This week, President Obama proclaimed it “National Small Business Week,” saying:

 Our Nation has always believed that anyone with a solid plan and a willingness to work hard can turn even an improbable idea into a successful business. For generations, that powerful notion has been at the heart of the American promise, forging a legacy of bold entrepreneurship that lives on today and lights the path to a brighter tomorrow. During National Small Business Week, let us reflect on that proud history and resolve to carry it forward in the years to come.

Small businesses help the Department of Justice accomplish its most important missions, from ensuring the national security to combating violent crime, fighting financial fraud, and protecting those most in need of our help. Last month, Deputy Attorney General James Cole spoke at the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Small Business Procurement Conference, where he noted our commitment to small businesses is reflected by the department’s record:

“Data for FY 2011 show that DOJ has obligated 1.7 billion dollars to small businesses.   This represents more than twenty-six percent of our total dollars, and it exceeds the 23 percent small business goal established by congress.   We are proud of the fact that we routinely exceed the government-wide small business goal.”

As we recognize National Small Business Week 2012, the department renews its commitment to ensure that all small businesses — small disadvantaged businesses, woman-owned small businesses, HUBZone firms, and small firms owned by disabled veterans of our military – have the information and support they need to successfully compete for federal contracts.  The department’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) provides that service and support.

The department has come to rely on small businesses as prime contractors and subcontractors, and we are actively seeking new ways to partner with them to successfully accomplish our mission.   We know that the valuable services small businesses provide the Department of Justice do more than just help accomplish our goals, small businesses also serve the nation’s economy, create jobs and help to stimulate our economic recovery. 

While the department’s complex law enforcement and national security mission is constantly changing, our commitment to increasing opportunities for small businesses remains constant. 

Visit the  Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization at  or contact the OSDBU staff at 202-616-0521 for information about the department’s small business programs.

From left Deputy Attorney General Cole, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Delorme, and U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon at the recreated Mandan Village at the Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park on the road between Standing Rock and Bismarck, N.D.

The following post appears courtesy of Tim Purdon, U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota.

This week we were honored to have the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Jim Cole, visit the District of North Dakota on a singular mission: to meet with tribal leaders, tribal youth, and all of our law enforcement partners to discuss what we can all do as partners to strengthen public safety in Indian country. This mission is a top priority of the Department of Justice and a clear mandate from Attorney General Holder, who has committed each U.S. Attorney District with Indian country jurisdiction to develop an operational plan and to meet annually with tribal leaders to find ways to reduce violent crime.

Here in North Dakota we are seeing dramatic changes that raise both hope and concern.  At the U.S. Attorney’s Office, since 2009 I have dedicated more prosecutors to this mission, resulting in a 78 percent rise in cases.  We have cross-commissioned a tribal prosecutor who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Assistant US Attorneys from my office to bring cases in federal court. We are working closer than ever with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the FBI.

We have also started a unique anti-violence strategy at the Standing Rock Reservation by engaging with students to encourage positive behaviors and wise life choices.

On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Cole visited with many of these students at Standing Rock Community High School. These remarkable youth not only asked smart and tough questions. They showed great concern and awareness of some of the issues facing their communities, and also a startling hope for their own futures and the future of their community.

We also met with tribal leaders, judges, prosecutors, public defenders and police, who showed a living example of a criminal justice system that is doing its absolute best to keep a community safe and pursue justice for victims. 

On Thursday, the Deputy Attorney General Cole gave remarks to tribal leaders and law enforcement from across North Dakota at the 2nd annual U.S. Attorney’s Tribal Consultation Conference, held at the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck. At this conference, a direct result of the Attorney General’s focused attention on crime in American Indian communities, we are marking another year of progress in Indian country, evaluating where we stand and plotting the path we will take into the future.

In his remarks, Deputy Attorney General Cole said:

“In the three years since the beginning of the Department’s initiative, we have used what we learned from tribal leaders to develop goals and priorities, and we have sought to ensure that all our efforts are guided by respect for tribal sovereignty and Indian self-determination, engagement on a government-to-government basis, and coordination and cooperation with tribal governments.  We have worked hard to improve tribal public safety, enhance tribes’ ability to receive federal support, and strengthen coordination and collaboration with our tribal law enforcement partners.”

I am proud of the progress we have made over the past year in Indian country and am more excited than ever about what is possible when we work together, when we engage tribal youth to make good choices, when we work together to protect women and girls from what Attorney General Holder has called an unacceptable status quo of sexual and domestic violence. I am proud and today I can also say I am extremely hopeful about the future because we are starting to see a tangible impact from our efforts.

 View a gallery of photos from Deputy Attorney General James Cole’s trip to Standing Rock Reservation.

At events in Washington, D.C. and New Orleans today, Attorney General Eric Holder, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, and Acting Director of the Office on Violence Against Women Bea Hanson called on Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, which has drastically reduced instances of violence and provided support to victims and their families since first being enacted in 1994.

The landmark legislation expired in 2011 and is currently awaiting reauthorization in Congress.

Speaking at the White House event on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Attorney General Eric Holder said:

 Today, as Attorney General – and as the father of two teenage girls – this work remains both a personal and professional priority.  And for our nation’s Department of Justice, vigorously enforcing the provisions of the Violence Against Women’s Act is part of our solemn commitment to the citizens we are privileged to serve.  In many ways, fulfilling this commitment has never been more urgent.  Estimates show that more than 2 million adults – and more than 15 million children – are exposed to domestic violence every single year.

Deputy Attorney General James Cole also echoed the administration’s commitment to preventing domestic violence and reauthorizing the VAWA in his remarks at the 12^th Annual International Family Justice Center Conference in New Orleans:

While the Department of Justice does a great deal in this area, it is committed to doing more to serve survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse and to prevent these terrible crimes from occurring in the first place.   That is why, led by the excellent work of the Office on Violence Against Women, we are working to support a coordinated community response to address the causes and consequences of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and child abuse.

The department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) provides national leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to reduce violence against women through the implementation of the VAWA. Family Justice Centers are an example of a the type of program the OVW and the Violence Against Women Act support.  These centers give victims and their children access to trained advocates, police officers, prosecutors, judges and medical professionals – all in one location – so they don’t have to go from place to place to get the help they need and deserve. 

Bea Hanson, the Acting Director of the Office on Violence Against Women, spoke in New Orleans about how the Family Justice Center model has effectively worked throughout the country:

I saw firsthand how the co-location of so many partners – prosecutors, law enforcement, probation, victim compensation, and many services for victims – legal support, counseling, child care, case management, services for people with disabilities, services in multiple languages – all came together to provide wrap-around services for victims and their children.  The services to victims are unparalleled and the cooperation and collaboration between partners are core to fulfilling the idea of a community coordinated response to violence against women and children.

Much has been done in the years since the VAWA became law, but domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse are still too prevalent in our communities.

In America, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 13 men will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes.   Nearly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men have been raped at some time in their lives.   Each day, on average, three women die as a result of domestic violence. 

These crimes impact not only the immediate victims, but their families, neighbors, friends, and indeed their entire communities.  This is a problem that affects people of every background, ethnicity, age, ability or sexual orientation.  The Violence Against Women Act is a key tool in the fight against these crimes. The proposed VAWA legislation combines tough new penalties to both prosecute offenders and offer aid and support to victims.

While waiting on Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, the federal government continues to take steps (PDF) to stop the violence. At the White House today, President Barack Obama signed a presidential memorandum (PDF) that will require federal agencies to develop policies to address the effects of domestic violence and provide assistance to employees who are experiencing domestic violence.

The Department of Justice will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect citizens and support victims of violence.

For more information about our work in this area visit the Office on Violence Against Women. We remind all those in need of assistance, or other concerned friends and individuals, to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE.

