Attorney General Jeff Sessions pledged on Saturday to forge “new relationships” with local police departments across America while working to reduce crime, as part of President Donald Trump’s law-and-order agenda.

In a speech at the Major Cities Chiefs Association Conference in Philadelphia , the attorney general called on Congress to resurrect the 2001 Project Safe Neighborhoods program, instituted during former President George W. Bush’s administration to hire more federal prosecutors and crack down on dangerous criminals. In order to support local law enforcement agencies and reduce the uptick in both violent crime rates and murder rates over the past couple of years, Sessions said the federal government plans to distribute $70 million in grants to cities for use in combating crime.

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“We will not concede a single block, or a single street corner in the country, to lawlessness and crime. The criminals, the gang members and drug traffickers should know: We are coming after you,” Sessions said.

Noting that Trump requested $100 million from Congress in its 2018 budget to bolster law enforcement agencies and hire 300 more assistant U.S. attorneys, Sessions told the officials gathered at the conference that “your work is getting harder” out “on the frontline.”

“It’s truly a noble and high calling to work to protect this country,” he said. “Forging new relationships with local prosecutors and building on existing relationships will ensure that the most violent offenders are prosecuted in the most appropriate jurisdiction.”

Sessions also alluded to one of the criticisms most frequently leveled at the Project Safe Neighborhoods program: whether or not it targeted too many low-level or first-time criminals and slapped them with unduly long sentences.

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“Our goal is not to fill up the courts, or just fill up prisons. Our goal is not to manage crime, or merely to punish crime,” Sessions told the law enforcement officials. “Our goal is to reduce crime.”

“Partnering with community leaders, and taking the time to listen to the people we serve, really works. I remember, when I was a U.S. attorney, my office prosecuted a gang in Mobile [Alabama]. When the case was over, community leaders asked for a community meeting to talk about how we could further improve the neighborhood,” Sessions continued. “We developed a practical plan based on the requests of the people living in the neighborhood. It was a city, county, state, and federal partnership using existing resources to fix the community.”

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A group of protesters planted themselves at an official screening of the attorney general’s speech, while several attempted to pass themselves off as members of the press to attend the event, WHYY reported. In addition, approximately 50 protesters stood outside the convention center bearing anti-law enforcement signs such as “No Good Cop in a Racist System” while chanting, “No justice, no peace, no racist police!”

The protests remained largely contained until after Sessions left the convention, when some violence erupted.

“Upon arrival at the Frank Rizzo statue,” said WHYY photographer Bastiaan Slabbers, “police officers and protesters clashed. Five people were detained.”

(photo credit, homepage image: Jeff Sessions, CC BY-SA 2.0, by Gage Skidmore)