U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia to Coordinate with Local Partners to Reduce Domestic Firearm Violence

ATLANTA - The United States Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia announce its partnerships, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Field Division and DeKalb County, Georgia, to develop a plan to reduce intimate partner firearm violence and to prioritize prosecutions of domestic violence offenders.

"In 1994, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 to combat crimes against women associated with domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other offenses," said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. "Our close partnerships with law enforcement agencies, local stakeholders, organizations, and others, is critical to combat the scourge of domestic violence to safeguard families and make our communities safer."

The Department of Justice utilized data to identify DeKalb County and other communities throughout the United States that could benefit from increased focus on intimate partner violence resources. Our office had previously implemented a domestic violence firearm case referral program with the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office. In 2018, our offices launched this partnership to identify individuals for federal prosecution who possess a firearm following a conviction for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

This referral protocol resulted from the development of an innovative framework, by the District Attorney's Office, for identifying such cases within their office, involving the input of felony and misdemeanor prosecutors, probation officers, and victim advocates. (See e.g.DeKalb County criminal justice partners set out to save lives with a firearm reduction initiative, https://www.preventdvgunviolence.org/community-spotlight/spotlight-dekalb-county-ga.html.) In September 2019, our partnership was highlighted in a workshop at the Georgia Commission on Family Violence's Annual Conference. Through this strategic enforcement initiative, we expect to continue to identify and prosecute the most serious perpetrators of domestic violence - including offenders who use and possess firearms, which greatly increases the risk of serious injury or death to the victim.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney's Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.