May 24, 2022
City Council
DATE: May 24, 2022
TO: Mayor Butt and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Councilmember Demnlus Johnson
Subject:
Resolution Declaring the First Friday in June as Gun
Violence Awareness Day
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact related to this item.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
n/a
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Every day, more than 110 Americans are killed by gun
violence, alongside more than 200 who are shot and
wounded, and on average there are nearly 16,000-gun
homicides every year.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a resolution declaring the first Friday in the
month of June as Gun Violence Awareness Day in the
City of Richmond – Councilmember Demnlus Johnson
(510-620-6568).
DISCUSSION:
Americans are 26 times more likely to die by gun homicide than people in other high- income countries. California has 3,160-gun deaths every year, with a rate of 7.8 deaths per 100,000 people. California has the 45th highest rate of gun deaths in the US.
Gun homicides and assaults are concentrated in cities, with more than half of all firearm related gun deaths in the nation occurring in 127 cities. There are cities across the AGENDA
REPORT
May 24, 2022
nation, including Richmond where municipalities and communities are working to end the senseless violence with evidence-based solutions.
The City of Richmond has implemented many strategies to combat and reduce gun violence in our city. Most recently, the City Council established the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force to explore alternatives to the Richmond Police Department responding to every 911 call.
The Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS) was created in 2007 and is responsible for building partnerships and strategies that produce sustained reductions in firearm assaults and related retaliations and deaths in Richmond.
Gun Violence Awareness Day was created due to the tragic death of Hadiya Pendleton, who was a 15-year-old teenager in Chicago in January 2013. On June 3, 2022, to recognize the 25th birthday of Hadiya Pendleton (born: June 2, 1997), people across the United States will recognize National Gun Violence Awareness Day and wear orange in tribute to Hadiya and the thousands of others that have been killed due to gun violence.
The idea was inspired by a group of Hadiya’s friends, who asked their classmates to commemorate her life by wearing orange; they chose this color because hunters wear orange to announce themselves to other hunters when out in the woods and orange is a color that symbolizes the value of human life. Anyone can join this campaign by pledging to wear orange on June 3rd, the first Friday in June in 2022, to help raise awareness about gun violence.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution