RAPID CITY, S.D. – Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender was one of seven community leaders from across the nation invited to join in a discussion at the White House with President Joe Biden to discuss gun violence Wednesday.
During the pandemic, officials say that the United States saw a 30-percent uptick in homicides, while gun assaults rose by eight percent.
Mayor Allender says he’s honored to have been a part of the discussion, and he believes that Rapid City’s crime prevention efforts have received national attention.
Still, he says Rapid City shares a common problem with the rest of America, and that solutions should include recruiting law enforcement, while also getting the right community resources in place.
Allender says that he’s looking forward to coming up with a strategy that he and the six other community leaders attending can agree on.
