st. LOUIS — US Attorney General Merrick Garland touted the importance of government and community groups working together to reduce violence Thursday morning during a national crime-prevention conference in St. Louis.

Hundreds of people from across the US gathered this week at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch to attend the first Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative grantee conference. The grant program, offered by the Department of Justice, supports violence reduction efforts in cities nationwide.

“One of the purposes of this gathering is to exchange the knowledge, the lessons learned and the best practices informed by those from different perspectives,” Garland said.

He said the DOJ’s approach to disrupting and preventing violent crime focuses on partnerships with other government agencies, police departments and communities most affected by violence to create strategies that are tailored to local communities.

“We know we cannot do our jobs effectively without the trust of the communities we serve,” Garland said.

St. Louis Mayor Tishuara O. Jones also spoke to the at-capacity ballroom Thursday morning, where she said her administration has used some federal money to fund community programs rooted in the neighborhoods they serve.

“A new, innovative approach is necessary, especially as cities like St. Louis faces challenges of other levels of government,” Jones said.

Jones said the state Legislature’s gun laws make local anti-violence work more difficult.

Missouri lawmakers in the past 20 years have dismantled many of the state’s significant gun restrictions, and now moving through the Statehouse are bills seeking to put the city police department back under state control and appoint a special prosecutor to strip circuit attorney Kimberly Gardner of her prosecutorial power.

The major touted the results of the program Cops and Clinicians, which pairs a licensed clinical social worker with a police officer on call to provide immediate mental health services and other resources to people to reduce the need for police and EMS.

In its first year, she said the program responded to nearly 5,000 cases, in which 95% of people contacted were diverted from arrest and connected to services.

Garland said that in September the DOJ announced $100 million in community violence prevention grants to nearly 50 organizations and agencies nationwide. In the next few weeks, Garland said, the DOJ will announce $100 million in additional funding.

The attorney general also noted the DOJ earlier this week announced a $231 million national investment in the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Grant Program, which creates intervention court proceedings intended to keep guns out of the hands of people who pose a threat to themselves or others.

The Missouri Department of Public Safety has been awarded just under $5.5 million of that money, according to the DOJ’s website.

In addition to Thursday’s speech, Garland met one day earlier with community leaders in East St. Louis.