President Joe Biden is preparing to lay out new steps to stem the rising tide of violent crime across the country, which has become a major political issue.
He’s unveiling a series of executive orders aimed at reducing the violence and renewing his calls for Congress to pass gun legislation. Ahead of the speech, the Justice Department announced new strike forces aimed at tackling gun trafficking in five cities.
The steps he is taking are aimed at cracking down on gun dealers who break federal law. He also is seeking more money for the agency that tracks the nation’s guns.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pointed the finger at illegal guns during a briefing on Tuesday.
“Yes, there need to be reforms of police systems across the country. The president is a firm believer in that,” Psaki said. “But there are also steps he can take as president of the United States to help address and hopefully reduce that crime. A big part of that, in his view, is putting in place gun safety measures … using the bully pulpit but also using levers at his disposal as president.”
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Biden is also pushing for help for police and police reform. In April, he announced a half-dozen executive actions on gun control, including cracking down on “ghost guns,” homemade firearms that lack serial numbers used to trace them and that are often purchased without a background check.
There is also new federal funding from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package directed toward municipal governments, allowing them to keep more police officers on the street.
Conservatives and Republicans blame Democrat leadership in big cities and movements like “Defund the Police” for the rising crime rates.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Tuesday that she has seen double-digit increases in murder and violent crime nationwide.
“It is staggering. It is sobering,” she said at a violent-crime forum held by the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum. “And it’s something that DOJ is committed to do all we can to reverse what are profoundly troubling trends.”
The National Fraternal Order of Police tweeted out statistics on the surge in homicides:
- Up 533 percent in Portland
- 58 percent in Atlanta
- 37 percent in Philadelphia
- 22 percent in Los Angeles
Monaco said the Justice Department would launch strike forces in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., to help reduce violent crime by addressing illegal gun trafficking, building on an initiative begun last month.
If the federal effort sounds familiar, it is. Federal operations have often been launched to help cities facing spiking crime. President Donald Trump announced something similar last year when he and then-Attorney General William Barr launched Operation Legend, named for a boy who was shot to death in Kansas City, Missouri. In that effort, hundreds of investigators were deployed to nine cities with rising crime, prioritizing the arrest of violent criminals.
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