White House Urges Cities To Use COVID-19 Relief Funds To Combat Crime

The Epoch Times

White House officials are directing officials in states across the nation to utilize COVID-19 relief funding to try to combat rising levels of crime, including shootings and homicides.

President Joe Bidenโ€™s recently unveiled strategy to combat crime has at its core a partnership with cities and states, giving them โ€œhistoric levels of federal funding and a range of tools to address the multifaceted challenge of gun violence,โ€ Susan Rice, assistant to the president for domestic policy and head of the Domestic Policy Council, and two other officials, wrote in a memorandum.

โ€œIn particular, the strategy uses the American Rescue Planโ€™s $350 billion in financial support and clear guidance to provide state, local, territorial, and tribal governments the money they need to put more police officers on the beatโ€”including hiring above pre-pandemic levels in communities experiencing an increase in gun violence associated with the pandemicโ€”as well as the other resources, training, and accountability they need to engage in effective community policing,โ€ they added.

The Biden administration has made clear that the funds, ostensibly allocated to mitigate fiscal effects stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, can be used for โ€œevidence-based community violence intervention programs, summer employment and educational opportunities, and other investments that we know will reduce crime and make our neighborhoods safer,โ€ the memo states.

State and local governments have already in some cases used the funds to add more police officers, invest in violence intervention programs, and acquire anti-crime technology like gunshot detection systems. That includes Albuquerque, New Mexico paying $450,000 to recruit new officers and $3 million to expand the detection system; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania investing $1.3 million in violence prevention programs; and Tucson, Arizona planning to spend at least $7 million to bolster public safety.

The memo was sent to local and state officials across the nation.

BYย ZACHARY STIEBER

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