As riots break out across the country and radical-leftist politicians demand social justice and defunding the police, homicide rates in most large cities have spiked, an analysis from the Wall Street Journal shows. The Journal found double-digit increases in homicides in 36 of the 50 biggest cities across the country.
According to the Journal:
A sharp rise in homicides this year is hitting large U.S. cities across the country, signaling a new public-safety risk unleashed during the coronavirus pandemic, and amid recession and a national backlash against police tactics.
The murder rate is still low compared with previous decades, and other types of serious crime have dropped in the past few months. But researchers, police and some residents fear the homicide spike, if not tamed, could threaten an urban renaissance spurred in part by more than two decades of declining crime.
A Wall Street Journal analysis of crime statistics among the nation’s 50 largest cities found that reported homicides were up 24% so far this year, to 3,612. Shootings and gun violence also rose, even though many other violent crimes such as robbery fell.
Police, researchers, mayors and community leaders see a confluence of forces at work in the homicide spike. Institutions that keep city communities safe have been destabilized by lockdown and protests against police. Lockdowns and recession also mean tensions are running high and streets have been emptied of eyes and ears on their communities. Some attribute the rise to an increase in gang violence.
Some cities with long-running crime problems saw their numbers rise, including Philadelphia, Detroit and Memphis, Tenn. Chicago, the worst-hit, has tallied more than one of every eight homicides.
Less-violent places have been struck as well, such as Omaha, Neb., and Phoenix. In all, 36 of the 50 cities studied saw homicide rise at double-digit rates, representing all regions of the country.
Joe Biden has sided with the radical-leftists in his party, who want to redirect funds from local police departments, to other departments like low-income housing and social services. When an activist recently asked him if he supported efforts to “redirect” some police funding, Biden didn’t hesitate to say “yes, absolutely.” In addition, Biden sided with the radical left-wing rioters in Portland last month, rebuking the brave law enforcement men and women putting their lives on the line to return order to the streets and keep people safe.
Biden’s “Unity Task Force” with Bernie Sanders says we need to “reimagine policing” – language that defund and abolish the police activists have used
The task force called for polices that would lead to less funding for police, and effectively end policing as we know it; their recommendations call for:
- Eliminating qualified immunity, which protects police and law enforcement from frivolous and costly lawsuits
- Restricting civil asset forfeiture, where police seize money and property from criminals
- The National Association of Police Organizations said an Obama action to restrict this practice threatened “significant funding”
- Restricting the practice would effectively cut funding from police
- Blocking police from receiving surplus military equipment from the Pentagon
- This program provides law enforcement with protective gear, including bulletproof vests and helmets, other safety equipment, and even helicopters
- The National Sheriff’s Association criticized the Obama Administration for restricting this program – a restriction President Trump later lifted – saying local law enforcement could not afford some of this equipment on their own
- Blocking local police from receiving critical equipment is effectively cutting funding, forcing them to find money elsewhere for these supplies and gear
- Setting up an “unarmed” “corps” of first responders to deal with situations police currently deal with
- This would inevitably divert funding from police
- Biden supporters and endorsers are vocal advocates for defunding the police
- Last month, Biden held a high-dollar fundraiser with defund the police advocate John Legend
- Biden supporter Ilhan Omar has tweeted it is time to “disband” the Minneapolis Police Department
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – a co-chair of Biden’s climate task force – says police departments need to be “defunded,” even claiming a $1.5 billion cut to the NYPD is not enough
- Former Democrat Senate Leader and Biden supporter Harry Reid said that money needs to be “reallocate[d]” away from police departments
- Biden endorser Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) has said money needs to be pulled back from police and “invest[ed] other things”
- Mayors that back Biden are cutting their police budgets
- Los Angeles Mayor and Biden-backer Eric Garcetti is pledging to cut $150 million from the LAPD
- New York Mayor and Biden supporter Bill DeBlasio cut $1 billion from the NYPD’s budget
- Biden has even hired anti-police staffers
- Biden hired a staffer this month who had previously compared cops to “pigs” on social media and had tweeted support for efforts to defund the police
While Biden is too weak to stand up to the radical left-wing mob, President Trump will never stop working to ensure safe communities for all.
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