Mayor Daniella Levine Cava Joining Others From Around Nation To Discuss Rise In Violent Crime With President Biden

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is among a handful of representatives from across the country meeting with the Biden administration regarding the national uptick in violent crime.

"Clearly, this is a national phenomenon – it's not just local," she said. "And I want to learn from those across the country who are doing a great job. And I want to learn about programs that are effective. And I want the federal government to support us."

CBS4 caught up with her on her way to D.C.

The White House said the meeting Wednesday will be about crime prevention.

According to the press secretary, President Joe Biden will be announcing a comprehensive crime reduction strategy.

This comes as national numbers show many large U.S. cities faced a spike in gun crime, violence and homicides over the last year.

"I think it's a nice gesture, a political gesture. But outside of that, I don't think anything really solid. You know, the mayor can't run to the president to try to solve Miami-Dade's problems," said Congressman Carlos Gimenez.

The former Miami-Dade mayor said he doesn't see what practically can be done at the federal level to help the Miami-Dade community.

"You're looking at violent crimes being down 13 1/2% and non-violent crimes being down almost 20%. That's wonderful," said Ignacio Alvarez, a former commander with the Miami-Dade Police Department.

And based on the numbers from January to now in Miami-Dade, overall crime is actually down. But a rash of violent incidents occurring around the same time gave a different perception.

"The shootings where 25 people have been shot, seven people of been shot, four people have been shot," explained Alvarez, "so that scares the general public and the perception is crime is up."

The mayor said she hopes to gain knowledge from other cities and counties to keep numbers down and prevent future tragedies.

"Get solutions and that we can share notes across our jurisdictions and also best practices across the country," she said.