WASHINGTON, Jul 13 (NNN-XINHUA) – U.S. President, Joe Biden, yesterday invited a group of mayors and police chiefs from across the U.S. for a meeting at the White House, where they discussed actions to be taken to tackle the surging gun violence crimes.
Also at the meeting, held in the Roosevelt Room, was Attorney General, Merrick Garland, with whom Biden said, he had spent “a long time” on curbing gun-related violence. “Most of my career has been on this issue,” the president claimed, during the meeting.
Biden said, the purpose of the meeting was to hear from local officials about what things worked in their communities. He went through his own approach, highlighting measures, including stemming the flow of firearms, cracking down and holding gun dealers accountable for violating current law, and using the Department of Justice to crack down on illegal gun trafficking.
Biden stressed the importance of supporting local law enforcement, highlighting funding through his 1.9-trillion-dollar American Rescue Plan. He talked about hiring police and paying them overtime, and investing in community policing.
“We know when we utilise trusted community members and encourage more community policing, we can intervene before the violence erupts,” Biden said.
Biden also talked about the importance of mental health programmes and job training for young people, saying, authorities should “support young people to pick up a paycheck instead of a pistol.”
Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president and the likely next mayor of New York, Washington, D.C. Mayor, Muriel Bowser and San Jose, California, Mayor, Sam Liccardo were among the attendees of the meeting, along with police chiefs of the cities of Memphis, Chicago, and Wilmington, among other officials and violence experts.
Shootings and killings have been on the rise nationwide, with local politicians and police struggling to grapple with the skyrocketing violent incidents, since the outbreak of the pandemic. Push for Congress to pass police reform legislation, meanwhile, continued on more than one year, after the brutal killing of black man, George Floyd, by a white former police officer.
Biden’s administration unveiled a new national strategy on tackling gun violence on Jun 23, announcing measures, including combating the illegal transfer of firearms, increasing funding for local law enforcement, investing in fact-based community violence interventions, expanding summer programming, employment opportunities, and other services and supports for teenagers and young adults, as well as, helping formerly incarcerated individuals successfully reenter their communities.– NNN-XINHUA
