This month marked the 30th anniversary of the federal Violence Against Women Act. At an event to celebrate the occasion, U.S Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced a new effort to reduce intimate partner violence involving guns.
Garland announced that 78 communities across the U.S. and its territories have been selected as the initial focus of this effort. In Virginia, the focus is on Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach.
This effort involves having U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the ATF partner with local jurisdictions to develop a plan that reduces domestic firearms violence and prioritizes prosecutions of domestic violence offenders prohibited from owning firearms, the Justice Dept. announced.
The Hampton Roads communities selected for this initiative are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, headed by U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber.
According to her office, this initiative is a “partnership and coordination” between the Justice Dept. and local jurisdictions.
The chosen communities were selected in close coordination with community stakeholders, Aber’s office stated. Not only did the Justice Dept. see data to suggest these communities could benefit from more resources to focus on intimate partner violence, but these jurisdictions “committed to partnering with the Department to increase the use of federal tools to prosecute offenders under 18 U.S.C. 922(g),” Aber’s office stated.
The 78 communities selected are considered “the initial set,” but the Justice Department said it anticipates additional jurisdictions will be designated for this effort as U.S. Attorneys’ Offices continue coordination with their local stakeholders.
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