Dallas Mayor Dallas Johnson was appointed to the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, the mayor’s office announced Sunday.
According to the commission, its mission is to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the justice system, develop strategies to limit future outbreaks, and produce a priority agenda of systemic policy changes to better balance public health and public safety.
Johnson is the lone mayor of the Commission, led by former U.S. Attorneys General Loretta Lynch and Alberto Gonzalez.
“I am honored to have been asked to join this diverse and diverse group as we analyze and discuss solutions to two of the biggest problems facing our country,” Johnson said in a statement. . “We have critical work for us to keep the public safe, build balance, and address systemic racial issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has shocked Dallas and created a major emergency in our communities. I look forward to continuing our discussions and moving Dallas forward. “
The Council on Criminal Justice launched the commission in July, and Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez is the only other Texan on the county commission.
The commission will have its second meeting this week, Johnson said, and it recently released two reports, analyzing crime trends during the COVID-19 pandemic and state and local budgets.
In one of the reports titled COVID-19 and Crime, Dallas was one of the 27 cities whose crime trends were analyzed. The report found that drug and drug crime rates dropped significantly during stay-at-home mandates, but that rates of violent crime began to increase in May.
You can read the report here and find more information about the commission here.
.
