INDIANAPOLIS–Violent crime is being reduced in America, said U.A. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions in a speech to Hoosier police officers and prosecutors at the 2018 Indiana Law Enforcement Conference. His message to law enforcement, “Pres. Trump and I are proud to stand with you.”
“We do indeed appreciate the fact that 85 percent of law enforcement is state and local,” said Sessions, to the officers, deputies, sheriffs and police chiefs. “You cannot reduce crime without working together.”
While Sessions avoided speaking on rumors of his possible upcoming dismissal, he did carry the president’s message to law enforcement, embodied by the dispensing of 300 additional federal prosecutors across the United States, during the first year and a half of the Trump administration.
Sessions, on his third visit to Indiana as AG, is the top law enforcement official in the country. He recognized efforts like the Ten Point Coalition, members of which he met with on a previous visit.
“So you have the combination of strong, tough law enforcement that identifies serious criminals and removes them from the community, and then we have to empower our community leaders,” said Sessions.Â
Audio titled AG JEFF SESSIONS SPEECH 9 6 18 by 93WIBC
As a matter of thanking officers for their work and sacrifices, he noted the deaths of Boone County Deputy Jacob Pickett and Terre Haute Police Officer and part-time U.S. Marshal Robert Pitts.
“As a small expression of my appreciation, I send a condolence letter to the families. I’ve sent 74 already this year,” he said, about the number of police officers in America who have died on the job in 2018.
Sessions also admonished the critics of ICE and Homeland Security.
“We stand in steadfast support of our outstanding ICE officer and Homeland Security. They do essential work in this country,” he said. “They are doing the kid of things the law requires them to do. The foolish and duplicitous critics of them simply just don’t want immigration law to be enforced.”
Sessions warned of the dangers of opioids, especially Fentanyl, saying prescriptions are down, some doctors have been arrested, and that he believes in supporting the fight against drugs with stronger sentences for illegal distribution of Fentanyl.
Sessions said he is encouraged that statistics show violent crime is down for the first quarter of 2018, and that being a police officer is now number three on the list of dream jobs for kids, and number one for boys.
“More and more of our young people want to wear the badge. I feel good about that. That tells me we’re doing something right.”
PHOTO: RTV6 Capture
