By Aswad Walker
Recently, four Black mayors, leaders of the nation’s four largest cities, participated in a panel discussion during the 2023 National Urban League Convention held in Houston. Mayors Eric Adams (New York), Karen Bass (Los Angeles), Brandon Johnson (Chicago) and Sylvester Turner (Houston) discussed several topics during the conversation facilitated by NUL President and CEO Marc Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans.
Here are excerpts from their conversation on crime.
TURNER: In all of our cities, homicide rates are down despite what people are saying, what they’re hearing. Violence in our city is down. But I do recognize we can spit out the numbers and if people don’t feel safe, then they’re not safe. I got that. And as long as there’s one person being killed or one person being assaulted or one car getting broken in, it is one too many. So, we are investing in police. This whole story about cities not supporting police—BS. Yes, cities are supporting police, mayors are supporting police. We want the police to have what they need to solve the crimes, but we also recognize that we have to invest in communities that have been underserved for a long, long time.