New York City's violent crime rates have reach new highs and Mayor Eric Adams (D) recently had a one-on-one meeting with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) to discuss ways to confront the crime wave.
WTTW reported Adams met with Lightfoot for about 40 minutes last Friday as Chicago is also experiencing a wave in violent crime.
“I know we are going to be great partners in the work we are all doing to make sure our residents can live safe and vibrant lives,” Lightfoot said during a press conference after the meeting.
Adams told reporters Lightfoot "clearly understands it is the combination of prevention and the intervention" that is needed to stop crime.
"We have to turn off the faucet that is continually feeding the river of violence in our cities,” Adams continued. "There is a tint of racism to this."
"We’ve got to do more to make sure that we intervene in a proactive way to provide support and love to these young people at the earliest possible stage in life,” Lightfoot said.
Adams added New York City will be looking at duplicating Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown's idea of no longer requiring prospective police officers to have 60 hours of college credit, with both Adams and Lightfoot pledging to reform their police departments.
According to the Chicago Tribune, 112 people have been killed so far in 2022. It is the around the same number of people who were killed at this point last year. In 2021, a total of 797 people were murdered, which was 25 more than in 2020.
The New York Police Department has reported 86 murders so far in 2022, two fewer than at this time last year. In 2021, there were 488 murders in the city.