By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Mayor Tom McNamara will deliver his sixth State of the City address next week, in which he highlights the city’s accomplishments and details his administration’s next steps to addressing the issues Rockford faces.
Last year, McNamara dedicated about a third of his speech to issues of public safety, which he has long described as the city’s No. 1 priority. He also discussed property taxes, economic development initiatives, capital improvements and other programs.
“We’ll be addressing some of the things that we think went really well throughout 2022 and the beginning here of this year, as well as talking about some of the challenges that we as a city and a community face,” McNamara said of this year’s speech.
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McNamara said a year ago that reducing crime requires a holistic approach that involves parents, police, prosecutors and judges, nonprofit service organizations, schools and the community as a whole. He touted programs the city introduced to intervene in the lives of young people who have experienced trauma at home, something police have seen is a precursor to future crime.
McNamara said he will continue to stress a dualistic approach to crime that both invests in enforcement and prevention.
“We are investing heavily into the enforcement,” he said on This Week in the Stateline. “If you commit a violent crime, you need to be caught and held accountable.”
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He said the city is also millions into intervention and prevention.
Through April this year, violent crime is down 16%, property crime is down 9% and shots fired are down 29%, according to police data. However, violent crime related to domestic violence is up more than 5%.
“It’s starting to show signs of progress but we have a long way to go,” McNamara said.
If you go | State of the City
Where: Rockford City Hall
When: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 30
Online: You can watch live through the City Council meeting portal here
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter @KevinMHaas.