Category: US Department of Justice

Source: United States Department of Justice News

To highlight the one-year anniversary of the May 25, 2022 Executive Order on Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety, three years after the murder of George Floyd, the Justice Department today is releasing a series of 10 new reports and guidance documents as part of its ongoing efforts to implement the Executive Order.

The steps being announced today include updated guidance prohibiting racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies, accreditation standards to encourage adoption of policies in the Executive Order by state, Tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) law enforcement agencies, a report on the Department’s efforts to implement the First Step Act, and guidance on officer wellness, investigating in-custody deaths, and responses to individuals in crisis, among others.

“While our work is not done, we are proud of the important changes we have made over this past year to update our internal policies and better provide our state and local partners with the resources and support they need to keep communities safe from violent crime, advance transparency, and build community trust,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.  “As we remember the life of George Floyd on the third anniversary of his death, the Justice Department renews our commitment to advancing accountability in law enforcement and safeguarding the civil rights of all Americans. We recognize that we have a responsibility to lead by example.”

Over the past year, the Department has worked tirelessly on more than 90 Executive Order steps, including robust and substantive engagement with stakeholders from civil rights, law enforcement, and community groups, as well as our federal agency partners.

“The Justice Department’s law enforcement partners are integral to our efforts to protect the American people from violent crime and a wide range of security threats,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “Law enforcement officers are on the front lines every day, across the country, and they deserve our continued support as we work together to ensure equal justice for all. I am proud of the work the Department has done to implement the Executive Order, and in particular the priority it places on officer safety and mental health, to foster a culture of wellness within law enforcement agencies.”

“Public safety requires police-community trust and fair criminal justice policies. The Justice Department has worked hard over the last twelve months to implement the over 90 deliverables from Executive Order 14074, including a focus on mental health, use of force, data collection, officer wellness, reentry, and much more,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “In making progress in all these areas, we have relied on the extensive engagement of our law enforcement and civil rights partners every step of the way. We remain committed to using all of our tools to strengthen trust and build healthy and safe communities.”

In addition to the steps announced today, the Department’s work under the Executive Order includes prohibiting the transfer of or use of federal grant funds to purchase military-style weapons and equipment for STLT law enforcement agencies, awarding grants in a manner that supports and promotes the adoption of the Executive Order’s policies, and working to establish a National Law Enforcement Accountability Database.

All of this work is part of the Department’s abiding commitment to the Attorney General’s three co-equal priorities: upholding the rule of law, protecting civil rights, and keeping our country safe.

Overview of the Justice Department’s Implementation of Executive Order 14074

As part of an all-of-government strategy set forth in the May 2022 Executive Order, the Department is using all of its tools to advance public safety and build police-community trust, while advancing thoughtful, evidence-informed initiatives and reforms throughout the criminal justice system. As the Executive Order makes clear, system-wide change requires funding and support that only Congress can authorize. The mandates of the Executive Order apply only to federal law enforcement agencies.

• To raise the standards of federal law enforcement agencies, the Executive Order requires all federal law enforcement agencies to adopt policies equivalent to the Department’s policies on using force, chokeholds and carotid restraints, no-knock entries, and proper body-worn camera use.
• To promote adoption of the Executive Order’s policies by STLT law enforcement agencies and encourage best practices, the Department is awarding discretionary grants in a manner that supports and promotes adoption of the Order’s policies and has created first-of-their-kind accreditation standards to further encourage adoption. The Department, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, also published guidance on best practices for responding to calls and interacting with persons in behavioral or mental health crisis or with a disability, and published a report on supporting officer wellness.
• To improve conditions of confinement and promote better outcomes for individuals who are incarcerated or under supervision, the Department published a report on the use of restrictive housing in the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and BOP’s efforts to reduce its use, a report outlining steps BOP and the U.S. Marshals Service are taking to improve conditions of confinement for individuals in their custody, and a report on the Department’s efforts to fully implement the First Step Act.
• To improve data collection and analysis to help better inform the public, government leaders, and policymakers, the Department is providing training and technical assistance to federal and STLT law enforcement agencies to increase reporting to the FBI’s National Use-of-Force data collection program, the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) data collection program, the Death in Custody Report Act, and the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).
• The Department, in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security, updated the Guidance on the Use of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, National Origin, Religion, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies. The updated guidance prohibiting racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies sets forth limited circumstances when federal law enforcement agents or officers may consider a protected characteristic, adds disability as a protected characteristic, expands application of the guidance beyond law enforcement officers to all federal law enforcement personnel engaged in or supporting federal law enforcement activities, and sets benchmarks and timelines for the development and implementation of training, data collection, and accountability provisions.
• Last month, the Department released a Strategic Plan outlining actions to safely reduce criminal justice system interactions, support rehabilitation during incarceration, and facilitate reentry for people with criminal records.

