The Biden administration’s plans to crack down on violent crime “might be the most incompetent approach yet,” the D.C. Police Union chairman told the Daily Caller News Foundation Wednesday.
Instances of homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault have increased in 63 major cities where the city councils have voted for budget cuts and enforced restrictions against police departments, D.C. Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton told the DCNF. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the administration will target “root causes” behind increased gun violence and other violent crimes including focusing on how firearms are transported and used to commit crimes, according to the White House.
“The Executive Orders unveiled today appear to address these problems from the perspective of gun sales. This might be the most incompetent approach yet,” Pemberton told the DCNF.
.@PressSec reiterates that President Biden does not support “defunding the police” and has proposed funding for community policing along with going after gun violence and illegal gun sales.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 23, 2021
In the 63 cities where city councils have targeted police departments, officers have retired or quit in record numbers, Pemberton said. (RELATED: Biden’s Strategy For Combating Surge In Crime Focuses Largely On Combating ‘Gun Violence’)
“Police officers are leaving these agencies in record numbers and those that remain, are being told to stop doing the professional and responsible police work that prevents criminal activity from proliferating,” Pemberton told the DCNF.
“The blatantly obvious reason for these spikes in crime is the attacks on police officers who would normally be in these communities preventing violence,” Pemberton added. “These new efforts to destroy policing make the ‘Ferguson Effect’ look like child’s play. These exponential crime waves should now be dubbed the ‘Defund Effect’.”
The Biden administration said it will fund state and local governments so more police officers can be hired, trained and held accountable while policing communities, according to the White House. The administration will also focus on stopping the flow of firearms trafficking, investing on community-based intervention and supporting community members.
“Trying to solve these problems by clamping down on gun sales is undeniably misguided, and is nothing more than a distraction from the obvious need to walk back these dangerous anti-police policies,” Pemberton told the DCNF.
The Biden administration cited a 30% increase in homicides and an 8% increase in gun assaults in 2020, according to the White House. Biden referred to the increase in gun-related incidents as an “epidemic of gun violence” in the U.S.
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