Mayor Vi Lyles: Let’s grieve police shootings and take action against gun violence. | Opinion
Once again, our city is heartbroken as we mourn the senseless loss of four law enforcement officers. Our immediate duty is to stand with the families of those lost, through prayer, through personal support for their families, and any other means we can.
We also must stand with the four other injured officers and their families as they heal from this horrific attack. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Foundation has received numerous donations to help support the families of those who have bravely risked or given their all to protect us.
I want to express my profound gratitude to all of the heroes who ran bravely toward danger instead of away from it — the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers, firefighters, medics as well as the hospital staff who acted swiftly and courageously to save lives amid the chaos. Our city’s first responders and medical personnel define what it means to be a public servant working for the greater good. You make all of us proud to be Charlotteans.
Today I grieve with our great city and the families impacted by the murder and wounding of our finest protectors. Yes, Charlotte is strong. So, let’s use that strength to take action for change, to find the courage to reduce gun violence in our community. Our law enforcement officers and their families are counting on it. Our children and our future are counting on it.
We cannot only be strong; we must resolve to remove the barriers we have faced and create the change that brings us a safer Charlotte. Five years ago this week, we lost students in another senseless act of violence on the campus of our beloved UNC Charlotte. We must ask ourselves, are we resolved to change or are we just moving from mourning to mourning? We cannot only be strong; we must be resolved. We must change.
As your mayor, a mother and a grandmother, let me say that lighting our buildings to honor the fallen is a symbolic and important step. Rallying to support the families must be done. Supporting the healthcare workers who responded to our heroes is essential. However, the only true and lasting memorial to the fallen and wounded will be policy change that prevents these kinds of tragedies from happening to our law enforcement officers in the future.
They deserve more from us — and we all deserve to live our lives in safety and peace in our country.
We must allow our law enforcement officers time and space to process the extreme trauma they experienced. The violence they witnessed, the lives lost, can leave deep emotional scars. We will make every counseling and mental health resource available to them to cope with this tragedy. Their well-being is of paramount importance.
I know, in the days ahead, as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department continues its investigations, there will be questions that demand answers. That process must be respected and allowed to unfold fully and transparently.
Our city is known for our resolve to do what we set our minds to. That’s how we have met the challenges of the past and how we build for our future. Countless people I speak to are sickened and exhausted by the culture of gun violence that exists in our city and that played out on our streets, in a local neighborhood, last Monday.
As we mourn those whom we have lost, we must find our collective resolve to do more to prevent gun violence. Our streets, our communities must be safe for all of us.
It is not enough to claim our strengths and persevere through this. Being strong does not solve the problem. Being strong enables us to take the necessary steps to get through this as a nation and as a country. Rather than just being strong, we must resolve to act so that this never happens again. And yet, we know it will happen again until we do something about it.
Vi Lyles is serving her fourth term as Charlotte’s mayor. She was first elected to the Charlotte City Council in 2013 as a council member.
