Former Detroit police chief Isaiah McKinnon said Monday it is critical for police officers to engage with their local communities to foster trust and combat violence.
“I can tell you from personal experience, walking a beat, interacting with the people of the community, they actually saved my life,” McKinnon told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith.” “They told me, ‘There is going to be someone who is going to try to kill you tonight.’ We were able to make a lock-up.”
There has been a surge in gun violence across the U.S. recently. There were 11 mass shootings with eight people killed and 49 injured this weekend alone, according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive.
McKinnon said the fallout from Covid and fear of the unknown have further complicated interactions with police and contributed to the uptick in violence across the country.
President Joe Biden is planning to address the nation Wednesday on how his administration is responding to the crime spike. McKinnon told host Shepard Smith he thinks Biden should focus on mental health issues.
“Let’s look at those people who have serious mental health problems and what should be done to help them,” said McKinnon, a CNBC contributor. “By having either officers or other people respond with officers in those kinds of situations, it will hopefully alleviate some of the problems that they’ve had.”
