By: Ilana Siyance
On Monday, Eric Adams, NYC mayoral Frontrunner, met with President Joe Biden at the White House along with other leaders to discuss the recent increase in gun violence across the nation. Other attendees at the meeting included mayors of Washington, D.C., and San Jose, Calif., several law enforcement officials, and Attorney General Merrick Garland. The Biden Administration wished to share Biden’s new crime prevention plan, which includes targeting illegal gun dealers and tracking down unlawful firearms.
As reported by USA Today, the plan emboldens cities across the country to utilize funds from the federal government’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, and invest it in public safety initiatives and community violence prevention programs, including hiring more police officers. “While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. We know there are some things that work,” Biden told reporters, promoting his new strategy.
President Biden spoke about investing more in community policing and hiring more officers and paying them overtime. “We know when we utilize trusted community members and encourage more community policing, we can intervene before the violence erupts,” he said. Biden also discussed mental health programs, job training initiatives, and support for individuals previously incarcerated as different means that local officials can invest in to combat gun violence.
As per USA Today, Brooklyn Borough President Adams, who described himself as “the new face of the Democratic Party,” won the recent NYC Democratic mayoral primary race mostly due to his stance on public safety and denouncing liberal calls to ‘defund the police’, while also vowing to rein in police misconduct. Adams, a former police captain, has his best chance of victory in the general election in November against Republican Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, based on his tough-on-crime position.
As gun violence has recently climbed at an alarming rate in some 30 U.S. cities, the White House released a memo by Domestic Policy Adviser Susan Rice and other senior officials prior to the meeting. The memo highlighted how several cities have already used a portion of their $350 billion COVID-19 rescue plan funds toward public safety initiatives. Philadelphia is spending $1.3 million to develop violence interruption programs and $2 million toward a transitional jobs program. Tucson, Ariz., plans to invest $7 million in “community safety, health and wellness, and violence interruption programs”, as per the memo.
In his bid to crack down on gun violence, President Biden also called on Congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban and to pass a bill closing loopholes in gun background checks.