SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions cites declining violent crime figures and high-profile arrests as evidence that an effort to crack down on violent crime by seeking long sentences is working in Utah and nationally.
Speaking at the Utah State Capitol on Wednesday, Sessions says federal authorities are targeting the most dangerous people in the most violent areas.
A year ago, Sessions restarted a federal program aimed at combating violent crime.
Project Safe Neighborhoods was a George W. Bush-era strategy that faded during the Obama administration.
There was an upswing in violent crime rates that had been on the decline since the early 1990s.
Through the initiative, federal prosecutors have worked with local law enforcement agencies to target offenders in cases involving guns, drugs and gangs.
