WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Inside the Luzerne County courthouse, Governor Josh Shapiro was joined by Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis, state legislators, county and local leaders as well as gun violence advocates to speak about his administration's focus on public safety.
"We're here to take back our communities, to say that we are here to make sure that our communities are safer," said Shapiro.
Law enforcement officials in Luzerne County expressed how important this issue is for our area.
"We're seeing an exceptional amount of gang violence more than ever before in Northeast Pennsylvania. We're infiltrated by various gangs, you know, the major divisions of gangs, but also their tiny subsets that have now exposed gun violence as far north as Scranton beyond our county lines and as far south along the 81 corridor as Hazleton," said Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce.
He and other law enforcement officials are pleased to know that the increase is not lost on the folks in Harrisburg.
"That Luzerne County and all of Northeast PA is front and center on the governor's radar," added Sanguedolce.
The governor hopes to invest 100 million dollars into reducing gun violence, with 37.5 million of those dollars specifically for "resources into gun violence investigation and prosecution here in Pennsylvania. So local law enforcement can increase their clearance rates and get truly dangerous criminals off our streets," explained Lt. Governor Austin Davis.
Something the governor says everyone can agree on.
"The DA referenced that he's a republican standing with Democrats. This is a community that knows how to come together to get stuff done, which is the mantra of our administration and the way of life here in Luzerne County. And so I want to thank you all for leading by example, all across Pennsylvania," said Shapiro.
The Governor says in addition to public safety, his focus for this year's budget also includes investments in economic development and education in the Commonwealth. A state budget is supposed to be in place by the end of June.