MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a warning Thursday to gang members in Tennessee and around the country, saying their criminal networks will be devastated as police and prosecutors take a stronger stance on fighting violent crime.
Sessions’ tough talk came as he spoke before more than 90 local, state and federal prosecutors and law enforcement officers in Memphis, a city beset by gang activity, drug crime and gun violence.
Promoting the Justice Department’s efforts to bring the most serious possible charges against most suspects, including drug traffickers and those who use guns to commit crimes, Sessions told the Tennessee officials that “we have your back.”
Sessions has contended that a spike in violence in some big cities and the nation’s opioid epidemic show the need for a return to tougher tactics compared with the Obama administration. Critics have warned the shift would crowd prisons and strain law enforcement resources. The move also has been assailed as a return to failed drug-war policies that unfairly affected minorities and loaded prisons with nonviolent offenders.
One of the poorest big U.S. cities, Memphis saw a record 228 homicides last year. Police say there have been 84 homicides this year, compared with 91 at this time last year.