FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OPA

MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 2006 (202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

Fact Sheet: Department of Justice Law

Enforcement Efforts in New Orleans,
Louisiana
The Department of Justice is committed to working in partnership with state and
local law enforcement and communities to combat violent crime. As part of this
effort, the Department has allocated additional resources to New Orleans following
Hurricane Katrina. Both new and existing programs and resources include the
following:

Funding

The Department of Justice has made more than $20 million available to the
city of New Orleans and Orleans Parish to help rebuild the criminal justice
system there. In total, the Department has made available to the state of
Louisiana over $61 million in justice assistance grants (JAG) and Katrina
relief law enforcement infrastructure funds.

United States Attorney’s Office

The Department will temporarily assign 10 attorneys to New Orleans to assist

the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. These
attorneys will focus on prosecuting firearms, drug and immigration cases.

The Department will hire nine additional Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs)
in the Eastern District of Louisiana. The AUSAs will be tasked with assisting
fraud and violent crime prosecutions.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)

The ATF will assign four additional ATF Special Agents to New Orleans to
supplement the Violent Crime Impact Team (VCIT), which focuses on
reducing gun crime. With the addition of these agents, the VCIT initiative will
be staffed by 10 ATF Special Agents and six New Orleans Police Officers.
These Special Agents and task force officers identify and pursue recidivist
offenders who are considered the “worst of the worst” and who reside and
 operate in the designated VCIT area. In addition, the VCIT jointly operates
with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) within the designated area
during peak hours of criminal activity.

The ATF will relaunch the 24-hour ATF Gun Hotline which allows citizens to
report the illegal use and possession of firearms for federal response. The
hotline phone number (504-581-GUNS) will be advertised in public service
announcements throughout New Orleans.

Drug Enforcement Administration

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force Group is comprised of
Drug Enforcement Agency agents working in partnership with detectives from
the NOPD. This group focuses exclusively on violent drug trafficking
organizations and violent offenders who have a prior criminal history
involving aggravated offenses as well as a direct nexus to drug trafficking
within the inner city.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

The FBI, in partnership with federal, state, and local law enforcement, has
recently launched a Violent Crime Intelligence Initiative to gather information
on violent criminals. The initiative integrates intelligence from law
enforcement agencies and creates a mechanism to distribute this intelligence
to federal, state and local law enforcement in New Orleans and the
surrounding areas.

The FBI currently operates the Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Force which
includes officers from the NOPD and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The Task Force is staffed with 13 FBI special agents and 13 officers from
area police departments and sheriffs' offices and focuses on the most violent
subjects—whether associated with an organized gang or working in a more
loose-knit fashion with other subjects.

United States Marshals Service (USMS)

The USMS will assign four additional Deputy Marshals to supplement the
Crescent Star Fugitive Task Force. The Crescent Star Fugitive Task Force
locates and arrests violent felony fugitives across 13 parishes in the Eastern
District of Louisiana, and includes representatives from the NOPD, the
Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff’s Office, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s
Office, Louisiana Probation and Parole, and the Coast Guard Investigative
Services. These Deputy Marshals will assist in targeting and apprehending
sex offenders and will prioritize violent offenders identified by the Crescent
Star Fugitive Task Force.
 The Crescent Star Fugitive Task Force supports the NOPD’s Violent Offender
Warrant Squad by conducting weekly fugitive round-ups on targeted
violators. The Crescent Star Fugitive Task Force is also assisting the
Louisiana Probation and Parole Department in tracking down more than two
thousand wanted probation and parole offenders, whose whereabouts are
unknown since Hurricane Katrina.

In addition, the USMS Technical Operations Group (TOG) will be made

available to assist and prioritize cases from the Crescent Star Fugitive Task
Force. The TOG provides the USMS, other federal agencies, and any
requesting state or local law enforcement agency with support in electronic
surveillance, aerial surveillance, communications, as well as analysis and
intelligence, related to fugitive investigations.

Office of Justice Programs (OJP)

The Justice Department will work with local law enforcement and the
National Police Athletic League (PAL) to establish a new PAL chapter in the
city for the children of New Orleans. The PAL chapter will be made possible
by a grant from the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance and
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, which will also
support the PAL mission through technical assistance and other prevention
resources that benefit America's youth.

The Department of Justice will provide funds and help establish Safe Havens
in the three New Orleans Weed and Seed Sites by the fall of 2006. Safe
Havens provide a secure recreation and learning environment for Weed and
Seed communities, keeping children off the streets and out of trouble.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of America will re-establish the clubs that were destroyed
by Hurricane Katrina with funding provided through the Bureau of Justice
Assistance and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

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