Biden to file application for $37 billion funding for crime prevention

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to present plans on Thursday to ask Congress for $37 billion for crime prevention programs as he seeks to address one of the top concerns Americans have ahead of congressional elections in New York. November.

Biden will outline details of his Safer America Plan on a visit to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The $37 billion will be included in its budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2023, which begins October 1.

Its plans include $13 billion over the next five years to hire and train 100,000 more police officers, a White House fact sheet said.

Biden rejected an initiative by some progressive Democrats to “defund the police.” Polls show that Americans consider crime one of the top challenges facing the country, and Biden is trying to support Democrats in what is expected to be midterm elections held in November that will determine whether they remain in control of Congress.

Biden would spend $3 billion to help communities clear court backlogs and create task forces to share intelligence with the aim of reducing gun violence. His plan would also impose tougher penalties for trafficking fentanyl amid a drug overdose epidemic.

To combat organized retail theft, the plan calls for Congress to pass legislation to require online marketplaces like Amazon to verify information from third-party sellers and impose liability on online marketplaces for selling stolen goods on their platforms.

Biden’s plan sets out a $15 billion grant program called the Accelerating Justice System Reform, which cities and states could use over the next 10 years to pursue strategies to prevent crime. violence and lighten the police burden by identifying nonviolent situations that may merit a public investigation, the White House said.