The following post appears courtesy of Paul Almanza, National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction.

Today, more than 1,700 investigators, agents, prosecutors, victim advocates and community outreach specialists from around the country and from all levels of government are gathered in Atlanta for the 2012 National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation. 

Hosted by the Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, the 2012 national training is the largest child exploitation training ever organized by the Justice Department.

Over the course of the next three days, federal, state and local government officials will participate in state-of-the art instruction on investigative techniques, court room advocacy, digital forensics, behavioral profiling, victim advocacy and community outreach.  More than 40 different hands-on laboratory workshops will be offered to train law enforcement on various software programs and computer technologies that can be used to investigate child exploitation cases. 

The training will also provide law enforcement officials with the opportunity to strengthen the partnerships that are necessary to combat the growing problem of child sexual exploitation.  As the Deputy Attorney General noted today in his opening remarks at the training:

“In order to maximize the impact our efforts have on child sexual exploitation crimes, it is absolutely essential that we all continue to improve the way we work together to investigate these crimes, prosecute the offenders, and help the victims recover from the terrible harms they have suffered.  No one agency can tackle the challenges of these cases alone – it is therefore essential that all of us who work to protect children deepen our collaboration and partnership so that we can bring all available resources and expertise to the fight.” 

The national training is a crucial step in the department’s unwavering efforts to protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation.  The Project Safe Childhood Initiative (PSC), which began in 2006, has led to significant increases in child exploitation prosecutions.  In fiscal year (FY) 2011, the department obtained more than 2,700 indictments for offenses involving the sexual exploitation of a minor, a 42% increase over the amount obtained in FY 2006.  Since the launch of PSC, approximately 3,500 children depicted in child pornography images have been identified through enhanced law enforcement coordination, multi-jurisdictional collaborative efforts and additional contributions by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. 

This year’s training advances the department’s National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction.  Announced in 2010, the National Strategy lays out goals to increase coordination among investigators, better train investigators and prosecutors, advance law enforcement’s technological capabilities and enhance research to inform decisions on deterrence, incarceration and monitoring.  More information about the National Strategy and PSC can be found at: http://www.justice.gov/psc/publications.html

Last week Deputy Attorney General James Cole spoke at a symposium on how the Department of Justice is continuing to fight human trafficking, both nationally and abroad. The symposium, titled “A Global Perspective on Human Trafficking,” was held at Yale Law School and sponsored by David B. Fein, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and the FBI. A panel presentation titled “Expanding our Reach: Law Enforcement and NGO Partnerships” was also held during the event. During the panel discussion representatives from law enforcement, victim service groups and non-governmental organizations discussed the critical need to establish support networks for the rescue of and transition services for these vulnerable victims of human trafficking.

At the event, Deputy Attorney General Cole spoke about the scourge of human trafficking and the department’s deep commitment to stopping it:

It seems almost unfathomable that today in the 21^st Century, we still live in a world where human trafficking persists.   And yet it exists and is often hiding in plain and painful sight. It’s the young woman who comes to America for the promise of a new life but finds herself enslaved and sold for sex.   Or the child who grew up here in America but ran away from home only to find herself the victim of her desperate acceptance of help from the wrong person.   Or the migrant worker who is deprived of identification, transportation, and access to money in order to ensure his total dependence on his employer. The Department of Justice is resolutely committed to preventing and combating human trafficking in all its forms. For Attorney General Holder and I, this is a deeply held conviction.

Within the Department of Justice, there are an array of components that work to combat human trafficking, including the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and the FBI. Additionally, the Office of Justice Programs provides critical funding and grants to states across the country, which help to combat human trafficking nationally and assist victim service organizations in local communities.

Vital partnerships with other federal authorities are also crucial to our efforts to combat human trafficking. These partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, international authorities, and non-governmental organizations have all been critical in combating instances of human trafficking nationally and worldwide.

