DOJ PRESS RELEASE

Readout of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s Events at IACP’s Annual Conference

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland attended the annual meeting of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in San Diego where he participated in a fireside chat moderated by IACP Deputy Executive Director Terry Cunningham. The Attorney General discussed a number of issues, including, the Justice Department’s emphasis on the importance of partnering with state and local law enforcement agencies, the Department’s request for an increase in appropriations for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) Hiring Program, recently announced funding to law enforcement agencies and stakeholders across the country, the challenges of recruitment and retention in policing, threats to law enforcement personnel, the Department’s anti-violent crime strategy, and the Department’s attack on every element of the fentanyl epidemic – from the precursor suppliers in China, to the laboratories in Mexico, to the leaders of the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels, to their distribution networks in the United States. Attorney General Garland also met with members of the IACP Executive Board for additional discussions.

He also highlighted an increase in dedicated funding for the COPS Hiring Program from $139 million in 2022 to $224 million in 2023, to requested appropriations of $2.7 billion for FY 2024. He also discussed the nearly $75 million in critical grant funding announced on Friday to law enforcement agencies and stakeholders across the country. In addition to supporting efforts to combat drug trafficking and other public safety programs, that funding will help provide assistance to agencies looking to expand their law enforcement mental health and wellness services.

In addition, the Attorney General recognized the continued recruitment, hiring, and retention challenges in policing. Earlier this year, Attorney General Garland tasked the Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance and the COPS Office with bringing together law enforcement and community leaders to come up with solutions. As part of this effort, in the coming week, the Department will release a recruitment and retention report that makes a range of recommendations. Those include: 1) Investing in officer well-being, including through mental and physical health benefits and improving flexibility in schedules to better reflect the desires of the modern workforce; 2) Developing pipeline programs in high schools and colleges and engaging with community leaders around the role that police serve in their communities; 3) Modernizing the process so that onboarding new hires is done faster.

The Attorney General also addressed the increase in threats of violence to law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, judges and all those who work every day in pursuit of justice and in service to the American people. Making clear that these threats are unacceptable and must not become normalized, the Attorney General said:

“People in a democracy are entitled to argue with each other, to criticize in the most vociferous way, but we won’t have a democracy if people decide that violence and threats of violence are the way to influence outcomes.”

The Attorney General also discussed what the Justice Department is doing in response to the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl. Attorney General Garland shared how he often hears from families who have been impacted by fentanyl. He discussed the Department’s approach of going after every link in the cartel-driven fentanyl trafficking networks that span countries and continents. This includes going after the cartels’ leaders, their drug traffickers, their money launderers, their clandestine lab operators, their security forces, their weapons suppliers, and their chemical suppliers. In April, the Department charged 23 Sinaloa cartel members, leaders and associates, and just last month, the Department extradited Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, and one of “El Chapo’s” sons. Agents and prosecutors across the Justice Department are working every day to combat the threat posed by fentanyl. Those efforts have resulted in the seizure of over 62 million fentanyl pills and over 9,700 pounds of fentanyl powder just this year alone.

While in California, the Attorney General also had the opportunity to meet with local police chiefs from across the country and leaders of some of the nation’s major law enforcement associations to thank them for their continued partnership. Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Director Steven Dettelbach of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Director Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Director Ronald Davis of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), Director Hugh T. Clements of the COPS Office, Assistant Attorney General Amy Solomon of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) were also in attendance at IACP.