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Posts tagged as “Ron Davis”

Attorney General Eric Holder Announces $124 Million Community Police Hiring Grant

By goodblacknews on September 30, 2014
Eric Holder police

Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured) announced on Monday a $124 million hiring grant in the latest of the Justice Department’s goal to improve the quality of police forces nationwide. Alongside Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Director Ron Davis, the pair enacted the grant in support of strengthening community policing.The grant will fund around 950 officers at 215 law enforcement agencies across the nation. The grant money is especially focused on three key areas: increasing community policing; bolstering crime reduction; and increasing public safety.
Both Holder and Davis issued statements regarding the grant, detailing the finer points and emphasizing its grand goal of supporting officers already in place in these communities as well as new hires by way of securing salary and crime reduction efforts.
From Attorney General Holder:

“These targeted investments will help to address acute needs – such as high rates of violent crime – funding 75 percent of the salary and benefits of every newly-hired or re-hired officer for three full years,” said Attorney General Holder. “The impact of this critical support will extend far beyond the creation and preservation of law enforcement jobs. It will strengthen relationships between these officers and the communities they serve, improve public safety and keep law enforcement officers on the beat.”

From Director Davis:

“The COPS Office is pleased to assist local law enforcement agencies throughout the country in addressing their most critical public safety issues,” said Director Davis. “Funding from this year’s program will allow many cities and counties to focus newly sworn personnel on issues related to violent crime, property crime and school safety.”

Referred to as the COPS Hiring Program, the grants will be awarded to state, local, and also tribal law enforcement agencies to hire or rehire from within the communities they serve. As explained by Holder, up to 75 percent of the entry-level salaries and basic benefits of full-time officers will be funded over a period of 36 months. The local agencies must match a minimum of 25 percent local funds with the federal maximum of funding capped at $125,000 per officer.
Grant award recipients for the 2014 portion of the program were selected for plans they submitted regarding strategies, exhibiting a financial need, and the rates of violent crimes in their communities.
COPS has provided funds to more than 125,000 officers serving 13,000 national agencies to date. It has also funded several organizations over the years with more than 700,000 people receiving training via its programs. Those individuals include government leaders, community organizers, and police officials among others. The COPS program is in its 20th year, providing more than $14 billion in hiring efforts among national agencies.
Learn more about the COPS Hiring Program here.
article by D.L. Chandler via newsone.com

Trayvon Martin’s Parents Stand By Jordan Davis’ Parents

By goodblacknews on February 16, 2014

Jordan Davis trayvon martin
If anyone understands the pain that Jordan Davis’ parents are feeling at this moment, it’s Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. The parents of Trayvon Martin offered their support to Lucia McBath and Ron Davis this weekend, who heard Michael Dunn’s verdict on the eve of what would have been their son’s 19th birthday.  In a statement, Sybrina and Tracy said that this case is “yet another reminder that in Florida, racial profiling and stereotypes” may serve as the basis for illegitimate fear “and the shooting and killing of young teenagers.”
Dunn, a 47-year-old software developer, fired 10 rounds at a SUV carrying four teens in a Jacksonville gas station parking lot after an altercation over loud rap music. On Saturday, a jury found him guilty on three counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of shooting a deadly missile into a vehicle. However, the 12 jurors could not reach a decision on the top count of first-degree murder — meaning he was not convicted for three of the 10 shots that hit 17-year-old Davis and ultimately cost his life.
Although the jury did not convict her son’s killer of premeditated murder, Lucia McBath still expressed gratitude for the verdict. “We are so grateful for the truth,” she said. “We are so grateful that the jurors were able to understand the common sense of it all.”  “[Dunn] is going to learn that he must be remorseful for the killing of my son,” father Ron Davis said at the post-trial press conference, “it was not just another day at the office.”
article by Myeisha Essex via hellobeautiful.com

Jordan Davis’ Parents Speak: Our Son Will Not Die In Vain

By goodblacknews on July 16, 2013

Jordan Davis

As killer Michael Dunn, 45, prepares to face 1st-degree murder charges in September for the November 23, 2012 slaying of 17-year-old Jordan Davis, in an exclusive interview with Jet Magazine, the teen’s parents, Ron Davis and Lucia McBath, share the difficulties in keeping their son’s story alive and how they’ve bonded with Trayvon Martin‘s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin.
RELATED: Jordan Davis Killer’s Charges Upgraded To First-Degree Murder, Faces Life Without Parole
As previously reported by NewsOne, Davis was gunned down by Dunn at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida.  As previously reported by NewsOne, Dunn claims that he felt threatened by the teen — who was sitting inside of an SUV with friends — and loud music coming from the vehicle, so he shot inside of it 8 or 9 times before driving away leaving Davis to die in a friend’s arms.
None of the teens had weapons.
The fact that Dunn was carrying a legal concealed weapon, and is counting on Florida’s controversial ‘Stand Your Ground’ law to justify his actions, has drawn attention to the racial implications of the law in a state where Black manhood is consistently criminalized.