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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced today that they're stepping down as co-chairs of Prosecutors Against Gun Violence, which they founded in 2014.
Effective Nov. 15, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark and Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley will become co-chairs of the coalition of 46 prosecutors representing 24 states.
“Gun violence claims lives and destabilizes communities across the country,'' Feuer and Vance said in a joint statement. “In 2014, we formed PAGV, an independent coalition of over 50 prosecutors from diverse jurisdictions throughout the United States, to work toward solutions to this national public health and safety crisis. As we move on from our roles as co-chairs after seven years, we leave PAGV in very capable and experienced hands with Bronx DA Darcel Clark and Santa Barbara County DA Joyce Dudley as the incoming co-chairs. We look forward to this exciting new chapter in the life of PAGV.''
The group brings members together to discuss policies, legislation and strategies to reduce gun violence and help prosecutors take action in their communities. In February, the coalition presented a set of recommendations to the Biden administration on how the gun violence crisis, which they called “uniquely American,'' can be addressed.
The group also released a report titled “Mass Shooting Resource Guide for Prosecutors: How to Prevent, Protect and Prosecute'' to help prosecutors work on a macro and micro level to reduce gun violence in their communities.
“I joined Prosecutors Against Gun Violence as soon as I became district attorney for Bronx County, New York, and I have been proud to work with the founding co-chairs, Cy Vance and Mike Feuer,'' Clark said. “Under their leadership, PAGV has been at the forefront in the effort to reduce gun violence in all its forms, from promoting safe storage in the home, to preventing suicides and accidental shootings involving children, to combating illegal firearms trafficking, to preventing and prosecuting mass shootings.''
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