In Detroit, 1 in 5 residents (19%) cited public safety as the biggest issue facing the city, second only to education, named by 23%. On a list of eight concerns, police reform ranked last, at 4%.
“We have taken on a mindset that marijuana is not really a big issue in our city,” Chief Robert Contee said. “I can tell you that marijuana undoubtedly is connected to violent crimes that we are seeing in our communities.”
In analyzing the survey results, the National Police Association (NPA) blamed reaction of elected officials to last year’s protests, which began after the death of George Floyd during a May arrest in Minneapolis, for a subsequent rise in violent crime.
The White House said the group's discussion focused on the Biden administration's strategy to reduce gun crimes and other violent crimes, encouraging state and local governments to use funding from the $350 billion in the COVID relief package to combat the violence.
The meeting comes amid a rise in gun violence over the past few years. One of Biden's weakest areas in recent polling has been his handling of crime, with just 38 percent of people approving of the job he is doing in that area and 48 percent disapproving.
“I think you’ve got to get uncomfortable here, and the uncomfortable conversation for a lot of people is we have to address that law that was passed in 2019, and the implications that we’re feeling today,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said, referring to sweeping bail reform measures that took effect in January 2020.
In a briefing Monday morning, Armstrong made the case that the change in funding, and reduced ability to hire new officers as a result, would prevent Oakland police from adequately completing even day-to-day tasks like traffic enforcement and responding to emergency calls.
“I’ve never had to mobilize the entire county,” Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez said about what distinguishes this operation from others. “Our other crime initiatives were always for a specific area that was experiencing a trend, a hot spot.”
Biden boasted of "historic funding for crime prevention" in the $350 billion for state and local governments, from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, that can be used by cities to hire law enforcement officers, pay overtime, invest in technology to make law enforcement more efficient, and prosecute gun traffickers.
Bratton said the sentiment in major cities toward law enforcement reminds him of the 1970s when similarly progressive policies led to surges in crime and violence.
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