Current and former prosecutors respond to Barr's "concerning" comments on progressive prosecutors

Dozens of former and current prosecutors and law enforcement officials have signed a letter calling for recent attacks by the Attorney General William BarrWilliam Pelham BarrThe license to kill a forensic pathologist by Attorney General Barrister confirms death by Epstein's suicide According to the Department of Justice, Mueller's report has been downloaded 800 million times MORE on progressive district attorneys "deeply worrying."

In a speech delivered to the police last weekend, Barr criticized unnamed prosecutors for refusing to prosecute some non-violent offenses as "anti-repression."

"We join this public statement to make it clear that a growing number of criminal justice, law enforcement and prosecutorial officials are rejecting AG Barr's point of view; We do not consider that our work is waging a "war" against "criminal predators," wrote the signatories.

The letter indicates that the crime rate remains at its lowest level, with the number of violent crimes almost halved over the last 25 years, a change that the data indicates can not be attributed to an increase in the number of crimes. 39; incarceration.

"Our country is on the path to a meaningful and sustainable reform of criminal justice – as evidenced by the bipartisan adoption of the First Step Act Act and other changes that swept the country. This is not the time to go back to fear-inspired stories that have no basis, "the letter says.

"We hope that Attorney General Barr and other national leaders will understand the facts, data and lessons learned from the past that have taught us to use the limited resources of criminal justice soundly to promote safer and stronger communities," add the text.

Signatories of the letter include Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner (D), Cook County, Illinois, Crown Attorney, Kim Foxx (D), Suffolk County, Massachusetts, DA Rachael Rollins (D), New York County DA Cy Vance (D), and William Lansdowne, former chief of the San Diego Police Department, San Jose and Richmond, California.

Barr's remarks were made the same week when US attorney William McSwain issued an uplifting statement accusing Krasner's "vile rhetoric" of having shot six police officers from Philadelphia. McSwain also falsely claimed that violent crimes had "exploded" since Krasner's election in 2017.