Biden meets with San Jose mayor over crime

Washington, D.C. - San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo met with President Biden at the White House on Monday to discuss ways to crack down on gun violence.

"It was a very robust meeting," Liccardo said after emerging from the meeting in the Roosevelt Room.

"The president is genuinely engaged with local communities, trying to understand what's happening on the ground and looking proactively for partnerships that will enable us all to reduce gun violence," the mayor said.

The meeting happened less than two months after the deadly mass shooting at a VTA railyard in San Jose. 

"It's clear that creative leaders you see standing around me have been leading innovative efforts to tackle violence in their own communities," said Liccardo, flanked outside the White House by other mayors and city leaders.

San Jose has approved sweeping gun-control measures, including requiring gun buyers to buy liability insurance and require gun sales to be recorded on video.

For the president, what he wanted from the mayors was simple: "Hear directly from each of them about reducing violent crime, particularly gun violence in our communities," Biden said.

The president he was concerned with "stemming the flow of firearms used to commit violent crimes."

Biden said his plan includes federal funding for law enforcement, "to be able to hire police and pay them overtime in order to advance community policing."

But he said intervention and social services are another part of his plan, providing housing, job support and mental health-and drug treatment to help steer those away from violence. 

"We utilize trusted community members and encourage more community policing, we can intervene before the violence erupts," the president said.

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House principal deputy press secretary said, "This surge and rise of crime these last 18 months is unacceptable, and so what the government has done, the federal government has done is come up with a holistic, whole-of-government approach."