Such programs and partnerships are proving to be effective. Last year, the Department of Justice charged a record number of defendants in human trafficking cases. Over the last three years, there has been a 30 percent increase in the number of charges. But we are not content to rest on these achievements. We are determined to continue to increase the impact of our efforts.

Last year, the Deputy Attorney General announced the Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team (ACTeam) Initiative, an interagency collaboration among the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and Labor to further streamline investigations and prosecutions for human trafficking offenses. These ACTeams are now fully operational and are providing enhanced strategic coordination among agencies and federal prosecutors.

We know that pursuing justice within our borders is not enough. That’s why our efforts are also worldwide, echoing the Deputy Attorney General’s commitment today to fighting human trafficking globally. Through our International Criminal Investigation Training Assistance Program (ICITAP), Department officials have helped to train hundreds of prosecutors, investigators and law enforcement officials in seven partner countries spanning three continents.

We also continue to work with the State Department to engage more international partners on human trafficking issues, ensuring that they are also pursuing aggressive enforcement efforts against traffickers and have the tools to do so. Forging these partnerships across borders helps us continue to focus on prevention of trafficking rings while also making sure that victims, who have been irreparably harmed by human trafficking, have the appropriate services and resources at their disposal.

At the Department of Justice, we are committed to continuing to build strategic partnerships across international borders, all with the goal of fighting human trafficking. While we are encouraged by our recent achievements, there is still much work to be done. We will continue to strive for prevention but also justice on behalf of victims of human trafficking.

Read the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office: U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI and Yale Law School Host Human Trafficking Syposium and the full remarks from Deputy Attorney General James Cole.

This week Deputy Attorney General James Cole traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio where he met with city officials, including Mayor Mallory and Police Chief Craig and addressed a group of Cincinnati police officers who were attending a training presented by the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service.

The training was designed to provide tools to enhance the officers’ ability to build partnerships with community members and to work with their fellow citizens who share a commitment to public safety.  

Deputy Attorney General Cole praised the work of the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) and their decision to participate in this training:

The CPD sought this training because it recognized that in order to maintain its deep commitment to community policing, it must keep seeking new opportunities to build community partnerships.   As you know, the Attorney General came to Cincinnati last year to recognize this commitment and to announce that the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services had awarded the CPD over 6.8 million dollars to put more cops on the beat.   With Chief Craig’s leadership, the CPD has embraced community problem oriented policing to allow officers and the community to work together to solve problems.  

The Community Relations Service (CRS) has a unique mission within the Department of Justice that allows the agency to work with community members and law enforcement leaders to work proactively to address tension associated with allegations of discrimination and to help prevent and respond more effectively to alleged hate crimes. 

CRS does not investigate or prosecute and operates under a strict confidentiality mandate that enables the agency to serve police leaders and community leaders in a manner that recognizes the complexity of the challenges that communities face daily.  CRS regularly responds to requests from law enforcement officials and from other community leaders across the country who share a sense of responsibility to improve public safety.  

CRS provided Cultural Professionalism training, which engaged officers in a discussion regarding how to identify the perspectives of various cultures and communities, the impact of police culture on communities, and how communication can bridge cultural divides.   Another training session, focused on Arab/Muslim/Sikh Cultural Awareness was designed to foster mutual understanding and enhance law enforcement outreach capabilities to Arab, Muslim, and Sikh communities by addressing cultural behaviors and sensitivities, stereotypes, and expectations. 

Community members from the greater Cincinnati area volunteered to help facilitate these trainings, demonstrating through an investment of time and skills their commitment to work together with law enforcement to realize the shared goal of improving public safety. 

Along with the Cincinnati Police Department, other local and neighboring law enforcement agencies and City of Cincinnati employees participated in the CRS trainings with a total of over 1000 officers trained.  The officers and the community members who participated in these trainings demonstrated an inspiring belief in the people of Cincinnati and their ability to work together as partners to realize shared goals and further improve public safety.