6 17 13 Mayor's Statement regarding recent violence
As Mayor and on behalf of my City Council colleagues, as well as
City staff, I am taking this opportunity to address concerns in our
community related to several related incidents of violence last
week.
To begin, I want to emphasize that we, as a local government and
as a community, will not tolerate acts of violence or criminal
behavior and I want to acknowledge the excellent work of our
Police Department and partner agencies in their immediate
response to these incidents as well as their subsequent
investigation work. In each case, our Police have been
immediately on the scene; even continuing the pursuit while they
themselves were under fire. Immediate arrests were made when
possible and diligent investigative work has resulted in over a
dozen arrests having been made with more possible.
Actions speak louder than words and these actions say it loudly
and clearly . . . we will not allow the public safety of our
community to be compromised. We will respond quickly and
decisively within the law and without violating individual rights. I
encourage anyone with information related recent events, or
others, that might assist our law enforcement professionals in
their efforts, to please come forward and share that information so
that the individuals responsible are held accountable for their
actions.
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Secondly, Dubuque is a community that cares about safety for all
community members and while we abhor the reckless violence
demonstrated last week, we also abhor any actions in response
by those who would attempt to harass or intimidate others as a
reaction to their anger or frustration over the violence. This
behavior only risks escalation of violence and creates fear. Bad
behavior, whether it is criminal acts or acts of intimidation, are the
acts of individuals and should be responded to on an individual
basis rather than attempting to denigrate whole groups.
No community can prevent every criminal act and government
alone cannot dictate what kind of community we want to be. That
is up to each individual in their groups and neighborhoods to
decide to behave respectfully toward each other and their
community.
In closing, I assure you, the residents of Dubuque, that your local
government makes public safety a TOP priority for ALL residents.
We will continue to diligently work to insure that we enjoy the high
quality of life that makes Dubuque the special place it is, not only
today, but for our children, our grandchildren, and future
generations. We are committed to your safety and I urge each of
you to be responsible community members in your actions and in
your words. Together, we will succeed in responding to the
challenges we face. Thank you
.
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