Quote For the first time in a long time, Americans can have hope for a safer future, with a slower murder rate and decreasing violent crime.

Jeff Sessions: Trump promised to end ‘American carnage.’ Promise delivered.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions

USA Today

January 23, 2018

When President Trump was inaugurated, he made the American people a promise: “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”

It is a promise that he has kept.

In the fight against crime, there is a lot at stake. There is even more at stake for communities that are already struggling. In high-crime areas, businesses and jobs leave, property values plummet, and kids have a harder time in school. These sad consequences only lead to a vicious cycle of crime, poverty and more crime.

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Trump ran for office on a message of law and order, and he won. When he took office, he ordered the Department of Justice to stop and reverse these trends — and that is what we have been doing every day for the past year.

We have placed trust in our prosecutors again, and we’re restoring respect for law enforcement. We have invested in new resources and put in place smarter policies based on sound research.

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In 2017, we brought cases against more violent criminals than in any year in decades. We charged the most federal firearm prosecutions in a decade. We convicted nearly 500 human traffickers and 1,200 gang members, and helped our international allies arrest about 4,000 MS-13 members. We also arrested and charged hundreds of people suspected with contributing to the ongoing opioid crisis.

Morale is up among our law enforcement community. Any loss of life is one too many, but it is encouraging that the number of officers killed in the line of duty declined for the first time since 2013, reaching its second lowest level in more than half a century. And we are empowering and supporting our critically important state, local and tribal law enforcement partners as we work together to protect communities from crime.

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This first year of the Trump era shows once again that the difficult work we do alongside our state, local and tribal law enforcement partners makes a difference. Crime rates are not like the tides — we can help change them. And under Trump’s strong leadership, we will.

Read the full op-ed here.