U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions drew sustained applause speaking at the Hyatt Regency in Hoover on Monday. Sessions’ remarks at a meeting of prosecutors and law enforcement came just as Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was set to meet with White House officials, presumably about his future in the US Department of Justice.
Sessions welcomed the applause at the National Public Safety Partnership Symposium, saying he might need that support when he gets back to Washington, adding you “never know what may happen there.”
The attorney general has been consistently under fire from President Donald Trump, but gave no hint of disloyalty in stressing the president’s commitment to reducing crime.
The National Public Safety Partnership or PSP, provides training and technical assistance for state and local law enforcement to collaborate with federal agencies to curb violent crime.
Sessions says their goal is to find the most dangerous criminals and put them behind bars. The attorney general applauded a recent Birmingham-area operation that led to the arrest of 20 gang members, charged with 800 crimes.
U.S. Attorney Jay Town, who serves Alabama’s Northern District, says his office works closely with all local law enforcement agencies. He was joined on stage at the meeting by Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith, Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis.
Sessions says making schools safer is also a focus of the Department of Justice. He announced a $200,000 grant to train school resource officers around the country. The National Association of School Resource Officers is based in Hoover.
Sessions didn’t take questions and left soon after his talk.