In the months and years to come, the Department will continue to operationalize and build upon its implementation of the Executive Order to keep communities safe, support law enforcement, and advance effective, fair policing.

The Department’s reports and guidance documents are available here.

The Department’s Fact Sheet on efforts to implement the Executive Order is available here.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

A North Carolina man was sentenced today to 36 months in prison for tax evasion.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Darren Lee Joy of Matthews did not file individual income tax returns for most of the past two decades, even though he was required to do so based on the amount of income he earned. Joy evaded taxes by submitting and maintaining with his employers Forms W-4 and state tax forms that falsely claimed he was exempt from federal and state income tax withholding. As a result, taxes were not withheld from his wages and little to no taxes were paid to the IRS. In total, Joy earned more than $1.8 million in income and owed more than $380,000 in state and federal income taxes. 

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge Frank D. Whitney ordered Joy to serve two years of supervised release and to pay $359,859 in restitution to the United States and $23,058 in restitution to the State of California.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney Dena J. King for the Western District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge Donald “Trey” Eakins of the IRS-Criminal Investigation Charlotte Field Office made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Trial Attorney Brian Flanagan of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley for the Western District of North Carolina prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

As part of the 40th annual commemoration of National Missing Children’s Day, the Justice Department today honored nine individuals in Washington, D.C. for their extraordinary efforts to recover and help missing children and to hold those who commit child sexual abuse and crimes against children legally responsible for their actions.

“Whether a child has been abducted, or has just wandered away, the terror felt by a parent when their child has disappeared is overwhelming,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “I have great respect for the brave, resourceful, and dedicated professionals who work every day to protect children from harm, reunite missing children with their families, and provide support in the aftermath of a traumatic event. There is no cause more worthy of honor. The Department of Justice is proud to stand with them.”

The Office of Justice Programs’ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention leads the nation in observing Missing Children’s Day, which was first proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 in memory of six-year-old Etan Patz, who was abducted while walking to his bus stop in Manhattan on May 25, 1979. National Missing Children’s Day honors his memory and those children who are still missing. Etan’s killer was convicted in February 2017, but the case remains active because his body was never found.

“It is difficult to even imagine all of the emotions — panic, fear, heartbreak — when a child goes missing,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “The Justice Department commemorates National Missing Children’s Day not only to remember the solemn impact that missing children have on parents and caregivers, families and communities, but also to honor the individuals, organizations, and agencies that have made extraordinary efforts to find and rescue missing and exploited children.”

“On this day, we remember that some 460,000 children go missing from the United States every year – and we take this opportunity to remind ourselves of both the scope of the challenge before us and the depth of our collective commitment to the safety and welfare of America’s youth,” said Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon of the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs. “The incredible people we honor today – and so many dedicated professionals across the country – deserve our deep appreciation and gratitude for all they do to protect children and our communities.”

This year’s recipients are honored with the following awards:

Attorney General’s Special Commendation: This commendation recognizes the extraordinary efforts of an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, an affiliate agency or an individual assigned to an ICAC task force or affiliate agency for making a significant investigative or program contribution to the ICAC task force program.

• Recipients: The following members from the North Texas ICAC task force – Lieutenant Cyrus Zafrani, Task Force Commander; Sergeant Kellie Renfro, Deputy Task Force Commander; Detective Tony Godwin; Detective Chris Meehan; Texas Ranger Bruce Sherman; Detective Jeffrey Rich; and Community Outreach Officer Anthony Newsom – all received the Attorney General’s Special Commendation for their actions in processing more than 22,000 tips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline, resulting in more than 500 arrests and the rescue of more than 50 children between Nov. 1, 2021, and Oct. 31, 2022.

Missing Children’s Law Enforcement Award: This award recognizes the extraordinary efforts of law enforcement officers who have made a significant investigative or program contribution to the safety of children.

• Recipient: Detective Agnes Watson from the Rialto Police Department in Rialto, California, received the Missing Children’s Law Enforcement Award for her actions in investigating a 23-year-old man who had abducted and assaulted a 17-year-old girl with the intention of taking her to Puerto Rico and trafficking her.

