THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: WORKING TO KEEP AMERICA SAFER

There have been no major terrorist attacks on American soil since 9/11 . To prevent and disrupt terrorism the Justice Department has :

• Dismantled terrorist operations and cells all across America, from New York to Oregon, from Florida to Ohio, from Virginia to California, including 86 individuals charged for material support of terrorism or seditious conspiracy;
• Cultivated detailed knowledge on terrorism with a 90% increase in our human sources of intelligence since 9/11, as well as a nearly 100% increase in electronic surveillance (FISA) orders since 2001;
• Brought criminal charges against 368 individuals;
• Secured convictions from 194 individuals;
• Frozen more than $141 million of funds from organizations suspected of supporting terror.

Violent crime has dropped to a 30-year low. Over the past three years :

• Rapes and sexual assaults are down 31 percent;
• Robberies have dropped 31 percent; and
• Assaults are down 26 percent.
• From 2001 – 2003, 1.7 million fewer Americans experienced the pain of violent crime. The overall rate of violent crime declined 27 percent during the same period, compared to the previous three-year period prior to the Bush Administration.

Federal gun crime prosecutions are up 76% over the past four years and Americans are safer .

• In FY 2003 more than 13,000 offenders were charged—the highest figure on record in a single year. More than 9,500 of those offenders have been convicted to date, the largest number in the federal system in a single year.
• Over the past three years 250,000 fewer gun crimes have been committed, an 18 percent reduction in the incidence of gun crime compared to the three years prior to Project Safe Neighborhoods.

Major drug trafficking organizations are being targeted and dismantled, and drug use among youth is declining.

• Of the 58 major drug trafficking organizations in the world, we have destroyed 14 and 8 more have been severely disrupted.
• The heads of 17 high-priority organizations have been arrested, nearly 30 percent of the total high-priority targets.
• Cocaine production is down 30 percent.
• Drug use among America’s youth is declining at record levels, including an 11 percent drop in drug use among 8th, 10th and 12th graders—the first drop across all three grades in a decade.
• The number of new users of Ecstasy and LSD also dropped dramatically in the past year—the steepest drop in the past 50 years. In fact, the number of new LSD users is at its lowest point since the late 1960s.

Integrity is being restored in the marketplace under the leadership of President Bush’s Corporate Fraud Task Force. In 28 months :

• More than 900 violators have been charged in more than 400 cases.
• More than 500 individuals have been convicted, including top executives at Enron, Worldcom, ImClone, Adelphia, and Health South.

Civil rights laws are being vigorously enforced, preserving the freedoms of all Americans .

• Over the past three years more than 439 individuals have been charged with criminal civil rights violations—exceeding the 413 charged during the preceding three years. In FY 2004, 150 defendants were charged and 111 convicted.
• From FY 2001 through FY 2003, the Department charged 111 defendants in 32 human trafficking prosecutions, nearly triple the 43 defendants in 11 prosecutions brought over the prior three-year period.
• During FY 2004, the Department set new records for prosecuting human traffickers, bringing charges against 47 human trafficking defendants in 26 cases.

Americans are being protected from civil fraud through aggressive prosecution and enforcement of the law.

• Civil fraud recoveries have more than doubled over the past three years to $5.7 billion.
• Health care fraud recoveries have nearly tripled to $4.1 billion over the past three years, a record high.

Environmental laws are being strongly enforced, resulting in a cleaner environment and tough penalties for polluters .

• The Department of Justice has obtained the largest civil penalty in history against a single company for violations of an environmental statute.
• Through tough enforcement of the Clean Air Act, the Department has achieved a reduction in air pollution of over 465,000 tons per year.
• In Fiscal Year 2004, polluters across the nation agreed to spend in excess of $4 billion in order to take corrective measures to protect the nation’s health, welfare and environment.
• More than $179 million in civil penalties for violations in environmental cases have been imposed by the courts, second only to fiscal year 2003’s record-setting recovery of $203 million.