Attorney General Michael Mukasey warned on Thursday about the disastrous effects the release of hundreds of drug dealers convicted under federal laws would have on the street criminality. Under the U.S. commission’s decision, 1,600 convicted criminals could be released as early as March, after the proposal on sentence reduction for people caught dealing crack cocaine was approved last month.

It was a controversial decision, and the Attorney General couldn’t be more worried about releasing violent gang members back into the society. “Before we take that step, we need to think long and hard about whether that’s the best way to go about this – whether it best serves the interests of justice and public safety,” Mukasey said. “A sudden influx of criminals from federal prison into your communities could lead to surge in new victims with a tragic but predictable result.”

Not only did the Attorney General take a stance against the release of such dangerous criminal back into the streets, but he also wants to increase the anti-violence funds from $75 million last year to $200 million in this fiscal year, which starts in October. This is also known as the Violent Crime Reduction Partnership and U.S. cities compete for funds by exposing their plans to fight crime.

Not everyone is as concerned as Mukasey about the release from prison of drug dealers. It has been a long debate before the U.S. Sentencing Commission approved the guidelines that enabled 19,500 federal prisoners accused of being cocaine dealers to apply for punishment reduction, but some optimistic opinions have it that only the non-violent inmates will be released, and this campaign will not pose a threat to public safety.

Hard to say who is right in this case, as crack cocaine dealers account for only a small percent of the criminals who will be coming out of prison this year, around 700,000. However that may be, the significant increase in anti-violence funds Mukasey is asking for will most certainly be a good step in the right direction for fighting crime in the years to come.