Opening Statement of Councilmember David Grosso

Committee on Judiciary & Public Safety FY2019 Performance Oversight Hearing on

Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, Comprehensive Homicide
Elimination Strategy Task Force, and the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and
Justice
January 9, 2020

It is often challenging to attend performance oversight hearings because of scheduling

conflicts, but I wanted to be sure to join you today because of the incredible frustration that I
have with the rate of shootings and killings in our communities.

I know I share the feelings of many residents and my colleagues who are outraged about this
violence. As Chairperson of the Committee on Education, I regularly hear from school
communities about how violence, and gun violence in particular, affects the safety and
learning of families and students. A dozen children were killed last year, but every murder,
every shooting hurts a community, causes trauma, and undermines our well-being.

As I stated at the hearing in September on gun trafficking, we need to lift up the voices of the
youth of our city who are all too familiar with violence and we need to engage with them as
partners in creating solutions.

The Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, the Homicide Elimination Task Force, and the
Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement all have important roles to play in stopping
violence. I can’t stay for the entire hearing, but I hope to get some questions into the
government witnesses and hear from the public. My staff will be here and brief me later on
anything I miss.

While we should never sensationalize or overhype violence, I do think that we need to have a
greater sense of urgency in stopping the bloodshed. The shootings, stabbings, and killings are
not acceptable, they are not normal, and we have to stop them.

Thank you again to everyone who has come out to testify, I look forward to the conversation.

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