Last summer, Eric Adams declared himself the “face” of the Democratic Party, pre-emptively seizing the national spotlight months before he took office as mayor of New York City. That spotlight will fall directly on Mr. Adams on Thursday, as he hosts President Biden for a summit on public safety.For Mr. Adams, the moment marks a high-profile opportunity to press for federal assistance in combating gun violence, following a spike in shootings — including the recent killing of two on-duty police officers — that has alarmed many New Yorkers.But for President Biden and other national Democrats, the trip has more sweeping political implications. It comes as Mr. Biden faces pressure to deliver on police reforms, while simultaneously confronting Republican efforts to caricature his party as weak on handling crime — all during a midterm election environment that already appears brutally challenging for Democrats.Hours before the president’s visit, the Biden administration on Thursday morning directed every U.S. attorney’s office in the country to increase resources to bolster efforts to combat violent crime at the local level, singling out New York City’s gun violence partnership as one example of effective collaboration. The Justice Department also launched a new program to train prosecutors pursuing charges against so-called ghost guns, firearms that are easily assembled from kits but are not regulated by federal gun laws.The president’s trip is viewed by some in the White House as a chance to show that Mr. Biden grasps the urgency of responding to violent crime, according to current and former administration officials.Some Democrats say Mr. Biden’s decision to spend the day with Mr. Adams, a former police captain who has battled police brutality, as well as Gov. Kathy Hochul, will accentuate that message, even as others have warned against elevating heavy-handed policing tactics. “I’m very happy that President Biden understands how important it is to stand with the mayor of New York City right now, and with Americans all across the country who feel that public safety is a top concern,” said Representative Kathleen Rice, a Democrat from Long Island. Her party recently sustained staggering losses on her home turf as Republicans hammered on potent, if sometimes misleading, arguments about crime.Many national Democrats say Mr. Adams offers a template for connecting with voters who are concerned about both crime and curbing police misconduct. Whether that enthusiasm lasts will ultimately hinge on how he governs, and the mayor has already faced several prominent controversies, including over his hiring decisions.For now, he appears to be forging a symbiotic relationship with Mr. Biden, with whom Mr. Adams said he has spoken four times since winning the primary last summer.They are, as the president might say, simpatico in some of their relatively moderate political instincts. Their campaigns were powered by multiracial coalitions of working-class voters. And as Mr. Biden faces sinking approval ratings and a languishing legislative agenda, Mr. Adams has exuded warmth, referring to the president as “my dude.”On the campaign trail, they both rejected the “defund the police” movement while pledging reforms of the criminal justice system.“To have a very radically practical way of dealing with gun violence as we deal with police reform, I think it’s an important message for the entire country, and I think the president shares that,” Mr. Adams said in an interview. “We had a real focus on reform of the criminal justice system, but while we were doing that reform, we took our eyes off the public safety ball.”Mr. Biden — who spoke at a 2014 funeral for a New York police officer — has long prided himself on connecting with both law enforcement officials and communities that fear police violence. Like Mr. Adams, he does not see the considerations of those constituencies as mutually exclusive. David Axelrod, the veteran Democratic strategist, noted that communities affected by excessive force are also worried about violent crime.“There’s a real concern in these communities, and Adams is speaking to that,” he said. “During the campaign those supporters were Biden’s strongest supporters.”But in office, both executives have repeatedly been tested by harsh governing and political realities on these issues. Certainly, gun violence and homicide rates in New York and nationally are far lower than the totals of the early 1990s, and national polls show that while many Americans are deeply concerned about rising crime rates, other issues are more pressing.Still, gun violence is up significantly amid the pandemic, and nowhere have the challenges of public safety been clearer recently than in New York City, where Mr. Adams recently unveiledBy: Katie Glueck and Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Title: For Biden and Adams, a Meeting of Like Minds on Gun Crime
Sourced From: www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/nyregion/adams-biden-crime.html
Published Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2022 10:00:18 +0000
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