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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO AWARD ALBUQUERQUE $225,000 FOR CRIME

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced today, during a visit to Albuquerque, N.M., that the Justice Department is awarding the city $225,000 for its Operation Weed and Seed strategy. This award will help Albuquerque coordinate strategies to eliminate drug and gang activity, decrease prostitution, and foster community and law enforcement partnerships in the Trumbull and La Mesa neighborhoods. "We must work together to eliminate crime and revitalize our neighborhoods," said Attorney General Ashcroft. "This Weed and Seed award is just one example of the Bush Administration's commitment and dedication to ensuring safe communities by allocating resources and encouraging Americans to pull together, stamp out crime, and take control of their neighborhoods."

Administered by the Executive Office for Weed and Seed, in the Department's Office of Justice Programs, Operation Weed and Seed is a community-based, multi-agency strategy that "weeds out" violent crime, gang activity, drug use and drug trafficking in targeted neighborhoods and then "seeds" the target area by restoring these neighborhoods through social and economic revitalization. Albuquerque's Weed and Seed sites have been awarded funds totaling $825,000 since 1998.

The motto of Albuquerque's Weed and Seed strategy - "people who say it cannot be done...should not interrupt those who are doing it" - demonstrates the city's determination to make the Trumbull and La Mesa neighborhoods safer places to live and work.

Under Albuquerque's aggressive law enforcement or "weeding" plan, the City Council passed legislation that allows police officers to confiscate vehicles from youths illegally in possession of a firearm. The city has also adopted Project Exile, demonstrating its commitment to swiftly prosecute all gun crimes. The Attorney General congratulated Albuquerque's Weed and Seed site for enhancing cooperation between the city's police department and federal law enforcement agencies to reduce gun violence through Project Exile. Albuquerque's Project Exile is a comprehensive firearms initiative in which local and federal prosecutors, working with a state and local task force, target gun criminals through the swift and aggressive use of federal gun laws. Since June 2000, Albuquerque has prosecuted 83 defendants on 198 firearms charges. "We've seen how this kind of partnership can increase the safety of our citizens and reduce gun crimes in Albuquerque and cities throughout the country," remarked Attorney General Ashcroft.