summit in Bethesda, Maryland, spotlighting strategies for cracking down on violent crime . “The Department of Justice will work with American cities suffering from serious violent crime problems."

The initial round of cities selected for the newly-created Public Safety Partnership are: Birmingham, Alabama; Indianapolis, Indiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Toledo, Ohio; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Buffalo, New York; Cincinnati, Ohio; Houston, Texas; Jackson, Tennessee; Kansas City, Missouri; Lansing, Michigan, and Springfield, Illinois.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2017/06/20/justice-department-picks-12-cities-for-crime-fighting-help-239750

[bleedingulcers]

1. But not Chicago?

Where we just passed 300 murders for the year?

Are you kidding me? What are they thinking?

Oh. Right. They don't think...

[hack89]

3. Chicago is actually middle of the pack when it comes to murder rates

But despite the soundbites, Chicago remains in the middle of the pack when homicide is measured on a per-capita basis. In 2016, the city had a rate of 27.9 killings per 100,000 residents — half that of St. Louis, whose 188 murders amounted to 59.3 homicides per 100,000 people and preserved that city’s status as America’s murder capital. Baltimore placed second, with a homicide rate of 51.2, followed by Detroit, New Orleans, and Cleveland. “Because Chicago has so many people, it can get a murder every day, and that gets people’s attention,” John Pfaff, a professor of law at Fordham Law School, told The Trace recently. “When you focus on numbers, not rates, Chicago ends up looking worse because you forget just how big a city it is.”

Still a concern but there are many violent cities in America.

https://www.thetrace.org/2017/01/chicago-not-most-dangerous-city-america/

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Per the OP's link

[*** <...>

Several cities struggling with a significant surge in murders, including Baltimore and Chicago, were notably absent from the list. It was not immediately clear whether they were not invited to join or whether they were and declined to participate. Also unclear is what advantage, if any, cities that join the new partnership will have in competitive grant programs.

The Justice Department did say it plans to add more cities to the list later this year.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2017/06/20/justice-department-picks-12-cities-for-crime-fighting-help-239750 ***]

[SkyDaddy7]

9. I was thinking to myself...

Would I want the help of this DOJ considering who it is & the changes he made to President Obama & Loretta Lynch's DOJ investigations of troubled police departments? Is Jeff Sessions just going to release the Storm Troopers on these communities & measure success by how many warm bodies they put in private prison beds? I know I'm being cynical but I don't trust anyone in the Trump Administration.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. I noticed that except for Louisiana and New York

the rest of the cities are in states with GOP governors.

I wouldn't trust them either but maybe there was real money dangled in front of them. The issue might be whether they actually see a dime if the GOP mantra of "merit based" applies - i.e., you get "paid" if you show "improvement".

[uppityperson]

2. No Chicago?

[DonViejo]

4. From the article....

Several cities struggling with a significant surge in murders, including Baltimore and Chicago, were notably absent from the list. It was not immediately clear whether they were not invited to join or whether they were and declined to participate. Also unclear is what advantage, if any, cities that join the new partnership will have in competitive grant programs.

[hack89]

5. Looks like they are focusing on mid-size cities

which makes sense when you are trying to stretch resources. To see meaningful results, a huge city like Chicago would most likely need all the resources they are using in 12 cities.

[geek tragedy]

11. Like Houston and Kansas City? nt

[hack89]

13. I will give you Houston

KC is less than 500K.

[geek tragedy]

14. Metro area is 2.34M. nt

[hack89]

15. Which is made up of numerous cities and towns

The official census population is 470k.

[hlthe2b]

7. Not New Orleans?

[Scarsdale]

8. Use those resources

to fight the crime in DC among the elected officials.!! Start with the Orange Oaf and his family, then the rest of the "mis-administration" They have brought corruption to town in an unprecednted wave.

[geek tragedy]

12. Hmmmm. Not a lot of Democratic-leaning cities there

which is hard to pull off when creating a list of big US cities

[jmowreader]

16. The head-scratcher is Jackson, Tennessee

I looked it up. Less than 70,000 population. It's on I-40, but there are a LOT of towns off I-40 that aren't getting these grants.

We have people from Tennessee here. What's going on in Jackson?

[funkybutt]

17. Baton Rouge, LA? and not New Orleans

What!