FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 10, 2022 • THE QUEENS COURIER 21
Biden visits Long Island City school to
discuss violence prevention programs
BY JULIA MORO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Aft er arriving in New York City on
Feb. 3 for a much-anticipated meeting
with Mayor Eric Adams, Governor Kathy
Hochul, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and
other city offi cials on the outbreak of gun
violence in the Big Apple, President Joe
Biden headed to P.S. 111 in Long Island
City, where he met with community leaders
to discuss various violence prevention
programs.
Biden’s visit comes aft er he pledged to
dedicate $500 million in the 2022 spending
package to community policing and intervention
programs that have proven eff ective
in New York City. Biden also released
comprehensive plans to reduce gun violence,
which includes curtailing the fl ow of
illegal weapons into aff ected communities.
At the meeting, leaders discussed the
success of programs already in place, like
the Cure Violence Program which partners
the NYC Health Department and
local nonprofi ts in providing community
based outreach to prevent crime. P.S.
111 Principal Dionne Jaggon spoke highly
of the program in successfully preventing
violence in their district.
Queens City Councilwoman Julie Won
is one of the founding members of CCD
and strongly believes in these preventative
tactics.
“I am humbled and honored to stand
with my partners from CCD and P.S. 111
to show that violence can be solved when
we meet it with compassion and real community
investment,” Won said.
Cure Violence organizations provide services
that tackle the root causes of crime,
which stem from inequity, inaccessibility
to resources or a lack of support. Some
services provided include the following:
free self-defense courses for youth; substance
abuse prevention; addiction recovery
services; fi nancial literacy support;
confl ict mediation strategies; aft er-school
programs; and more.
“Cure violence organizations equip young
people to not just interrupt violence but to
prevent violence by providing holistic wraparound
services to uplift our communities,”
Won said. “We can’t continue to meet violence
with violence, we must recognize the
undeniable power of a strong community in
resolving the root causes of violence.”
Gun violence is up in the city, with 100
reported shootings in January alone and a
38.5% increase in nearly all major crimes.
Th e Queensbridge Houses went a whole
year without a single shooting due to the
intervention of the nonprofi t 696 Build
Queensbridge. According to reports, these
types of prevention tactics are successful. A
John Jay College of Criminal Justice study
found that the South Bronx experienced
a 37% decline in gun injuries and a 63%
reduction in shooting victimizations due to
the Cure Violence program’s intervention.
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
joined the meeting as well and thanked
Biden for treating the spike in gun violence
as a public health crisis.
“In the fi rst month of this year alone, we
have lost more than 3,000 American lives
to gun violence — we must honor all the
victims with action,” Maloney said. “I am
hopeful that with the president’s support,
we can break the NRA’s stranglehold on
Congress and fi nally pass meaningful, lifesaving
legislation.”
President Biden embraces Emanuel Campbell, staff supervisor of Community Capacity Development,
during his visit to P.S. 111.
Photos by REUTERS/Leah Millis
President Joe Biden listens to K. Bain, founder and executive director of Community Capacity Development, during his visit to P.S. 111 to discuss community
violence intervention programs with local leaders in Queens on Feb. 3, 2022.
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
