HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC Radio)—In response to two fatal shootings in Hartford last weekend, state legislators and violence prevention group leaders are calling on the Lamont Administration to increase funding for violence prevention programs across Connecticut.
While on the steps of the State Capitol on Wednesday, State Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport) and several other senators, Gary Winfield (D-New Haven, West Haven) Doug McCrory (D-Hartford) urged Governor Ned Lamont to provide more funding and resources to address gun violence.
"The funding needs to come from the federal government and the state. There needs to be an umbrella of community-based organizations who have proven to do the work to lead this," Moore said.
She points to organizations such as Project Longevity, the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program, the Compass Youth Collaborative, Hartford Communities that Care and others.
State Senator Gary Winfield (D-New Haven, West Haven) agreed, saying new policies must be implemented to ensure these violence prevention groups get the funding they need.
"The policy we should have is to allow those who do this work, because there are people who do this work and do it well--but they're not resourced enough; they're not big enough--to allow them to do the work," he said.
State Senator Gary Winfield speaks at a podium on the steps of the Capitol.Connecticut Senate Democrats Office
State Senator Doug McCrory (D-Hartford) said Connecticut should allocate incoming funds for these prevention efforts and specifically gear them towards local community groups.
"We have an obligation right now to put together a funding stream on these new dollars that will be coming to the state of Connecticut and make sure they're connected to the communities that need the work and the services the most," McCrory said.
According to Moore and other senators, a collaborative effort is needed along with the increased funding and resources to better the resources for Black and Brown communities which disproportionately suffer from gun violence.
State Senator Patricia Billie Miller (D-Darien, Stamford) says local organizations that know those communities best need the increase in funding to prevent actions that many urban residents are forced to take.
"You can't tell me that a child wakes up, grows up and thinks, 'Oh, I think I want to kill someone today,' 'Oh, I think I want to sell drugs.' They don't have a choice because we have forced them to do it by not giving them the resources that they need to be productive citizens," Miller said.
Last weekend, two separate shootings left a 3-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy dead in the city of Hartford which compelled the senators and local violence prevention groups to call for increased funding.
According to state officials, the Hartford Police Department reported a 54% increase in shooting incidents in fall 2020 compared to the same time period in 2019.
