Mayor issues statement on recent violence in Victorville city

VICTORVILLE, Calif. (VVNG.com) — Many residents of the Victor Valley have expressed anger and frustration over the recent crimes that have plagued our community and in some cases made national headlines this week.

City of Victorville Mayor Gloria Garcia addressed the recent violence and released the following statement on Thursday afternoon:

As you are aware, Victorville has been the site of several violent acts this week. Like me, I’m sure you have experienced many emotions this week that run the spectrum of shock, concern, anger and outrage. I want you to know that we are just as outraged as you are to see such violence and disregard perpetrated in our City.

First and foremost, I want you to know that we hear you and we share your feelings of outrage. We won’t tolerate violence of this nature in Victorville, and that’s why we continue to invest so much of our budget for public safety. The City of Victorville invests nearly 63 percent of our general fund on public safety each year. Victorville has the largest police force in the High Desert and the second largest police force in all of San Bernardino County, and we will continue this investment because we value our law enforcement personnel, and we care for the safety of our community.

I applaud the men and women of the Victorville Police Department, and I appreciate the tremendous service they provide us each and every day. Unfortunately, AB 109 and Propositions 47 and 57 have made their jobs even more difficult by decriminalizing and reducing the penalties for certain crimes. The net result is that we have more hardened criminals on our streets. That’s why we’ve joined forces with other California Cities to form the Take Back our Community Coalition with the intent of raising awareness for this issue and to put pressure on State Lawmakers to improve law enforcement’s ability to respond to crime.

If you share our concerns, please voice them to Sacramento. In the meantime, we will continue to invest in law enforcement for our community.

In order for us to affect real change, we must work together as a community – all of us – to find solutions to our very difficult and real challenges. I’m thankful to everyone who has voiced their concerns to us, and I believe with continued dialog and by working together, we will build a stronger and safer Victorville.  

-Gloria Garcia, Mayor, City of Victorville