WASHINGTON (KRON) – President Joe Biden held a press conference on Wednesday to announce new policies to crack down on illegal gun sales, including a strike force here in San Francisco.

In his speech, Biden acknowledged DeVone Boggan of Richmond, who is the founder and CEO of Advance Peace.

Advance Peace is working to end gun violence in neighborhoods and help improve the wellbeing of those impacted.

Boggan has served as the Director of the City of Richmond Office of Neighborhood Safety. He was in charge of developing, implementing, and managing approaches to decrease the number of assaults with a firearm.

“Violence intervention programs have shown a reduction in violence up to 60-percent in many places,” Biden stated. “We heard from two community leaders that do this work.”

Biden went on to acknowledge a leader from Chicago and Boggan, who lost his brother to gun violence, for their efforts.

“DeVone runs a program across California and six other states that are all high-risk individuals and peace fellowships, complete with intensive mentoring and social services. It’s saving lives. In Sacramento, for example, 91-percent of participants stayed away from gun violence. States and cities should invest in American Rescue Plan funds and those kinds of anti-violent crime programs,” Biden continued.

Biden announced that the White House will be working with 15 jurisdictions that are doing that.

Biden announced new efforts to stem a rising national tide of violent crime, declaring the federal government is “taking on the bad actors doing bad things to our communities.” But questions persist about how effective the efforts can be in what could be a turbulent summer.

Crime rates have risen after plummeting during the initial months of the coronavirus pandemic, creating economic hardship and anxiety.

Biden’s plan focuses on providing money to cities that need more police, offering community support and most of all cracking down on gun violence and those supplying illegal firearms.

Biden will seek increased transparency on gun data and better coordination among states, and he he will push Congress for more money for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the agency responsible for enforcing federal gun laws and regulating gun dealers.

The Justice Department is also launching strike forces in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., to help take down illegal gun traffickers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.