By Laura DeKoven Waxman
June 29, 2009

"America's chiefs need mayors," Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman told members of the Criminal and Social Justice Committee June 13 when he welcomed them to his city. In discussing the partnership between mayors and police chiefs, Esserman said that Providence Mayor David Cicilline's "greatest gift" to the city was giving its police department back to the people. He discussed the importance of community policing — and its successes. Under his tenure, Providence has seen a significant reduction in crime and has cut its murder rate in half.

Despite these successes, Esserman expressed his concern with the number of murders that occur in the United States — 17,000 people killed each year. He pointed out that an American has a greater chance of dying on the streets of U.S. cities than he or she does serving in the military overseas.

Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence President Paul Helmke built on much of what Esserman said, telling the mayors that, "We make it too easy for people to get guns in America." He discussed the fact that too many politicians at the federal level stay away from sensible gun legislation, citing specifically a bill currently in Congress to close the gun show loophole. In fact, he said, we're moving backwards on some things, like an amendment allowing loaded guns in national parks that was attached to recently enacted legislation. He also cited efforts to put further restrictions on Washington DC's gun laws.

Calling for passage of sensible gun laws, Helmke urged mayors and police chiefs "to speak up" and said "we need to convince Congress this is a public health and safety issue." Helmke is the former mayor of Fort Wayne, a former chair of the Committee, and a former President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The Committee, chaired by Rochester (NY) Mayor (and former Police Chief) Robert Duffy reported on, and the full Conference later adopted, 17 policy resolutions covering issues that included gun safety, gangs and illegal drugs, crime prevention and response, youth violence, prisoner reentry, immigration issues, and equality and civil rights for gay and lesbian Americans. The adopted resolutions are summarized below.

The Criminal and Social Justice Committee adapted the following resolutions:

• American Investments to Prevent and Respond to Crime — calls for reinvigorating the COPS program and making it more flexible; fully funding the Byrne JAG grant; reinstating the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program; consideration of transferring responsibility for the administration of homeland security grants benefiting local law enforcement agencies from Homeland Security to Justice; consideration of establishing a new block grant program, modeled after the Community Development Block Grant, to provide police departments with flexible funds for prevention, enforcement, and analysis tailored to local needs; and full federal support of federal crime databases to include maintaining and upgrading them, providing better training, and establishing "best practices" protocols.

• Crime Prevention — calls for beginning reentry initiatives at sentencing, with inmates provided education, training, and substance abuse treatment in prison so that, when they are released to their communities, they have a skill and are prepared to hold a job; setting minimum standards for release from federal prison; fully funding the Second Chance Act and increasing significantly its authorization level; federal assurance that substance abuse treatment in communities and correctional facilities is available on demand; a high federal priority for preventing youth violence, including establishment of a federal interagency mechanism to coordinate programs and activities supported by the various federal departments and agencies, and federal funding and technical assistance for cities to encourage similar local coordination efforts.

• Reauthorize The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act — calls for reauthorizing the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act this year with specific increased authorization levels and spending flexibility for Title II and Title V Grants; support by mayors and Congress for evidence-based youth programs targeting system-involved as well as at-risk youth ages 14 to 25; inclusion in reauthorization of adequate support and funding for job training, education, employment, housing, substance abuse treatment, mental health services and recreation programs to help youth realize their true potential.

• Support the Youth Prison Reduction Through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support and Education Act (Youth Promise Act) — affirms support for the Youth PROMISE Act and calls upon the United States Congress to enact it in the 111th Congress.

• Preventing and Ending Homelessness of Ex-offenders Through Expansion of the Second Chance Act Prisoner Reentry Initiative — endorses the increased funding for the Second Chance Act by $75 million which is included in the President's proposed 2010 budget to expand the safe and successful reintegration into the community of individuals who have been incarcerated, including veterans, and supports programs geared toward the rapid re-housing of ex-offenders.

• Encouraging the Establishment of Green Reentry Programs — calls on the U.S. Congress to provide incentives to local and state governments to train persons in custody and subject to court supervision in new and emerging fields and assist them to obtain jobs in such fields, and to provide maximum authorized funding for Green Jobs Act Grants, especially the "Green Pathways out of Poverty" Program and the Second Chance Act Grants for FY 2010; and encourages Conference members to develop innovative strategies to include ex-offenders in the expanding "green" economy.

