Stopping Crime“We need to put our faith and trust in the people on the frontlines – and back it up with real resources. We need to make sure first defenders have the gear and support they need, and the benefits and protections they’ve earned. With new technology and ingenuity, by doing more to sustain our first defenders and calling on Americans to do more for their country, we can make our country stronger, safer, and more secure.” John Kerry, March 18, 2003
John Kerry is a former prosecutor for one of the country’s largest counties. He personally prosecuted armed robbers, rapists and mob bosses. He learned firsthand the importance of putting resources in the community so that tough laws lead to arrests and convictions. In the United States Senate, he was an early advocate of laws that cracked down on international drug dealers and money laundering and he wrote the Community Oriented Policing System Act which dedicated federal resources to hiring and deploying thousands of cops-on-the-beat throughout the country. Kerry has continued the fight to providing real Homeland Security.
Protecting Police, Not Special Interests
Standing with Law Enforcement to Keep New Hampshire Safe John Kerry proposals to protect police and protect communities includes strengthening the assault weapons ban, restoring funding to COPS program, improving information sharing among law enforcement agencies, addressing prescription drug abuse, and supporting neighborhood prosecutor programs. Former Manchester Chief of Police Peter Favreau and Strafford County Attorney Janice Rundels announced their endorsement of Kerry at the event. They were joined by Beverly Bacon, Member of the Board of Directors of the New Hampshire Million Mom March and Lenore Patton, Member of the New Hampshire Million Mom March.
Priorities Fighting to Reauthorize and Strengthen the Assault Weapons Ban
John Kerry stood up to the gun lobby to pass the assault weapons ban and the Brady Bill. This assault weapons law is soon set to expire under George W. Bush. We need a President who will fight to keep assault weapons off our streets and out of our communities. John Kerry has the courage to stand up to the NRA, one of the most powerful special interests in the country, which is fighting tooth and nail against reasonable gun safety protections and against renewal of the assault weapon ban. One in five law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty were killed with assault weapons. John Kerry stands with law enforcement officers, who put their lives on the line every day, in making sure they are not outgunned by criminals armed with these weapons of war. Kerry believes that we can support the right to own guns and support common sense gun safety protections. He believes that the NRA leadership is out of step with most law abiding gun owners who support reasonable measures to keep guns out of the wrong hands and weapons of war off our streets.
Ending the Cop Crunch Even before 9/11, many cities were having trouble recruiting police officers as fast as they were losing them. George W. Bush made this problem even worse by slashing funding for the Federal Community Oriented Policing Program by 80 percent. As a result, police officers receive fewer resources at the same time they are doubling up on duty, doing their normal responsibilities as well as focusing on homeland security. John Kerry has been a leading supporter of the COPS program and offered the original amendment to expand the program to place 100,000 police officers in community policing assignments. Americans shouldn't have to face rising crime in their communities to fight the war on terrorism. John Kerry believes we should restore funding to the COPS program and that we should also develop appropriate standards for preparedness in our cities and provide resources so communities can meet these goals.
Sharing Intelligence Information to Protect the Homeland John Kerry believes that appropriate state and local authorities should immediately get access to the 58 national terrorist lists and intelligence officials should work to simplify these lists. Then a 24-hour operations center should be established in each state to provide a real time intergovernmental link between local and federal law enforcement. Field-level police would contact this center to determine whether to hold or release suspects based on a check of federal databases.
Keeping Drugs Out of Our Communities John Kerry understands the fears that parents and teachers have about the disturbing new wave of drug use – particularly Oxycontin and heroin -- in New Hampshire. Smaller communities often lack sufficient support for law enforcement to combat drug trafficking and drug abuse. New Hampshire’s heroin treatment admissions statewide increased more than 100 percent from 1996 to 2000, and nearly half of the 31 drug-related deaths two years ago involved heroin and morphine, with victims as young as 18. Diverted pharmaceuticals, Oxycontin in particular, are an emerging threat in New Hampshire. The number of Americans who regularly abuse prescription drugs was estimated at 1.6 million in 1998; today, that estimate is 9 million. Four of the New England States, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut are ranked within the top 10 states for the number of Oxycontin prescriptions written per 100,000 people.
