(NewsNation) — Mayors and law enforcement personnel from across the country sought to answer one of the most pressing questions in America on Monday night: What are they doing to combat crime in their cities?
The public officials fielded questions from live studio audiences in New York City, Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth during a two-hour town hall moderated by NewsNation host Chris Cuomo.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the conversation:
Solutions need to be multifaceted and come from both sides of the aisle
The mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, and Toledo, Ohio, outlined the multipronged approaches they’re taking to address crime in their cities.
Mayors agreed that partisanship won’t solve any problems. Instead, the city executives said communities have to get past party orthodoxy.
Louisville Deputy Police Chief Paul Humphrey said police departments and communities must work together.
Gun violence remains confounding, polarizing
Toledo, Ohio Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz believes that along with mental health, guns are a major part of the crime problem.
Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Mark Lamb countered that guns are “inanimate objects” that are being used by people exhibiting bad behavior. Lamb continued on, saying, “guns in the wrong hands are bad, guns in the right hands are good.”
Bail reform hasn’t been received well, even by former judges
Democratic mayors and legislators across the country have pushed to eliminate cash bail with Illinois becoming the first state in America to enact such a policy earlier this year. Durham, North Carolina, Mayor Elaine O’Neal is a former judge who isn’t convinced it can work without a viable alternative to get people to show up to court.
A New York woman says two men responsible for her son’s death were released from prison. She called bail reform a “runaway train” that is crashing into Black and brown communities.
Mental health is part of the equation
Hartford, Connecticut Mayor Luke Bronin says addressing mental health and crime can sometimes mean compelling people to get treated.
Too often, people with an “extensive history of violence,” addiction or a history of diagnosed mental health issues aren’t treated until they’re in prison, he said.
“There are so many examples of people who are on their meds and managing when they’re in the correctional facility, but when they’re out (of prison), they fall apart. It becomes dangerous to communities,” Bronin said.
Drug trafficking is exacerbating crime
San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey said drugs are driving lawlessness in the city. He called fentanyl the “most serious calamity the city has faced since the AIDS crisis.”
Dorsey said San Francisco is on track for the deadliest year of drug overdose in the city’s history. But it doesn’t stop there. Dorsey believes the fentanyl crisis is manifested in the city’s issues with street conditions, homelessness and retail theft.
Humphrey, the deputy police chief in Louisville, agreed with Dorsey but said the problem has been prevalent in poor and Black communities for years.
Businesses’ bottom lines are being hurt
More than half of consumers think retail crimes like shopping or looting stores have surged in their community since the onset of the pandemic, a National Retail Federation survey found.
Deborah, a “Crime in America” town hall participant, has had two businesses in New York City for 35 years. She says her stores have been robbed multiple times.
Bronin believes offenders need to know they will face repercussions if they commit a crime.
“Sometimes, what’s most important is that there are swift and reliable consequences,” Bronin said. “It’s not about the severity of them. It’s about the fact that there are consequences that you can count on.”
NewsNation digital producers Caitlyn Shelton and Liz Jassin contributed to this report.