• Gangs and Illegal Drugs — calls on the FBI and other federal agencies to assign the same high priority to gangs that do organized crime; federal, state and local authorities to respond to the growing problem of youth gangs through stepped-up enforcement and prosecution of gangs and prevention and intervention programs that provide young people with alternatives to gang membership and gang violence; federal, state, and local enforcement agencies to work collaboratively to undermine gangs and gang culture; federal and state courts to have the option of sending convicted gang members to federal prisons located in other parts of the country; the federal government to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to help stop the use and sale of drugs in cities and to establish a federal'state-local partnership specifically focused on this problem; the federal government to increase funding for the drug court program, along with funding for the treatment and support services essential to its success; and the federal government to recognize and address the onslaught of methamphetamine and prescription drug problems, including problems associated with trafficking and use.

• Director of National Drug Control Policy — commends President Obama for his nomination of Gil Kerlikowske as Director of National Drug Control Policy, pledges to work closely with Director Kerlikowske in realigning the national drug control policy so that it responds to today's problems, believes that the position of Director should be accorded cabinet rank, and urges the President to consider restoring the position to that rank.

• Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap — encourages that the science of addiction as a preventable and treatable disease drive alcohol and drug policy at federal, state, and local level; calls on Congress to pass legislation expanding funding for alcohol and drug prevention, treatment, and recovery services for all who need them and to repeal discriminatory laws against people with addiction histories who have been in the criminal justice system; urges cities to implement alternatives to incarceration programs for non-violent offenders with serious drug and/or alcohol addiction where treatment would be more effective than incarceration; and stresses the importance of federal, state, and local governments to provide specialized prevention, treatment, and recovery support to veterans returning from active duty.

• Gun Safety — calls for reinstatement of a strengthened, effective ban on military'style assault weapons and their component parts; enactment of common sense gun legislation to close the gun show loophole, keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, and no longer permit gun dealers whose licenses are revoked to conduct fire sales; enactment of legislation to limit the number of guns a person may purchase in a single transaction or specified period of time; no limit by federal or state law to law enforcement agencies' access to gun trace data; a background check anyone purchasing a firearm in the United States; full funding for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and requiring states to submit records, including those involving persons with serious mental health problems, to the NICS; expanding the Integrated Ballistic Identification System (IBIS) to include ballistic images for all new guns, not just those involved in crimes; and federal support for the development of new technologies, such as microstamping, which can help solve crimes.

• Common Sense Measures in Support of Efforts to Fight Illegal Guns — calls on Congress to enact legislation that would prevent guns from getting into the hands of criminals by closing serious gaps in the gun background check system, specifically to close the gun show loophole, end the gun dealer fire sales provision, require gun dealers to perform background checks on their employees, and close the terror gap; and to reject legislative proposals such as the Tiahrt amendment and others that limit cities' ability to solve and prevent crime in our communities.

• A Resolution to Encourage President Barack Obama and the Congress to Reinsititute and Make Permanent a Ban on the Sale of Assault Weapons — encourages President Barack Obama and the United States Congress to reinstitute and make permanent a ban on the sale of assault weapons.

• Executive Orders and Administrative Actions to Prevent And Respond To Crime — calls on the FBI to assign more agents, including some of the agents now dedicated to combating terrorism, to combating street crime; the Department of Homeland Security to afford local officials more flexibility in the use of homeland security funds, in particular, allowing the funds to be used for beat officers; and federal and state governments to not preempt the authority of local governments to enact municipal ordinances relating to gun safety or other aspects of public safety.

• Establishing a National Commission on Community and Regional Resilience — supports the establishment of a National Commission on Regional and Community Resilience composed of governors, mayors, representatives of national organizations and associations, and representatives of private business to supervise the creation of a common framework for community and regional resilience that meets the needs of citizens, businesses and governments, voluntary and faith-based organizations at the community level; provide an understanding of and agreed upon terminology for community and regional resilience; examine how communities and regions can collaborate to achieve and sustain cost-effective resilience; and recommend to governments at all levels policies that are required to foster resilient communities.

• Resolution to Support the Dream Act — encourages Conference members to support the passage of the DREAM Act, which will allow thousands of young students to realize their educational dreams, and encourage their respective congressional delegates to pass the Act; and recommends that Congress pass bipartisan legislation to provide eligible students with educational possibilities and a road to legalization.

• Temporary Protected Status For Haitian Nationals — calls on the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti and Haitian nationals for Temporary Protected Status and to promptly suspend deportations of Haitian nationals.

• Equality and Civil Rights for Gay and Lesbian Americans — endorses the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, the Uniting American Families Act, and the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act; supports marriage equality for same'sex couples and the recognition and extension of full equal rights to such unions, including family and medical leave, tax equity, and insurance and retirement benefits; and opposes the enshrinement of discrimination in federal or state constitutions.