Lyndon B. Johnson photo

Remarks to the Delegates to the Second National Conference of United States Marshals.

September 27, 1966

I AM delighted to welcome you to the White House again on the occasion of your second national conference.

You are here to study new problems in law enforcement.

Never in the history of your organization--177 years--has this Nation had greater need for imaginative, new, and firm approaches to that problem.

More than 2,700,000 major crimes are now committed in this country every year--nearly 5 a minute.

You know the statistics: one murder every hour, one forcible rape every 23 minutes, one robbery every 4 1/2 minutes, one assault every 2 1/2 minutes, one car theft every minute, one burglary every 27 seconds.

So long as this situation continues, we are not meeting the Government's very first responsibility to its citizens: the right to be secure from criminal violence.

We have a national policy for agriculture. We have a national policy for transportation. We have national policies for health and education. The time is long past due for a national strategy against crime. And as Federal law enforcement officers, you have a stake in helping to formulate that policy.

The United States Marshals have a proud record. From early frontier days, you have accepted the challenge of change. Often you were the first to carry the Federal writ into lawless communities. Today, you are discharging your increasingly difficult duties with devotion and dispatch. And you are doing it, I might add, with a record of economy and efficiency unequaled by any branch of the Federal service. The Marshals Service has had less than a 2 percent increase in personnel over a period of 30 years. I consider that truly remarkable.

I am also pleased that, in my administration, legislation has finally been introduced to place U.S. Marshals under the civil service system. Enactment of this bill will complete the task of making the Marshals Service a merit service and a career service. It will protect the rights of the individual Marshal, and it will benefit both your Service and the country you serve.

But no matter how capable, no matter how dedicated, Federal law enforcement officers cannot win this fight alone. That is why I have asked the Attorney General to work with the Governors of the 50 States to establish statewide committees on law enforcement and criminal justice.

I am pleased to announce today that 20 Governors have already acted and 14 have indicated their intentions to form such committees. And more States are actively considering this step.

The Law Enforcement Assistance Act, which we passed last year, is channeling Federal help to local police. In its first year of operation, it has financed 79 demonstration projects in 30 States. This year more programs are underway, including one which is helping police in about 60 cities plan and develop community relations programs. I hope and believe that this will make your own work a little easier.

We are also striving to help the courts operate more fairly and swiftly.

In June, I signed into law the first real reform of our bail system since 1789. It insures that all defendants will be considered, in fact as well as in theory, innocent until proven guilty. The right to bail will no longer depend on the size of a man's wallet.

I want to assure you that the Federal Government will continue to strengthen the Nation's ability to resist crime. We will use the laws we have, and we will seek new laws when they are necessary and useful.

We have new legislation to control the illegal drug traffic.

We have new legislation to control juvenile delinquency.

We have new legislation to help local police departments.

We have new legislation to seek prisoner rehabilitation.

We will continue, and accelerate, our battle with that unique product of our time, the organized, syndicated corporation of corruption.

I would like to express to you today, on behalf of the American people, our gratitude for the vital service the U.S. Marshals are performing in this continuing battle against crime and disorder.

You are one group which is successfully meeting the challenge of keeping pace. You are meeting the new and difficult problems confronting you today as effectively as you met similar problems at the beginning of our Republic.

Your training, combined with your spirit and dedication, is rapidly making the Marshals Service not only the oldest, but also one of the finest Federal law enforcement agencies in the United States.

Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke about 1 p.m. in the East Room at the White House. The group of United States Marshals from 93 judicial districts (including the 50 States, Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, Guam, and the Virgin Islands) were attending a 3 l/2 day conference in Washington.

For the President's statement following the signing of the Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1965, see 1965 volume, this series, Book II, Item 527.

The Bail Reform Act of 1966 was approved by the President on June 22, 1966 (see Item 286).

As printed above, this item follows the text released by the White House Press Office.

Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks to the Delegates to the Second National Conference of United States Marshals. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/238428

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