President Joe Biden speaks about gun violence prevention in the Rose Garden at the White House, April 8, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Joe Biden has announced a plan to attack gun violence in cities, including going after rogue gun dealers using covid-19 relief money to hire more police and fund community investments, The Wall Street Journal reported.
With gun violence and murders increasing, according to law enforcement reports, crime is becoming a hot-button political issue. Biden’s solution? More police.
Biden plans to authorize $350 billion in federal stimulus funds to be used to pay for more police in cities that are experiencing an increase in crime, administration officials said.
Police departments can also use that money to invest in programs to identify and mediate potentially violent conflicts, such as community violence intervention programs. The administration will work with 14 cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, and Detroit.
“It means more police officers, more nurses, more counselors, more social workers or community violence interrupters to help resolve issues before they escalate into crimes,” Biden said during a press conference on June 23.
People on Twitter weren’t happy.
“Biden living up to his promise make sure the police get more money. The effective evil wins again” TheAngrySociologist @SankofaBrown·1 tweeted. “We got a ‘holiday’ and the slave catchers got more money. Good ole Amerika”, @SankofaBrown·1 added, referring to the Juneteenth being made a federal holiday.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Party’s sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.
Biden’s crime strategy will also allow the Labor Department to fund summer workforce development programs for young people and connect formerly incarcerated people with jobs, administration officials said.
In the last three months of 2020, homicides rose 32.2 percent in cities with populations of at least 1 million, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Quarterly Uniform Crime Report.
“Crime historically rises during the summer, and as we emerge from this pandemic, with the country opening back up again, the traditional summer spike may be more pronounced than it usually would be,” Biden said.
Despite pressure from progressive Democrats and Black Lives Matter activities, Biden has opposed defunding police departments. His police reform bill has yet to be passed by Congress.
According to the White House, Biden’s new attack on crime will conflict with police reform legislation.
“There are negotiators that are continuing to make progress on the Hill, and the president supports and stands by a lot of these groups and their support and advocacy for long-overdue police reform,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. “He does not feel that they are conflicting.”
