Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta Delivers Remarks at the Sixth Annual Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Community Policing

<p><strong><em>Remarks as Delivered<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Thank you&comma; Director Clements&comma; for your tremendous leadership and a huge thanks to the COPS Office staff for all their work on this awards program and today’s ceremony&period; It is my honor to welcome our honorees&comma; your families and all our distinguished guests to this ceremony and to the Justice Department&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Everyday law enforcement officers put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe&period; The public expects this and too often takes it for granted&period; Today’s award ceremony allows us to take a moment to show appreciation for this immense public service&period; The Justice Department is proud to celebrate the individuals being recognized today&period; I have read your stories and know that you epitomize community policing at its best&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Community policing advances community safety by building trust&comma; respect&comma; and collaboration between police and communities&period; It’s a model of policing that respects civil rights and engages the community as a full partner in creating safer communities for police and residents alike&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Justice Department knows that as we uplift policing&comma; we must also invest in officer wellness programs&period; We have to support effective strategies for recruitment and retention&comma; and we must build community-police trust&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Today’s awardees demonstrate problem-solving skills&comma; a willingness to find and engage in innovative community-policing strategies&comma; and above all&comma; a commitment to the communities and people you serve&period; We received nominations not only from proud supervisors&comma; but also from professional peers and others impacted by your work&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As Director Clements noted&comma; we received hundreds of nominations from across the country&comma; and we went through several stages of review to get to today’s honorees&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>We started with a panel consisting of representatives from 10 leading law enforcement associations&comma; some of whom are represented today in this room&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>International Association of Chiefs of Police<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Fraternal Order of Police &lpar;FOP&rpar;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Major Cities Chiefs Association<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Major County Sheriffs of America<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>National Sheriffs Association&semi; and<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Police Executive Research Forum<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p>Following that&comma; there was a federal review panel consisting of executives from several Department of Justice components&period; And then finally&comma; selection and approval by the Attorney General himself&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I hope that today’s honorees know just how much everyone here appreciates and deeply values your contributions to building trust and strengthening police-community relationships&period; It’s the backbone of safe and healthy communities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>And now&comma; it is my great honor to introduce the Attorney General of the United States&comma; Merrick Garland&period; I will not attempt to sum up the Attorney General’s entire distinguished career&period; We don’t want to take up two hours of time on that&period; But as many of you know&comma; prior to his nomination by President Biden and confirmation as Attorney General in March of 2021&comma; the Attorney General was Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit&period; And before his time on the bench&comma; he spent much of his career here&comma; in the Justice Department&comma; serving under five different Attorneys General in a variety roles&comma; including as a prosecutor overseeing the Oklahoma City bombing&comma; Unabomber and Montana Freemen cases&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As Attorney General&comma; he has set out three coequal priorities for each of us at the Justice Department&colon; upholding the rule of law&comma; keeping this country safe and protecting civil rights&period; And in carrying out each of these priorities&comma; in his daily work and during visits at U&period;S&period; Attorneys’ Offices and with our state and local law enforcement partners across the country&comma; I have seen firsthand the Attorney General’s immense partnership and championing of law enforcement and community policing&period; And I am honored every day to serve with him&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>And so&comma; without further ado&comma; it is my great pleasure to introduce the Attorney General&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Speaker&colon; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;asg&sol;staff-profile&sol;meet-associate-attorney-general" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Vanita Gupta&comma; Associate Attorney General<&sol;a>Component&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cops&period;usdoj&period;gov&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Community Oriented Policing Services &lpar;COPS&rpar;<&sol;a><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;asg&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Office of the Associate Attorney General<&sol;a> <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Updated June 5&comma; 2023<a href&equals;https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;opa&sol;speech&sol;associate-attorney-general-vanita-gupta-delivers-remarks-sixth-annual-attorney-general-s>Original Article<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;