To help tackle the problem of diverting prescription drugs, John Kerry will work to support an electronic prescription monitoring program that will provide medical licensing boards and law enforcement agencies the tools they need to address prescription drug abuse. Kerry will also work to identify individuals who are “doctor shopping” and reduce the amount of prescription drugs obtained through those practices. Kerry will also provide funding for coordinated regional efforts aimed at cracking down on drug trafficking.
Support for Neighborhood Prosecutor Programs John Kerry will also bring prosecutors into high-crime neighborhoods to identify crimes. Kerry’s neighborhood prosecutor program will assign prosecutors to specific communities where they work closely with residents to combat crimes that have a detrimental effect on quality of life, like drug activity, noise violations, vandalism, and loitering. The prosecutors’ offices are located in the neighborhoods they are assigned and they regularly attend community meetings to solicit input. This interaction allows prosecutors to build meaningful and productive relationships with the citizens they serve and to collaboratively pursue solutions to public safety issues.
Kerry Stands Up to NRA's Divisive Agenda in Letter to Blacklisted AmericansOctober 30, 2003
For Immediate Release
Washington, DC -
Democratic candidate for President John Kerry wrote a letter to the hundreds of individuals, celebrities, authors, religious organizations, and businesses blacklisted by the NRA, to join him in standing up to the divisive agenda of the gun lobby and standing up for gun safety.
In a letter to the many prominent Americans put on the NRA’s publicly advertised “anti-gun” list, Kerry said, “The NRA’s blacklist is the modern day equivalent of Richard Nixon’s enemies list. This blacklist is precisely the politics of division and distortion that have turned too many people away from participating in the process. We can’t let the NRA scare people into silence. I know what it’s like to be targeted by the NRA, and I refuse to sit idly by during my campaign for the presidency while they push their divisive agenda on America and slander those who stand up for gun safety.”
Kerry also promised to continue his fight for gun safety during his campaign for the presidency: “Why should those on the NRA blacklist courageously risk their livelihoods when Democratic candidates for President aren’t willing to stand up against powerful interests and risk their political capital? I believe that standing up for gun safety is important, and I refuse to be a candidate who retreats from the issue out of political fear or one who tries to have it both ways. I’m a hunter and a gun owner, but I’ve never gone hunting with an AK-47. I’ll stand up to the NRA when they call law enforcement officers ‘jackbooted thugs’ or stand in the way of common sense efforts to keep the most dangerous weapons out of the hands of felons and children. The Democratic Party will never be the choice of the NRA—and I’m not looking to be the candidate of the NRA.”
The full list of individuals being blacklisted by the NRA can be found on the website www.stopthenra.com The Kerry campaign is also asking Americans to sign the petition started by the Brady Campaign and the Million Mom march and join the NRA’s blacklist.
Here is an example of the letter:
October 30, 2003
Jerry Seinfeld
Shapira/West Associates
141 El Camino Drive, #205
Beverly Hills, 90212
Dear Jerry Seinfeld,
As I scanned the pages of the New York Times this morning, I couldn’t help but notice the new ads taken out by the Brady Campaign and the Million Mom March to stop the NRA’s assaults on mainstream American values. As you may know, the latest of these attacks features a blacklist with your name on it.
Though it is not surprising that the NRA would publicly advertise a 19-page list of individuals, celebrities, authors, religious organizations, and businesses it describes as “anti-gun,” it certainly is infuriating. The NRA’s blacklist is the modern day equivalent of Richard Nixon’s enemies list. This blacklist is precisely the politics of division and distortion that have turned too many people away from participating in the process. We can’t let the NRA scare people into silence.
I know what it’s like to be targeted by the NRA, and I refuse to sit idly by during my campaign for the presidency while they push their divisive agenda on America and slander those who stand up for gun safety.
