Trump Issues Executive Orders to Protect Officers, Fight Crime

President Donald Trump signed a trio of executive actions on Wednesday directing the Department of Justice to intensify its effort to fight drug-related crime and violence against police officers.

President Donald Trump signed a trio of executive actions on Wednesday directing the Department of Justice to intensify its effort to fight drug-related crime and violence against police officers.

The moves, which Trump announced after swearing in former Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general, include the creation of a Justice Department task force dedicated to curbing violent crime, as well as a study of new legislation that could impose tougher mandatory minimum sentences for attacks on law enforcement officers. Trump said he also ordered the Justice Department to partner with the Department of Homeland Security to "break the back of criminal cartels."

The actions won’t have much immediate impact but were designed to send a signal about the priorities of the new president, who pitched himself as a "law-and-order" candidate during the campaign, Bloomberg reports.

“It’s time to dismantle the gangs terrorizing our citizens, and it’s time to ensure that every young American can be raised in an environment of decency, dignity, love and support,” Trump said at the event on Wednesday. “We must protect those who protect us.”

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