On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke to Mississippi law enforcement officials and other community leaders ahead of a meeting with federal, state, and local partners. The meeting was held following the announcement of a civil investigation by the Department of Justice into the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office.
Garland, along with U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi Todd Gee, gathered with other officials to discuss recent, ongoing, and future law enforcement work in Mississippi, with a focus on the recently launched DOJ civil investigation.
Garland began his remarks by detailing some of the accomplishments nationwide under his leadership, which started with a new DOJ strategy to combat violent crime. Since its implementation, violent crime has seen a significant drop across the U.S., punctuated by an 11.6% decrease in homicides in 2023 with a further 16.9% drop in 2024. The decline has led to one of the lowest violent American crime rates in 50 years.
“But we know that progress in many communities is still uneven,” Garland said. “And, of course, there is no acceptable level of violent crime. That is why the Justice Department is continuing to work with our partners here in Mississippi and across the country to combat violent crime, drug trafficking, and gun trafficking.”
Garland went on to note other accomplishments since he took over as attorney general, such as:
- A guilty plea from a member of a California drug trafficking organization that was operating in Mississippi, seizing more than 5,700 grams of methamphetamine, 236 grams of fentanyl, and 84 grams of cocaine in the process
- A joint operation with ATF, DEA, and other federal agencies that secured five guilty pleas from men operating a firearms and explosives trafficking scheme to Mexico
- In partnership with the ATF and the Clinton Police Department, securing a 10-year sentence for a man who illegally possessed a firearm and fired a weapon at a Jackson police officer during a high-speed chase in Jackson
After detailing the previous superlatives and the partnerships that made them possible, Garland shifted his focus to the recently initiated “pattern or practice” civil investigation into the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office. Garland emphasized the successful prosecution and conviction of the “Goon Squad” members and their brutality towards a pair of Black men. But he also pointed to the need for more work to be done.
“Those actions were a betrayal of the community the officers were sworn to protect, a betrayal of their profession, and a betrayal of their fellow officers,” Garland said. “To help the community rebuild trust, the Justice Department launched a civil pattern or practice investigation to examine allegations that the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department systematically violates people’s constitutional rights. We are committed to working with local officials, deputies, and the community to conduct a comprehensive investigation.”
In his closing remarks, Garland pointed to other work that the DOJ and other federal, state, and local partners are enacting to curb violent crime in Mississippi. The chief example he pointed to was Mississippi’s capital city of Jackson being named to the DOJ’s Violent Crime Initiative, enabling federal funding to strengthen the capital city’ law enforcement resources and to direct federal and state prosecution partnerships that will target violent offenders. More than $300,000 was also recently awarded to Jackson to increase forensic science capabilities.
“We remain committed to providing our law enforcement and community partners with the resources they need to protect their communities,” Garland concluded. “The examples I have shared today are just a snapshot of the extraordinary work that this office is doing every day to protect people in the district, and to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission to ensure the rule of law, to keep our communities safe, and to protect civil rights.”
