coverage of the 2020 for national political conve republn event in milwaukee july 15. next, democrats will convene in chicago on august 19. stay connected to c-span for uninterrupted and unfiltered glimpse of democracy at work. watch the republican a democratic national committee invention's this summer on c-span, c-span now, and c-span.org. at c-span. your unfiltered view of politics, powered by cable. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center? it is way more than that. comcast is partnering with 1000 community centers to create wi-fi enabled listings so students from low income families can get the tools they

need to beeady for everything. >> comcast supportc-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> up, attorney general merrick garland on efforts to combat violent crime at the chiefs of police executive forum on crime guns in washington, d.c. >> please, be seated. good morning, everybody. one more time. good morning, everybody. welcome back to atf for day two

of our third annual chiefs of police executive forum on crime guns. i hope you all enjoyed yesterday , the first day. i know i learned a lot from you and as i said yesterday, we have chiefs here from all over, from vermont to vegas, from florida to fargo, and all over the country. yesterday was a jam packed agenda, covering one of a.t.f.'s greatest assets, crime gun intelligence or as we talk about cgi, which means nothing more as we all know and discussed yesterday, squeezing every last bit of evidence out of the crime gun and that data into actionable leads that are shared with you and the people you lea to clear homicide cases, it leads that show how erleads that bring justice to survivors and victims. a unique event.

it's a lot of people, but it's not a massive conference. it's a meeting that is of the size that has the right people in the room, you, who are leading the fight against violent crime, and one where a.t.f. and you can have an actual dialog and talk about things on our minds and yesterday, of course, really drove that point home. we shared from a.t.f. side, some of the key advances that we're making,5 using our two pillars of crime gun intelligence to catch the trigger pullers, those driving the gun violence in your community and we discussed the results of the latest firearms trafficking assessment, talking about the data that shows some of the recent trends. for instance, the growth in illegal dealing of firearms without a license, which is now the leading method of trafficking cases that fuels firearms on the black market. we also shared with you from

a.t.f. side the launch ofearms center, as well as our crime gun center of excellence in wichita, kansas, how exciting it is the work we're doing to partners, for you. and we heard from you. we heard from you about the issues we're facing, just a few about the dangerous proliferation that you're seeing of machine gun conversion devices that are posing extreme risks to your communities and to your officers. and '@í)■■?lly liked being here and hearing you talk with each other, about the efforts and strategies you're going through to secure storage because of the rising threats of firearms thefts from cars and others in your community. and i think we'll take this back with us, talking about

nuts and bolts of crimes, and what the chiefs need to do with the nuts and bolts in terms of working with to set up. and in all, an incredibly productive first day and a.t.f. is proud to play host to that important discussion. one of the topics that we did spend some time yesterday talking about, was the developments that had been made in one of the newest pillars of crime gun intelligence, ballistic-based dna's. our lab in maryland has led the way on developing this investigative technique. as a result, we've seen the hit rate for dna in shooting cases skyrocket, and it has provided key leads in hundreds of murders and mass shootings and these are important cases as we heard yesterday from the deputy attorney general. this tool played a key role in catching the suspect alleged to have murdered a chicago police officer just last month. there was good news. on the other side, of course,

we touched on a disturbing and upsetting topic in all of our minds, the increased danger that both federal agents and your officers faced every day as go to work and these days, as we know, there are too many dark days for the men and women who carry a badge and risk so much to protect others. our keynote speaker understands this reality. and he is unwavering in his lifelong support for the brave officers agents on the good days and als on the tough days. recently i went to a funeral in charlotte to hon a member four heroes gunned down serving a search warrant. unsurprisingly, attorney general merrick garland was there in charlotte, too. he always shows up. he was there to help a community in a time of pain, but more than that, when you see him spend personal time away from cameras with a family in pain and with an agency

going through a crisis, that's who this attorney general is to his core. his support for all of us and the courageous people who work with you and words, was deeply felt backed by action. we're very lucky to have the tremendous leadership in the department of justice of attorney garland. he's a fierce advocate for justice with a capital j, but also for justice with a small j that applies to everybody and the things we need to do with everybody to actually achieve it. the sacrifices made by all of you, by law enforcement, to get justice for the victims of crime. i'm deeply honored to have him here this morning. and proud to introduce our keynote speaker, please join me in welcoming the 86th attorney general of the united states of america, the honorable merrick b garland.

[applause] >> he's tallen than me. good morning. thank you, steve. grateful for your leadership and for the dedication of extraordinary professionals of the a.t.f. i'm also grateful to all of the police chiefs who have joined us at a.t.f. headquarters this week as i've said before and i will say again, the justice department could not do its work without ynd the officers you lead. when i became attor i into you that grappling with the violent crime that had surged during the pandemic

would be one of the most urgent challenges the justice department would face. i knew well the scourge of violent crime. i was a drugs and guns prosecutor during the crack wars of the late 1980's and early 1990's and then i was a supervisor of prosecutors and agents in the criminal division at the justice department. i knew that among the most powerful tools the department has to confront violent crime would be our partnerships. our partnerships among federal law enforcement agencies assisting in the fight against violent crime, our partnerships with the state and local law enforcement agencies that protect our local every day and our partnerships with the communities that we all serve. so we have spent the last three years pouring every available resource into strengthening those partnerships. we have expanded access to the

range of advanced technological tools here at a.t.f., including ballistics analysis, firearm tracing and crime gun intelligence centers as steve just recounted. we've worked in joint task forces with our state and local law enforcement partners to zero in on the individuals and gangs that have repeatedly committed violent offenses. and we have put our grant making powers into work as well. this has included investing in essential programs through our cops office and office of justice programs to allow police departments to hire more officers. included in investing in policing efforts to public trust. and anti-violence initiatives aimed at preventing violent at the community level. as we have worked to reduce

