Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. escaped the Washington cold and snow today—temporarily at least—to address the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives at an event in Tampa, Fla.
"After all the snow we've seen in Washington this week, it's good to be here in Tampa," Holder said, according to a copy of his remarks provided by the Justice Department. The temperature in Tampa at one point this morning was a balmy 49 degrees. Holder called it “semi-warm”—in contrast with the 34 degrees in the nation's capital earlier this morning.
Last fall Holder met with several members of the organization's leadership team.
Holder today spoke about the Justice Department’s goals, saying DOJ is giving particular emphasis to fighting economic and international organized crime, among other areas. The attorney general noted the recent $11 million investment in the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program.
“Let me be clear about this: violence against law enforcement will not be tolerated,” Holder said. “At every level of the Justice Department, and in every corner of our country, acts of violence against law enforcement will be pursued.”
Holder vowed a “new approach” to incarceration in the United States, saying that such an effort must include a focus on preparing inmates to reenter society. The country’s prisons and jails, Holder said, “do very little to prepare prisoners to get jobs and ‘go straight’” upon release.
“It’s time to face facts about our current approach to incarceration. It’s not sustainable. It’s not affordable. And we’ve seen that it isn’t always as effective as we think in reducing crime and keeping Americans safe,” Holder said.
Holder noted in his remarks that he has established a Sentencing and Corrections Working Group to examine federal sentencing practices to better prepared prisoners before their release from custody. Click here (.pdf) for a copy of the attorney general's remarks.
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