U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer Announces Progress In Making Our Communities Safer Through Project Safe Neighborhoods

DENVER – One year ago, the Department of Justice announced the revitalization and enhancement of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which Attorney General Sessions has made the centerpiece of the Department’s violent crime reduction strategy.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through the District of Colorado’s PSN program, a broad spectrum of stakeholders have worked together to identify the Colorado communities with the most pressing violent crime problems and have developed comprehensive solutions to address them.  PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders, particularly serial shooters, and partners with local prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.  PSN is consistent with the strategy the Colorado’s U.S. Attorney’s Office has developed for several years, using data analysis to target serial shooters. 

Throughout the past year, we have partnered with all levels of law enforcement, local organizations, and members of the community to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

“In Colorado it’s just a very small percentage of people who commit the vast majority of the violent crime,” said U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer.  “By identifying and prosecuting those people, we not only reduce the most crime, we do so with the least disruption to communities.”

Marking the one-year anniversary of the revitalized PSN program, here are some of the highlights our work:

Enforcement Actions

Colorado’s PSN program uses three Crime Gun Intelligence Centers in those areas of the state with the worst violent crime problems.  Federal, state, and local investigators working with these centers combine forensic analysis related to firearms with a variety of other data to focus investigations on and build cases against the people responsible for the majority of the shootings in their communities.  Examples of these cases include:

• Eight members of the Bloods street gang were prosecuted and received sentences of up to 100 months on charges of Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketerring (VICAR).  Court documents stated that the Bloods were an enterprise whose business is violence, including murder and using firearms for drug trafficking.  Most were felons who were prohibited from possessing firearms.  (https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/local-and-federal-law-enforcement-team-indict-and-arrest-violent-members-bloods-gang)

• James Harley Wheeler, age 24, was sentenced to serve 7 years for brandishing a firearm during a marijuana deal that resulted in a shooting death.  (https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/denver-man-sentenced-prison-following-federal-firearm-crime)

• Kendall Crockett, age 23, was sentenced to nearly 7 years for stealing firearms from a federal firearm licensee (FFL).  This is one of multiple cases where defendants were prosecuted for brazenly stealing firearms from FFLs.  (https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/atf-us-attorneys-office-teams-local-law-enforcement-take-down-crews-breaking-gun-stores)

• Aaron Carson Cheek, age 27, was sentenced to serve 7 years for brandishing a firearm while robbing Home Depot.  (https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/felon-who-attempted-rob-home-depot-golden-sentenced-federal-prison)

• Daniel Anthony Garcia, age 28, was sentenced to 37 months for illegally entering an occupied home, pistol-whipping a man, and firing a gun to threaten occupants.  (https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/pueblo-man-sentenced-federal-prison-illegally-possessing-firearms)

• Jeremy Lee Cabral, age 22, was sentenced to 10 years for firing a gun in a parking lot during an attempted carjacking.  (https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/denver-man-sentenced-ten-years-imprisonment-firing-gun-parking-lot-during-attempted)

Community Partnerships

The U.S. Attorney’s Office partners with various community groups to provide education and outreach, including participating in the Colorado Lawyers’ Committee Hate Crime Mock Trial program, offering the Protecting Houses of Worship program to educate faith-based communities about practical security measures, and joining law enforcement at events like Coffee with a Cop.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office also participates in re-entry services for people returning to the community after imprisonment, including speaking at Fair Chance job fairs and partnering with the Bureau of Prisons and the United States Probation Office to provide inmates training on job interviewing and resume writing. 

These enforcement actions and partnerships are part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime. Learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods.