Five special assistant U.S. Attorneys for the St. Louis region were sworn in on Thursday as part of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s Safer Streets Initiative.

Schmitt says this team of state and federal prosecutors will focus on violent crimes cases.

“Tackling a problem as large and widespread as violent crime takes constant action and discussion. With the swearing-in of these five talented Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys and continuing our work with U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen and his talented team, I’m reminding Missourians that I’m not backing down from fighting violent crime,” said Schmitt.

This week, St. Louis Alderman Brandon Bosley asked for the National Guard to be deployed to north St. Louis to combat the city’s growing rate of violent crime. The unofficial murder count for St. Louis is 36 this year.

“I think Alderman Bosley has rightly pointed out that we need to do something. As far calling in the National Guard, I’ll leave that to the Governor.” Schmitt said.

The five Special Assistant U.S. States Attorneys, who were sworn in by the Hon. Rodney Sippel, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, are Katharine Dolin, Gregory Goodwin, Jennifer Szczucinski, Natalie Warner, and Jordan Williams.

Schmitt began the Safer Streets Initiative in January and has expanded the cooperative agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to include Springfield and Kansas City.