Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, participated in a round-table discussion with President Joseph Biden, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, and local leaders and community experts at the White House Monday, July 12 on reducing gun violence.
Accompanying Adams on his trip to Washington was Deputy Borough President Ingrid Martin-Lewis and his Communication chief Stefan Ringel. Also at the meeting was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
“I applaud President Joe Biden for calling this critical meeting to address rising crime, and for his commitment to take on the gun violence epidemic in our city and in our country. It is so important to the safety of New Yorkers that all levels of government work together and take action to fight and prevent crime,” said Adams.
“To achieve our shared goal of reducing gun violence, it is critical that the partnership between New York City and the federal government include both long-term crime prevention strategies and immediate interventions that stop the shootings now and get the guns off of our streets,” he added.
Adams, a former New York City police captain, said he was confident the Biden administration would focus on finding and prosecuting the dirty gun dealers, straw purchasers and traffickers who flood our streets with handguns.
“At the same time, we must work together to deal with the feeders of crime and violence, including funding for young people aging out of foster care, youth employment, job training, and learning disability screenings and help,” he said.
According to the New York Post, Adams told a TV crew outside the White House that he rejected the president’s call to increase police forces in order to combat illegal guns.
“The first thing we need to do is to do an assessment of how we are using our police officers now. Far too many police officers are doing clerical duty. Far too many police officers are patrolling in groups,” Adams told reporters.
Calling the meeting productive, Adams concluded that he looked forward “to working with the president as a true partner to create a safer New York City and a safer country.”
