Category: MIL-OSI

Today, the Justice Department announced the selection of four jurisdictions to receive nearly $300 million in federal funding through its Model Cities Initiative (MCI), a flagship effort to reduce violent crime, restore law and order, and strengthen public safety in American communities.

Jacksonville, Florida; East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; and St. Louis, Missouri, have been selected to receive federal investments supporting innovative, comprehensive, locally driven strategies to combat crime and enhance coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.

“The Model Cities Initiative reflects the Trump Administration’s commitment to reducing crime across the country and ensuring the safety of every American,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “These cities are setting an example of proactive law enforcement that will strengthen the rule of law and improve public safety in their jurisdictions. As violent crime rates continue to fall to historic lows, the Department of Justice is redoubling our efforts to invest in local communities and keep American families safe.”

“President Trump and this Department of Justice have demonstrated that Americans need not accept unsafe streets as a fact of life,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. “We have made tremendous strides in restoring public safety, with nonfatal violent crime declining 25 percent from 2024 to 2025. The Model Cities Initiative offers an opportunity to build on that progress, empowering these cities to set a new standard for safer communities across America.”

The initiative takes a whole-of-city approach to public safety, bringing together law enforcement agencies, local government officials, and community partners to develop comprehensive strategies that address the unique public safety challenges facing their communities. The applications submitted by the four selected jurisdictions exemplified the innovative, forward-thinking approaches the Department sought through the initiative. 

While each jurisdiction faces unique public safety challenges and brings different priorities, resources, and starting points to the initiative, the Department is confident in the strength of their proposals and their commitment to achieving meaningful results. Despite differing approaches, all four jurisdictions demonstrated a shared determination to reduce violent crime and make their communities safer. 

Through the initiative, the Justice Department will work with each jurisdiction to finalize and implement its public safety plan. Funding will support a range of priorities, including hiring sworn and non-sworn law enforcement officers and other personnel to support enforcement, prosecution, and related public safety activities; adopting new and improved technology; purchasing or leasing equipment; enhancing forensic capabilities and capacity; and providing services to address mental health and substance use issues and reduce recidivism.

Attorney General Blanche will visit the four selected jurisdictions next month to present the awards and meet with local law enforcement officials, elected leaders, and community partners.

The Justice Department announced the Model Cities Initiative in June 2026 to build on early successes in jurisdictions such as Memphis, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., in reducing violence, crime, and disorder. The initiative directs nearly $300 million in federal resources toward comprehensive public safety strategies that strengthen law enforcement, improve coordination among public safety partners, and address the factors contributing to crime and recidivism.

Through these investments, the Justice Department will work alongside local partners to implement sustainable public safety solutions and deliver measurable results. The four Model Cities will help advance the Administration’s efforts to reject the status quo of allowing crime and disorder to go unchecked and restore law, order, and safety to communities across the nation.

The U.S. Department of Justice today announced that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is moving forward with the initial issuance of hundreds of federal registrations to qualifying state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries under the Attorney General’s order implementing Schedule III controls for certain medical marijuana activities.

The registrations mark the first phase of implementing the Attorney General’s April 23, order under 21 U.S.C. § 811(d), which established a federal regulatory framework for qualifying medical marijuana businesses while maintaining federal controls under the Controlled Substances Act. These initial registrations include more than 900 dispensaries across Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Each dispensary was required to satisfy applicable federal requirements, including successful completion of DEA’s pre-registration investigation, before receiving federal registration.

“The American people deserve access to the best medical treatments in the world,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The regulated distribution of medical marijuana by the applicants that have been granted registration by the Drug Enforcement Administration will help ensure broader access to chronic pain treatment and the safety of the American people. The Department of Justice will continue prosecuting illegal marijuana trafficking and related criminal activity in accordance with federal law.”

DEA is beginning with dispensaries that submitted applications within the initial 60-day period established by the order and meet applicable federal requirements. To qualify, applicants must operate under a state medical marijuana regulatory framework consistent with federal law and the United States’ international treaty obligations. Each dispensary must also successfully complete DEA’s established pre-registration investigation before receiving federal registration.

State licensure alone does not automatically grant federal registration. Registered dispensaries will be subject to applicable federal requirements, including security, recordkeeping, inventory controls, and other safeguards governing the handling of controlled substances.

DEA will continue processing dispensary applications and issuing registrations to qualifying dispensaries through a phased registration process while maintaining its regulatory and enforcement responsibilities under federal law. DEA is also reviewing registration applications from medical marijuana manufacturers and distributors, which supply medical marijuana to dispensaries. Those applications require additional review, including facility inspections, production controls, and quota determinations.

Under the Attorney General’s order, qualifying manufacturers, distributors, and dispensaries, that applied within the initial 60-day period and whose applications remain pending may continue to engage in medical marijuana transactions with other qualified applicants and with newly registered entities as their applications remain pending, subject to the order’s requirements. Information for applicants and newly registered entities can be found here.

The Attorney General’s order applies to defined qualifying medical marijuana activities and does not authorize recreational marijuana or other marijuana activities outside its scope. Marijuana not covered by the order remains subject to Schedule I controls. The broader proposed rescheduling of marijuana is being considered through a separate administrative proceeding under the Controlled Substances Act.