Nine in ten U.S. mayors are currently partnering with federal law enforcement to combat crime in their cities and three-fourths say they want more help from federal agencies, a new survey reveals.
“Several cities commented that their relations with federal partners were continuous and terrific,” the U.S. Conference of Mayors reported Thursday, releasing the results of its survey of 60 mayors across the U.S., conducted September 4-15.
The survey finds that the vast majority of cities already rely on the U.S. Department of Justice for crime-fighting help:
- All of the cities surveyed are partnering with the FBI.
- 92% work in partnership with DEA.
- 90% work in partnership with ATF.
In an open-ended question, the cities identified other federal enforcement agencies with which they currently work, including:
- U.S. Marshals Service: 23%.
- Homeland Security enforcement agencies: 15%.
- U.S. Attorney’s offices: 3%.
One productive way their cities work with federal agencies to fight crime is by participating in joint task forces to investigate, charge and arrest criminal suspects, several mayors say.
Mayors report that assistance from federal law enforcement has resulted in:
- Identification of suspects in 92% of the cities.
- Apprehension of suspects in 90% of cities.
- Collection of evidence in 78% of cities.
What’s more, fully three of four mayors surveyed say they want even more help from the Justice Department:
- 77% called for increased support from DEA agents and tracking drug trafficking in the city.
- 75% called for increased support from the FBI in investigating and closing specific cases.
- 73% called for increased support from ATF agents and gun tracing capabilities.
In particular, mayors say they could use additional federal help fighting human trafficking, computer crimes against children and threats against their cities.