LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive directive Tuesday instructing state departments and law enforcement agencies to utilize federal resources to help reduce crime and gun violence.
The federal resources are coming from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden last month.
According to a news release from the governor's office, the directive follows a roundtable discussion Whitmer had with law enforcement members, parents, students and faith leaders about how to stop gun violence and other violent crimes.
“As a former prosecutor, public safety is a top priority for me,” said Gov. Whitmer in the release. “But today, far too many families in Michigan do not feel safe in their neighborhoods because of crime and gun violence. That is unacceptable—we must stop the violence and hold people accountable. We need to tackle both crime and gun violence simultaneously because they are inextricably linked—nearly 1 in 3 reported violent crimes involve a firearm and in the first six months of this year alone, over 450 Michiganders have died because of gun violence.That’s why I worked to give law enforcement the resources they need in my bipartisan budget. And thanks to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, we have access to unprecedented federal resources that will help us keep Michiganders safe as they go to work, drop their kids off at school, or run errands in their neighborhoods. Let’s work together to protect public safety and reduce crime and gun violence.”
The directive instructs all departments and agencies to identify a person to coordinate across state government within 30 days. It also instructs the Michigan State Police to explore ways to improve the reporting process for criminal, mental health and juvenile records to national crime databases.
The directive also says that the Michigan State Police will have to create a Community Violence Intervention Office to coordinate the "state and federal grants related to community violence intervention programming," according to the release.
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