Seeing crime rise in cities that have defunded police to any extent is something that really shouldn’t shock anyone. But how fast the lowered police presence created a vacuum and how fast crime (especially violent crime) has filled it is still noteworthy.
New York is always a good place to start, as the first 3 months of this year have seen shootings up over 40%; and that doesn’t include the latest mass shooting in Times Square. At the same time, Minneapolis homicides – not just shootings – are up 49% between July of 2020 and February of 2021.
But really the unfortunate Grand Prize goes to Portland, where Antifa riots are the most prevalent of anywhere in the country (including the one on Biden’s inauguration day, where they attacked the Democrat headquarters with signs saying “we don’t want Biden, we want revenge”. From July of 2019 – February 2020, homicides were at 17. The same period from July of 2020 – February 2021, they are at 63. An eye-popping 270%!
It gets even more worrisome: At the end of 2020, Chicago reported over 750 murders (a 50% increase over 2019). By mid-December, Los Angeles saw 322 homicides, a 30% increase over the previous year. And New York saw 437 murders, a 40% increase (to be added to the shootings stats mentioned above).
Net of all of this: Murders were up 36.7% in 57 major agencies nationwide. Those of us thinking of Denver: Up almost 39% year on year. The national rate has an opportunity to shatter all-time records.
Digging deeper, we also need to understand that Law Enforcement is increasingly understaffed. The conditions have changed; they are vilified in the media. People stopped by an officer are now recording the entire incident, calling them murderers (recent body cam video of a woman in her car, berating an officer after she broke the law, recording it all on her phone and calling him a murderer). Police are seen by far too many as aggressors and not protectors.
This is ridiculous. But look at the results: Academies are having trouble filling. Officers are retiring at alarming rates. And our politicians are doing everything they can to not help the situation, especially the current majority. I do not see the political leadership standing strong with the 99.9% of the good, honorable Law Enforcement professional out there. I do see them either staying totally silent, or criticizing Law Enforcement if a camera is nearby and pointed at them.
To be clear: Law Enforcement needs our support, now more than ever. For those of you that think Law Enforcement is evil, and bail should be eliminated, and … (fill in the uneducated blank here), you have really no idea what you are saying, but your words and actions have consequences. Let me give you just one of many unfavorable outcomes: What happens when the good people don’t want to be cops any longer? Simple: Hiring standards drop, as we have to put someone out there to protect us. Think about that as you protest to defund, or even better yet, when you call for help and nobody arrives.
And the final outcome, as we inevitably return to law and order at some point: The further we stray into lawlessness, the more painful the return will be for us all.
