LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the work of federal and local law enforcement officers Monday during a meeting at the Las Vegas U.S. attorney's office downtown.
Garland said violent crime hit a 50-year low last year, including a 12 percent drop in homicides here in Las Vegas.
"I know that this U.S. attorney's office will not rest until every person in every neighborhood, in every community, is safe from violent threats from violent crime," Garland said at the meeting, after recounting some recent arrests. "I also know that these examples are just a snapshot of the work this office does every single day to fulfill the Justice Department's mission to keep our communities safe, to protect civil rights and to uphold the rule of law."
Garland was joined at the meeting by Nevada U.S. Attorney Jason Frierson, as well as Spencer L. Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI's Las Vegas field office; U.S. Marshal Gary Scofield; Christopher Miller, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Las Vegas; Kevin Adams, assistant special agent in charge of the Las Vegas Drug Enforcement Administration office; Chief Jim Owens of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe Police Department; Capt. Fernando Calderon of the North Las Vegas Police Department and Lt. Steve Hewitt of the Clark County School District police.
Garland, himself a former federal prosecutor, said he put an emphasis on partnerships with local police to fight all sorts of crime after he was appointed attorney general by President Joe Biden.
"We fortified these partnerships by bringing to bear the latest technologies for identifying and prosecuting criminals who represent the greatest danger to our communities, and now we are seeing results," Garland said.
Among them: A 10-year sentence for a man caught carrying 30,000 fentanyl pills from Phoenix to Las Vegas, and another successful prosecution of a man who sold more than 200 guns without a license, some of which were used in crimes, including the fatal shooting of a Sacramento, Calif., sheriff's deputy and the wounding of two California Highway Patrol officers.
"We will continue to combat illegal gun trafficking that endangers our communities and the officers who risk their lives to protect them," Garland said.
He also said federal officials will investigate and prosecute people who make threats against public officials, including a man who threatened judges and state employees in three different states.
"Public servants have to be able to go about their job serving the public without fearing for their lives or the lives of their families," he said.
Garland's visit to Las Vegas is one of a series of regular meetings around the county at local U.S. attorney's offices to meet with federal and local officers who are on the front lines of fighting crime.
Garland, a former federal appeals court judge, was nominated by then-President Barack Obama in March 2016 for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, following the death of former Justice Antonin Scalia. Republicans, led by then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, refused to hold hearings or a vote on his nomination, instead keeping the seat open until after the election of former President Donald Trump in November 2020. Trump eventually nominated Neil Gorsuch to Scalia's empty seat.
