June 12, 2021 – In Breaking News – NEW YORK POST
Refund the police?
President Biden on Wednesday said communities can spend COVID-19 relief money on hiring more police to address soaring rates of violent crime.
Biden said in a White House speech that “the American Rescue Plan, which we passed in the first 100 days my administration, is providing much needed and historic relief to bring back those law enforcement jobs and social service jobs.”
The feds began distributing $350 billion in state and local aid last month and Biden pushed the option of using the cash to hire cops amid nationwide increases in murders, shootings and carjackings.
(Atlanta plans to increase its police budget after initially considering steep cuts last summer in the wake of the death of George Floyd. It’s among a number of cities across the country that are making similar moves amid rising crime. Courtesy of CBS News and YouTube. Posted on Jun 23, 2021.)
“We’re now providing more guidance on how they can use the $350 billion… to help reduce crime and address the root causes,” Biden said.
“For example, cities experiencing an increase in gun violence are able to use American Rescue Plan dollars to hire police officers needed for community policing and to pay their overtime.”
Biden said that he believed some cities cut funding for police due to pandemic-related budget woes. He didn’t mention a push by fellow Democrats to defund the police following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin.
Biden also said that violence “spiked since the start of the pandemic over a year ago,” adopting a largely Democratic argument that crime is increasing because of COVID-19 and not because of a policing pullback amid anti-police brutality protests and riots.
(President Joe Biden will launch a comprehensive plan to curb gun crimes, amid a nationwide spike in violent crime that poses a political challenge for the White House. Courtesy of Bloomberg Quicktake: Now and YouTube. Posted on Jun 23, 2021.)
Ahead of the speech, Biden hosted local mayors and police chiefs at the White House for a closed-door talk. Participants included Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Baton Rogue, La. police chief Murphy Paul.
“We discussed historic funding for states, cities and counties and tribes for law enforcement and crime prevention,” Biden said.
“You know, they’ve not only had to fight this pandemic, they’ve also had to deal with an economic crisis that has decimated their budgets, forced them to cut essential services including law enforcement and social services.”
Biden also encouraged local authorities to set up programs to “make sure young people pick up a paycheck instead of a pistol.”
“It reminds me of the old saying my mom used to use. She said, ‘an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.’ Well, school’s out for summer. Teenagers who are in tough neighborhoods: no jobs, more trouble,” he said.
Biden also touted a newly announced “zero tolerance” policy for “rogue” gun dealers accused of violating rules and noted that the Justice Department on Tuesday announced a new effort to create “strike forces” to slow the flow of guns into New York and other cities.
(The death of George Floyd inspired a movement to defund the police, but as communities across the country face a surge in violent crime, some leaders are rethinking their support of it. Over a 72-hour period in May, more than 130 people were killed and hundreds wounded in gun-related crimes. Courtesy of CBN News and YouTube. Posted on May 25, 2021.)
Continue reading… Biden says cities should spend leftover COVID funds on hiring cops
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