LANSING, Mich — Lansing City Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday night supporting state legislation that could bring millions in funding to improve public safety in the community.
The resolution supports House Bills 4260 and 4261, which would provide municipalities with dedicated funding for public safety initiatives. If passed, Lansing would receive approximately $3.5 million annually.
The push for additional funding comes as the community continues to grapple with gun violence, including the tragic death of 16-year-old Darrell Smith III, who was gunned down in April 2021.
"He went to go meet somebody, the guy pulled a gun on him and tried to rob him," a family member said shortly after the tragedy.
Smith's death deeply impacted the neighborhood and motivated residents like DeLissa Fountain to get involved in violence prevention efforts. Fountain, who works for the city of Lansing, also volunteers her time to combat crime.
"I serve on the Lansing Empowerment Network - and I am on the mayor's gun violence task force," Fountain said.
Both groups work to improve public safety in Lansing, though advocates say more work needs to be done.
"To have this flowing to us from state appropriate funds that's exciting cuz now we could push it out to where it needs to go to help the community," Fountain said.
If the state bills pass, the $3.5 million would fund Lansing's neighborhood violence prevention program, expand gun violence prevention efforts, and hire 10 additional police officers.
"It's important to have those additional officers on the street, because we have seen too many lives lost this year because of preventable traffic issues and other neighborhood issues," Fountain said.
"We have to keep our neighbors safe."
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor expressed strong support for the legislation in a statement.
"As Chair of the Urban Core Mayors, I worked with other Mayors and legislators to craft this proposal and have long been a strong proponent of the state legislature passing the Public Safety Revenue Sharing bills," Schor said.
"I greatly appreciate the Lansing City Council weighing in on these bills to continue to prioritize funding public safety and violence reduction."
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