President Joe Biden on Wednesday said the results of the previous day’s primary elections reflected a desire from the American public to take a harder stance on crime and gun violence and called on states and localities to spend funds allocated from the Covid-19 relief bill to bolster police departments.
“I think the voters sent a clear message last night: Both parties ought to step up and do something about crime, as well as gun violence,” Biden told reporters before boarding Air Force One to fly to Los Angeles.
The President continued: “The first major bill we passed, we gave the states and localities billions of dollars, billions of dollars, and encourage them to use it to hire police officers and reform their police departments. Very few have done it.”
“It’s time the states and the localities spend the money they have to deal with crime, as well as retrain police officers, as well as provide for more community policing. It’s time to get on with doing that. And that’s what I think the message last night from the American public was in all the primaries,” Biden said.