Missing Children’s Child Protection Award: This award recognizes the extraordinary efforts of child protective service agency personnel, law enforcement officers, or other professionals who have made a significant investigative or program contribution to protecting children from abuse or victimization.

• Recipient: Detective Mike Myerson from the Palatine, Illinois, Police Department received the Missing Children’s Child Protection Award for investigating the disappearance of a 14-year-old who was in contact with an adult male who wanted to engage in sexual acts with the teen. Myerson apprehended the suspect and charged him with traveling to meet a minor, which is a felony.

The Department also named Ayoub Alsaidi, a 5th grader from P.S. 251 in Brooklyn, New York, the winner of the 2023 National Missing Children’s Day poster contest. The contest creates an opportunity for schools, law enforcement and child advocates to discuss the issue of child safety with youth and their parents.

“Through their resourcefulness, their exceptional savvy and, most of all, their tenacious commitment to the health and safety of our nation’s young people, these award recipients have saved and protected hundreds of children from abduction, exploitation and further harm,” said Administrator Liz Ryan of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. “We are honored to recognize them for their extraordinary efforts to secure a bright future for our youngest generation.”

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Remarks as Delivered

Thank you, Liz.

Before we begin today’s program, I want to acknowledge the weight of this day for the community of Uvalde, Texas.

I know that every day since May 24, 2022, has been a difficult one for Uvalde – but today is particularly painful.

Today marks one year since 19 children, and two of their teachers, were killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school.

Today marks one year that the families of those victims have spent mourning an unimaginable loss.

And today marks one year since that act of unspeakable violence devastated the Uvalde community and shook our country.

In the wake of that horrific mass shooting, the Justice Department launched a Critical Incident Review of the law enforcement response that day.

Since then, the Department’s COPS Office has been working closely with subject-matter experts to conduct the review.

Last month, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta traveled to Uvalde to meet with the families and community members, and to reiterate the Department’s continued commitment to a thorough and substantive review.

We know that nothing we can do can undo the pain inflicted on the loved ones of the victims, the survivors, and the entire community of Uvalde.

But the Justice Department is doing everything in its power to assess what happened that day and to provide the answers the Uvalde community deserves.

It is an honor to join with you today, as we commemorate the 40th annual National Missing Children’s Day. 

Last year, the FBI received more than 359,000 reports of missing children.

Thankfully, many returned home safely within a short time. But sadly, many others did not. Children and teens under the age of 18 account for almost a third of the FBI’s active missing person reports.

Whether a child has been abducted, or has just wandered away, the terror felt by a parent when their child has disappeared is overwhelming. 

I have great respect for the brave, resourceful, and dedicated professionals – like those in this room – who work every day to protect children from harm, reunite missing children with their families, and provide support for the community in the aftermath of a traumatic event.

There is no cause more worthy of honor. The Department of Justice is honored to stand with you.

At the Justice Department, we also know that this work is too important for any one of us to take on alone.

And we know that our partnerships – among law enforcement agencies and with advocates – are some of the most effective tools we have to keep our communities and our children safe.

That is why in March, the United States Marshals Service launched a first-of-its-kind national missing children operation.

Together with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, U.S. Marshals identified and focused their efforts on 15 geographical areas that showed a high cluster of missing children.

Operation We Will Find You, which ended on May 15, resulted in the location of 225 children. That includes the recovery of 169 missing children, and the safe location of an additional 56 children.

This is an important achievement, but we know how much more work remains to be done.

Last year, our Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awarded more than $50 million to support nationwide efforts to locate missing children, prevent child abduction, and provide technical training and assistance.

We will continue that work in the year ahead.

As many of you know, National Missing Children’s Day was established 40 years ago in memory of a six-year-old boy named Etan Patz. He vanished while walking to his bus stop in New York City in 1979. 

His memory is a tragic reminder of why we do this work – and of what is at stake.

I know this work is challenging. These cases – especially those involving children who have been harmed or exploited – are among our most difficult. And I recognize the emotional toll these cases can take on investigators and on their colleagues.

To everyone here who has taken on the job of protecting our children – our future – I say thank you.

The extraordinary individuals we are recognizing in today’s ceremony represent the very best of that work.

It is my privilege to be here to honor these heroes, who have found missing or kidnapped children and reunited them with their families;

Who have protected children from exploitation and abuse;

Who have brought their predators to justice.

I would also like to acknowledge the winner of the poster contest, fifth grader Ayoub Alsaidi. Ayoub, your artwork is an inspiration to all of us. 

