Brevard-Seminole State Attorney Norm Wolfinger accepted an award from U. S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales recognizing his office for outstanding local prosecutor’s office in the nation for its "distinguished service and commitment to the Project Safe Neighborhood’s program," at the Project Safe Neighborhoods 2006 National Conference last week in Denver, Colorado. Project Safe Neighborhoods is President Bush’s nationwide program against gun violence. Over 1,300 U. S. Attorneys and staff, along with State and local prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies as well as community leaders were in attendance.

Wolfinger’s efforts to reduce gun violence through his Operation Cease-Fire program, which includes his innovative Rap Against Violence contest, were cited as ways to work hand-in-hand with Federal prosecutors and the communities toward building safer neighborhoods. As part of the award ceremony, a Department of Justice video on gang violence, narrated by United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was shown with Palm Bay student Jared Burgos’ winning Rap Against Violence song "Stop!" being played in the background.

Wolfinger said reaction at the conference to the Rap Against Violence contest and CD, which is a crime prevention component of Operation Cease-Fire, was phenomenal.

"The idea of using rap to start a word-of-mouth epidemic against gun crime violence really lit a fire under them," Wolfinger said. He was approached by law enforcement officers from the Virgin Islands to Maine, Washington State to Washington, D.C., and beyond who are now planning to do similar contests.

At the conference, Wolfinger challenged prosecutors and law enforcement nationally to join with him in a nationwide Rap Against Violence competition as a means to use hip-hop artists as messengers against gun violence. He also challenged the leaders of the rap and hip-hop world to change direction and funnel their influence toward useful issues and not just to glorify violence and drug use.

Wolfinger said, "I am grateful to 102 JAMZ, Bright House Networks, Lou Pearlman’s Trans Continental Studios, Crime Line, and our law enforcement and Weed and Seed partners in Operation Cease-Fire, for having the confidence and faith to move forward with me in this uncharted water of using aspiring hip-hop artists to change attitudes and behavior in the community with regards to gun violence. Because of them, over 10,000 CD copies, along with access to download the antigun crime rap songs from our State Attorney’s Office’s website, are available for distribution to our community youth."

Under the Operation Cease-Fire program, two of Wolfinger’s State prosecutors are sworn in as Special Assistant U. S. Attorneys. They work on a daily basis with Federal prosecutors from U. S. Attorney Paul Perez’s office in Orlando to identify, indict, and prosecute in Federal Court criminals who have used guns in the commission of crimes. "Cases get tried sooner in Federal court," Wolfinger said, "and oftentimes we can get tougher sentences than we could in the State courts."

Operation Cease-Fire team members from the State Attorney’s Office, local law enforcement, Weed and Seed, and neighborhood activists often also respond to community concerns by canvasing neighborhoods within 24 hours of shootings, sharing and soliciting information and informing the community that the consequences of gun crime include being prosecuted in Federal court-no bond, speedy trials within 70 days of Federal indictment, and a sentence in a Federal prison outside the State of Florida.

"Gun crime means hard time," said Wolfinger.