Crime prevention means investing in more than just police departments

As a retired police lieutenant who spent more than two decades walking the beat, investigating major crimes, and partnering with communities on public safety, my career taught me an important lesson: Law enforcement cannot do the job alone.

That’s why I was dismayed—and frankly, alarmed—by the Trump administration’s recent executive order halting federal funding to hundreds of community-based organizations working on violence prevention, victim services, reentry support, and youth development.