Attorney General Jeff Sessions encouraged cities to utilize decades-old strategies to fight violent crime, focusing on the aggressive prosecution of gun offenses under federal laws, instead of weaker state statutes.
Sessions credited the 1990s program, known as Project Exile, for decreasing violent crime by slapping felons caught illegally carrying guns with a mandatory five-year sentences to be served in prisons far away from their homes. During his first month in office, Sessions has frequently pushed for increased federal involvement in fighting street crime, citing the need for harsher sentences for the violent criminals.
“I am determined that this country will not go backwards,” he said. “President Trump gave us a clear directive. It’s the policy of this administration to reduce crime in America, not preside over an increase in crime, but reduce crime.”
