Mayor Johnson Goes Online To Discuss Dallas' Public Safety Issues

DALLAS, TX — Thursday, Mayor Eric Johnson took to the internet to lay out several city public safety initiatives in a guest column for RealClearPolicy.

As urban centers across the country grapple with BLM, defunding the police, and rethinking the way law enforcers do their jobs, Johnson writes about alternatives.

Instead of considering stripping funding from police departments for other programs in the face of increases in violent crime, the mayor believes that local leaders across the country could benefit from implementing such solutions the ones he's already identified for Dallas — including RIGHT Care, Dallas Works and other programs recommended by his Task Force on Safe Communities.

"Cities and states can implement programs now that provide for equity, improve policing, and make us less reliant on law enforcement to solve every social ill," Johnson writes.

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Principles endorsed by the mayor include:

• Demanding and developing crime reduction plans.
• Offering competitive pay for police.
• Improving accountability measures.
• Expanding training for police officers.
• Addressing environmental factors that cause crime.
• Providing counseling services, early and often.
• Handling mental health calls "the right way."
• Creating and expanding existing summer jobs programs.

"Now is the time to take action in a comprehensive way," Johnson opines. "Violent crime is up across the country, and underserved communities and minorities are disproportionately the victims. They deserve safety and justice."

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