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Norfolk, VA – Democratic nominee for Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones held a roundtable discussion on Monday with Roanoke city leaders, law enforcement, and faith leaders to hear firsthand about the city’s innovative strategies – including the RESET program – that have significantly helped reduce gun violence and save lives.
Jones praised Roanoke’s comprehensive, community-driven approach – which has cut shootings nearly in half compared to last year and achieved a clearance rate above the national average – emphasizing how he’ll work with law enforcement across the Commonwealth on similar efforts.
Read more about the event below.
Roanoke Times: Roanoke gun violence efforts could be useful across Virginia, AG candidate says
The Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general praised city leaders in Roanoke about ongoing efforts to curb gun violence during a roundtable event Monday morning.
Jones is a native of Norfolk who served two terms in the Virginia House of Delegates. He listened to city leaders, including Roanoke Police Chief Scott Booth and City Manager Valmarie Turner, who described programs that have helped reduce gun violence after a peak in 2023.
“What brought us to Roanoke was the creativity of what we’re seeing with all of the programs here. You’re seeing the community … elected officials … organizations come together,” Jones said. “We can make a real dent in this problem of gun violence if we can keep our eyes on the ball.”
In Roanoke, shootings were about halved in 2024 compared to the year prior. Gun violence statistics this year through September are about flat with the improvements made in 2024, according to data provided by the city police department.
“We have been very creative with how we use state and federal funding,” Booth said. “A lot of the programs that we’ve built here … we’ve done with jumpstarts from state and federal funding.”
Those include programs such as a new youth boxing gym to reach young people, and other services to provide adults with resources like gun locks, city staff said. Small outreach efforts can make an outsized difference in the community, they said.
Turner, the city manager, said not just law enforcement but other departments and community groups want to contribute. Persistent, consistent and collective efforts have shown results, city leaders at the table said.
Jones said he is interested scaling some gun violence prevention efforts from Roanoke to a statewide level.
“Everybody knows what everybody is doing,” Jones said. “The left hand knows what the right hand is doing, and are working together in an interlocking fabric that is trying to get this problem under control.”
WDBJ: AG candidate Jones holds violence roundtable in Roanoke
September 22, Democrat Jay Jones, a former state delegate, was in Roanoke holding a roundtable.
If elected, Jones says, he will make public safety a priority, touting his history working to get illegal guns off the streets and expanding background checks.
Jones says if he is chosen for the job, he will support local attorneys’ offices and law enforcement agencies working to fight crime.
“Certainly, my priority as Attorney General is keeping our community safe. That’s why we released our public safety plan a few weeks ago. One of those key pillars is getting illegal guns off the street, and I think that plays nicely into what the program here in Roanoke is trying to do. We also know that a lot of this is funded by federal grant money, and so to protect that funding stream is critical.”
Jones says he would also create a drug trafficking unit to prevent the spread of illegal substances, like fentanyl, in the state.
WFIR: AG candidate Jay Jones hears about gun violence prevention efforts in Roanoke
The Democratic candidate for Virginia Attorney General – former Delegate Jay Jones – was in Roanoke this morning, for a roundtable discussion with local law enforcement and public safety officials on efforts to reduce gun violence.
“What brought us to Roanoke was the creativity of the programs we’re seeing here. We’re seeing the community, elected officials, organizations come together, where the left hand really does know what the right hand is doing,” said Jones. “We wanted to highlight the success of [the RESET] program and really show that we can make a real dent in this problem of gun violence if we can keep our eyes on the ball and really rope all of those resources into one basket.”
Members of the Gun Violence Prevention Commission and the Roanoke police department’s RESET team also briefed Jones on their efforts, and reviewed statistics that show lower violent crime rates in 2024 versus 2023. Jones leads incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares in recent polling from the Wason Center.
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