Why should those on the NRA blacklist courageously risk their livelihoods when Democratic candidates for President aren’t willing to stand up against powerful interests and risk their political capital? I believe that standing up for gun safety is important, and I refuse to be a candidate who retreats from the issue out of political fear or one who tries to have it both ways. I’m a hunter and a gun owner, but I’ve never gone hunting with an AK-47. I’ll stand up to the NRA when they call law enforcement officers ‘jackbooted thugs’ or stand in the way of common sense efforts to keep the most dangerous weapons out of the hands of felons and children. The Democratic Party will never be the choice of the NRA—and I’m not looking to be the candidate of the NRA.
We can stand up for safety in America and keep guns out of the hands of children and felons and still respect the Second Amendment of our nation—and if the NRA wants to blacklist us for that position, then I am ready to wear it as a badge of honor.
If you share my feelings, I ask you to join me in my campaign for the presidency, as I stand up for the values we hold dear, and a politics that elevates—not denigrates—the public discourse in America.
Warm Regards,
John Kerry
Priorities
Support and Continue COPS Program John Kerry has been a leading supporter of the Community Oriented Policing program (COPS) and offered the amendment to expand the program to place 100,000 police officers in community policing assignments. He also supported the Police Corps program, which provides scholarships to students who earn their bachelor’s degrees, complete training, and serve for four years on patrol with law enforcement agencies in areas of great need.
Guaranteeing Homeland Security John Kerry has issued a detailed proposal for a new strategic direction in homeland security that includes:
1. enlisting the national guard and Americorps in homeland security efforts;
2. creating a community defense service;
3. ensuring that first defenders are equipped and ready;
4. bringing information technology to the war on terror;
5. reforming domestic intelligence;
6. implementing public health initiatives; and
7. improving security at our bridges, tunnels and private infrastructure.
Increased Gun Safety John Kerry is a gun owner and hunter, and he believes that law-abiding American adults have the right to own guns. But like all of our rights, gun rights come with responsibilities, and those rights allow for reasonable restrictions to keep guns out of the wrong hands. John Kerry strongly supports all of the federal gun laws on the books, and he would take steps to ensure that they are vigorously enforced, cracking down hard on the gun runners, corrupt dealers, straw buyers, and thieves that are putting guns into the hands of criminals in the first place. He will also close the gun show loophole, which is allowing criminals to get access to guns at gun shows without background checks, fix the background check system, which is in a serious state of disrepair, and require that all handguns be sold with a child safety lock.
Fighting Illegal Drugs In order to deal with the problem of illegal drugs in this country, efforts must be focused on keeping drugs out of the country and our communities, as well as reducing demand for illegal drugs. John Kerry supports aggressively targeting traffickers and dealers, as well as making a commitment to sufficiently fund drug prevention and treatment programs.
Fight Violent Crime Against Women John Kerry was an original cosponsor of the Violence Against Women Act, which has provided over $1 billion for battered women's shelters, hotlines, and other crucial resources. The Violence Against Women Act also significantly strengthened federal law by including several new federal crimes and enhanced penalties for acts of domestic violence. John Kerry will take this commitment to the White House and support those working to help crime victims and put attackers behind bars.
Crime Prevention "As a prosecutor I understand the tools needed by the criminal justice system to address crime. But as a prosecutor I also found myself repeatedly incarcerating teenagers who had committed crimes. I found that too often young people were letdown and neglected by the adults in their lives. Often young offenders had not gotten the support they needed – such as caring adults in their lives, a good education, safe affordable housing, after school programs, or opportunities to belong to something positive.
I learned through my involvement in the YouthBuild program that for many of the teenagers who had fallen off the edge of society it was not too late. They still wanted to lead a positive life. They still needed to find a pathway where adults cared about them, offered them skills, education, a positive peer group, a way to get free of their drug and alcohol habits, and something to belong to that opened doors to a decent future.
For these reasons I support a crime prevention system that provides adequate resources for the police and courts to deal with criminals and also provides adequate resources to raise healthy children and to reclaim the young adults who slipped off the edge due to adult neglect, but who are still craving a better life.
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/crime/
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