Kevin Johnson, and David Jackson

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions was sworn in Thursday as the 84th attorney general of the United States as President Trump signed three executive actions aimed at bolstering law enforcement.



Sessions, a former federal prosecutor and Alabama attorney general, pledged to attack a crime problem that he described as "a dangerous permanent trend that has places the health and safety of the American people at risk.''

Sessions' remarks on crime during the brief White House swearing-in ceremony come after Trump's disputed claims in recent days about record rising crime throughout the United States. FBI statistics have shown a sustained decline in violent offenses across the U.S., in recent years

Although murder jumped by 11% in 2015, the biggest one-year increase in more than 40 years, the overall rate remains the lowest in decades. A December analysis of the 2016 overall crime rate in the nation's 30 largest cities by New York University's Brennan Center for Justice found that the rate was expected to remain roughly the same as 2015, indicating that rates "will remain near historic lows.''

Before Sessions' took the oath of office from Vice President Pence, Trump used the occasion to announce the series of orders, which direct federal law enforcement to step up efforts against international drug cartels; create a national task force aimed at reducing violent crime; and a move to protect local police from violence directed at law enforcement.

Last year, overall police fatalities increased 10% from 2015, including a surge in fatal police shootings. Sixty-four officers were fatally shot last year, an increase of 56% from 2015.

"A new era of justice begins,'' Trump said. "And it begins right now.''

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Trump called Sessions — the first U.S. senator to embrace the president's candidacy and who has been enormously influential in developing the administration's immigration and national security policy — "a great protector of the people.''

"Mr. President, I thank you for this great honor,'' Sessions said. "It's something that I never thought would happen in my life.'

Sessions was confirmed by the Senate Wednesday on a near party-line vote, 52-47. The vote followed a extraordinarily contentious debate in which his Democratic opponents asserted that he would not aggressively defend civil right laws and questioned his close ties to the president.

At the White House, Trump was effusive in his praise for the experience Sessions brings to his new role as the nation's chief law enforcement officer.

"We face the menace of rising crime and the threat of deadly terror," Trump said. "He's trained better for it than anybody else."

The president's directive creating the crime reduction task force "requires a focus on law and order,'' according to the White House document, echoing an regular refrain from Trump's primary and general election campaigns. Also notable was the order's reference to "illegal immigration'' — another campaign standard long championed by Sessions — among the top enforcement priorities for federal law authorities.

"A focus on law and order and the safety and security of the American people requires a commitment to enforcing the law and developing policies that comprehensively address illegal immigration, drug trafficking and violent crime,'' the order states.

From the White House, Sessions made the short trip to the Justice Department where the new attorney general took part in the tradition of greeting staffers who lined the hallways to get a glimpse of the new boss.

Sessions' arrival comes just more than a week after the interim leadership of the department was upended when Trump abruptly fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates for refusing to direct government lawyers to defend the administration's executive order suspending immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries in federal court.

"It's good to be back,'' Sessions said, referring to the 12 years he spent as the U.S. attorney in Mobile, Ala., and two years there as an assistant U.S. attorney. "What a day it's been; it's hard to believe.''

Later, in a video message to the agency's more than 100,000 employees, Sessions said there was "no place for partisanship or bias'' in the department's work.

"I love the Department of Justice,'' Sessions said. "There is nothing that I have ever done that I'm more proud of than serving it for 14 years.''

Sessions was scheduled to conclude his first day on the job late Thursday in a meeting with directors of the agency's law enforcement components, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service.