violent crime, the department has found committed partners on the state and local level at every turn. our shared commitment to deepening our partnerships into the public we serve has already begun to show results. fbi data shows a decrease in violent crime in communities across the country in 2023, compared to the previous year, including an over 13% reduction in homicides. that's the steepest decline, yearly decline in homicides in over 50 years. and last year's trend appears to be continuing into this year. based on data from police departments in 90 cities across the country, we saw a 18% year over year decline in murders in the first quarter of 2024. that program is--

that progress is reflected in many so of the communities represented here today. in atlanta, there was a 21% drop in homicides in 2023. in san antonio, there was a nearly 29% drop in homicides and a 10% decrease in overall violent crime and in philadelphia, there was a 20% decline in homicides. this progress is thanks first and foremost, to the brave men and women in your departments, who put their lives on the line to protect their communities every day. we know that there are families that did not lose a loved one because of the brave efforts of your officers. we also know that our work is far from over. there is no acceptable of violent crime.

violent crime not only people's safety, it threatens their ability to go about their daily lives, and needless to say in this room, violent crime endangers the law enforcement officers who risk their lives every single day to protect their communities. it has been a particularly tough year for law enforcement. according to the fbi, 2023 marked a 10-year high for the number of officers assaulted or injured by firearms. 60 officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty. i knew that none of us will give up until that number is zero. just upstairs in this building we recently rededicated the memorial to those who have lost their lives to the tragic epidemic of gun violence. of the 118 people honored in

th memorial today, 39 are heroic law enforcement officers who are killed by gun violence in the line of duty. they include a loving husband and father who served for over two decades as a police officer. and whose heroism even after he was shot saved the livesf countless more officers. they include a wife and mother who was a trailblazer in her police department and who died in the line of duty while protecting others. they include two fbi agents who put their lives on the line combatting insidious crimes against children and made the ultimate sacrifice. the justice department is committed to honoring the and their families through our

continuing work to help keep our communities and the officers who protect them safe. that is why we are continuing our efforts to fight gun violence on every front, from cracking down on criminal gun trafficking pipelines to updating regulations to deepening our partnerships with state and local law enforcement. in cleveland, for example, a three-month crime reduction initiative brought together a.t.f., the cleveland division of police and almost a dozen other federal, state, and local law enforcement agents. that operation resulted in charges against 59 individuals in connection with drug and firearms offees. thanks to a.t.f.'s system we know that a significant number of the guns seized during that violent criminal activity. su to other cities that

experienced a record rise in violent crime. in houston, memphis, st. louis, jackson, hartford, we launched a violent crime initiative that brought prosecutors from the justice department's criminal division in washington to work closely with prosecutors already on the ground, to target those responsible for the greatest violence. as a deputy attorney general discussed yesterday, we are also using crime gun intelligence centers to trace crime guns, ballistic evidence to link shootings and identify gun traffickers and straw purchasers who arm violent criminals. these centers use cutting edge technologies, including a.t.f.'s e-trace systems rapidly develop and pursue investigative leads in order to for violent crime. i know that our■ bureau of justice assistance is going to be speaking with you later

today about grants that can be used to build new ones or expand existing ones. i encourage you to look into used in your own work. we are also using the tools created by the bipartisan safer communities act. it expanded our authority to prosecute firearms traffickers and straw purchasers who buy guns for those barred by law, fromssing them. i'm pleased to announce that we have now charged■/ a substantia number of the 10 defendants under that authority. at the same time, they expanded background checks, have already kept more than 700 firearms out of the hands of young people who are legally prohibited from obtaining them. the act also gave us new tools

to combat the flood of illegal guns in our communities and trafficking has been increasingly driven by firearms dealers who sell guns without a license and who do not conduct background checks on their sales. those black market guns are often found at crime scenes. that is why, pursuant to this, the justice department has published a new rule to update the definition of being, quote, engaged in the businessó$ of dealing in firearms. under this regulation, it does not matter if guns are sold on the internet at a■p gun show or at a brick and mortar store. if you sell guns predominantly to earn a profit you must be licensed and you must conduct background checks. this regulation is a historic step in the justice department's fight agast gun violence. it will make law enforcement officers safer.

it will make communities safer. it will save lives. right now, we are seeing the clear impact that our partnerships, technological advances and tools can have on gun violence. as we recognize the progress we've made, i want to underline two points. first, our work is far from over. progress is only progress. our work is not done until all americans feel safe in their communities. second, none of this progress would have been possible without the enormous sacrifices made by your state and local law enforcement officers. to the leaders from across the country who are joining us today, thank you. please extend my deepest gratitude to the officers and troopers who serve your

communities. we ask so much of you. never hesitate to ask us what you need from us. thank you for being here today. [applause] >> c-span's washington journal. our forum involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy from washington, d.c. and across the country. tuesday morning, daniel garza discusses latino voters and shifting attitudes among that voting block. and james jacoby on his latest pbs frontline film about how the

israel-hamas war has ignited division on college campuses. then the g7 summit in italy and congressional news of the day. we discussed with adam smith and rich mccormick. washington journal. join the conversation live at 7:00 eastern tuesday morning on c-span, c-span now, or c-span.org. >> wednesday, republican and democratic lawmakers face-off in annu congressional baseball game at national park in washington, d.c. the event goes back to 1909 a happens each year to raise money charities.washington dc we will have this on c-span, c-span now, and c-span.org.

c-spans your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers, and we are just getting started, building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who neeit >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> next, crisis communications and community engagement. we will hear from fema administrator, white house press secretary, and that head of u.s. fire administration, hosted in washington dc with a talk about the importance of community outreach, tribal and rural communities, and accessing information.