SALT LAKE CITY – The Deputy US Attorney General says he’s offering more tools and flexibility in prosecuting violent criminals in Utah.
Across the country, federal officials say violent crimes have gone up between three and five percent. However, U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber says the numbers in Utah are far more alarming, with a 13 percent increase in violent crime and a 17 percent increase in aggravated assaults. He says, “If a three to five percent increase is an alarm bell for the Attorney General of the United States, certainly, a 13 percent or 17 percent increase in Utah… the phone is ringing off the hook.”
Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein stood by Huber as they announced increased efforts to deter violent crimes from happening by increased prosecutions.
Rosenstein says, “We can help by bringing the federal tools that we have to incarcerate repeat offenders and to dismantle violent gangs. By ‘violent gangs’ I include drug organizations.”
Rosenstein says they’re also tracking down human traffickers and people who exploit children, adding, “John has tasked his prosecutors and federal agents to work with local authorities to identify ways we can best help.”