Cities in NY May Get Leftover COVID Relief to Hire More Police

President Joe Biden announced leftover relief from the COVID-19 pandemic should be used to hire police that were cut over a year ago. Some cities should even hire more than they previously had.

If you watch the local news every day you may notice that you're hearing more and more horror stories coming out of New York City. It seems like every day we hear about another incident of violence.

President Biden has called for several states to use their emergency COVID relief given funds to cities with an uptick of violent crime.

Crime overall has grown significantly in New York City. Gun violence is also on the rise. According to Newsweek, in 2021 shootings were up more than 70% and robberies had gone up over 40% than the previous year.

What could the cause be? It may be due to the announcement from Mayor de Blasio back in June of 2020 the the police budget was being reduced by $1 billion. The reductions included officer overtime, the July Police Academy courses and a delay on new vehicles. Mayor de Blasio had those funds reinvested into community youth programs, recreational centers and public housing.

The help that law enforcement needs could come from an unlikely place.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Biden laid out a new crime prevention strategy that would allow state and local officials to use some of the $350 billion allotted for COVID relief to help hire more social workers, nurses, counselors and police officers that even exceed the amount before COVID-19. The WSJ also stated that the Biden administration will work with 14 cities to help prevent crime.