To all of today’s honorees – you have worked to create a safer and a better world for our children. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And now, it is my particular honor to present this year’s Attorney General’s Special Commendation. 

This award recognizes Internet Crimes Against Children task forces or affiliate agencies for making significant investigative or program contributions.

This year’s award goes to Lieutenant Cyrus Zafrani, Task Force Commander;

Sergeant Kellie Renfro, Deputy Task Force Commander;

Texas Ranger Bruce Sherman;

Detectives Jeffrey Rich, Tony Godwin, and Chris Meehan;

and Community Outreach Officer Anthony Newsom.

They are all from the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

This Task Force encompasses 112 counties, spans more than 96,000 square miles, and has more than 250 active affiliate agencies.

Between November 1, 2021, and October 31, 2022, the Task Force processed more than 22,000 tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline. This work resulted in more than 500 arrests and the rescues of more than 50 children.

In addition to their successful investigative work, our honorees have also dedicated themselves to training others on investigative techniques related to Internet Crimes Against Children cases.

To our awardees from the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force: You have my unending gratitude.

Our communities are safer because of you.

And our children are safer because of you.

Thank you.

And thanks to all of you.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Remarks as Delivered

Good afternoon. Thank you, Liz, for the introduction and for your leadership. It is a true privilege to be here today, joining the Attorney General and my colleagues here on this stage for their immense work but my colleagues also across the Justice Department to commemorate National Missing Children’s Day and pay tribute to the recipients of this year’s awards.

Before I continue, I want to acknowledge, as the Attorney General did, that today marks one year since the horrific mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. I visited Uvalde last month with members of our Critical Incident Review team, to spend time with families and to update them on our work. And there is simply not a day that goes by where I do not think of the families, of the children and of the entire community of Uvalde. The Justice Department is committed to putting together a comprehensive, authoritative accounting of what happened that day and how we might best avoid the horrors that took place a year ago.

Thank you all for being here today, and I want to thank Liz and her team at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), who organize this commemoration every year. It is an honor for us to again host this ceremony in person in the Great Hall of the Justice Department. And I want to welcome my fellow speakers, Michelle DeLaune and Paul Jack Fronczak.

Like many of you in this room, I am a parent. And it is simply difficult, impossible even, to imagine all of the emotions – panic, fear, heartbreak — when a child goes missing. The Justice Department commemorates National Missing Children’s Day not only to remember the solemn impact that missing children have on parents and caregivers, families and communities, but also to honor the individuals, organizations, and agencies that have made extraordinary efforts to find and rescue missing and exploited children.

I want to personally congratulate our award recipients –

• As you just heard from the Attorney General, a team of law enforcement professionals in North Texas whose investigation of child sexual abuse, exploitation and enticement resulted in the rescue of more than 50 children;
• A detective from California, who rescued a 17-year-old kidnapped teen from an abductor intent on trafficking her;
• An Illinois detective whose investigation into the disappearance of a 14-year-old girl saved her from sexual assault; and
• A talented young artist from New York who has brilliantly captured the spirit of National Missing Children’s Day.

These individuals exemplify the commitment, resolve, and creativity that we celebrate on this day each year. The Department of Justice is proud to stand with these heroes, and we are grateful for the thousands of law enforcement officers and missing children advocates throughout the nation who work so hard to protect our children every day.

Today’s honorees deserve not only our highest respect and esteem, but also our support. And that is exactly what the Justice Department is committed to providing.

Under the leadership of our U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, we are working hand in hand with local, state and other federal agencies through our Project Safe Childhood initiative to bring those who prey upon our children to justice.

With support from OJJDP, our nation’s 61 Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces – like the task force recognized by the Attorney General this afternoon – serve really as the tip of the spear at the state and local level. ICACs have been finding and arresting online predators and rescuing child victims since 1998. We are committed to giving them the resources that they need to continue their vital law enforcement mission.

OJJDP also provides funding to prevent child abduction and exploitation in the first place, and supports training and technical assistance nationwide, including response strategies for at-risk missing and high-risk endangered children.

We are grateful for the work and partnership from our state and local counterparts and look forward to continuing to support these efforts.

In closing, I also want to express appreciation to Michelle and our partners at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The National Center’s work has made an incredible difference for so many families, law enforcement agencies, schools and communities. We are grateful to you for standing with us in this fight and look forward to continuing our longstanding partnership.

I will now turn it over back to Administrator Ryan.

Thank you all.