Note: This article is also available as the basis for a dramatized podcast, narrated by me and my sidekick, Sounder. It’s conservative commentary with a touch of comedy. You can access my podcasts at the link below, or scroll past it and keep reading.
Today I’m writing about CRIME.
CRIME is consistently among the top concerns of Americans right now, in poll after poll after poll.
Most Americans are tired of worrying about who’s woke and who’s not. They’re far more interested in making sure they don’t mugged or murdered when they go to work or go shopping.
What I’m talking about here is the defund police movement that gained so much traction in the wake of George Floyd’s death. In the summer of 2020 neighborhoods were looted and burned, government buildings, police stations and police were attacked and police often told to stand down in the face of it all.
News media usually labeled the riots “peaceful protests.”
Democrats said it was simply citizens exercising their rights to free speech and peaceful protest.
Across the country city governments – run by Democrats – began responding to woke mandates to defund police by reducing police budgets. The idea was to use the money for social programs that were supposed to stem crime.
ON TOP OF DEFUNDING THE POLICE…
You have George Soros-funded prosecutors who won’t prosecute.
You have No Bail or Zero Dollar bail laws that put offenders back on the streets within hours of their arrests.
In California, the Yolo County District attorney says 70% of those released on zero dollar bail commit new crimes including murder.
HERE’S THE RESULT OF ALL THIS NONSENSE
The Defund the Police Movement doesn’t work.
Police department budgets have been reduced. Cops have been laid off.
Police officers know they are not appreciated by many of the politicians who are running the cities they protect.
Police officers nationwide have been resigning and taking early retirements.
Police recruitment programs are suffering.
And so are communities, as crime runs rampant.
The National Police Support Fund reports:
“While anti-police advocates like to say that defunding measures do not have an impact on violent crime, the statistics clearly tell a different story.
In Minneapolis, homicides increased by 60% in 2020, with many of the crimes left unsolved because there are fewer police detectives and other resources to work the cases. Things have gotten so bad that the city’s residents are filing a lawsuit against the city council to restore police funding.”
That was 2 years ago.
Fast-forward to today, it’s far worse.
Fox News Digital examined crime data from Baltimore, Chicago, LA, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC and found violent crime up 5 to 40 percent compared to a year ago.
Seattle, which claims it backed off defunding police but has moved police money for some services to other departments, has seen violent crime up 23% but homicides are up by more than 54% and shootings up 82%.
We’re not even sure how bad it really is. New FBI national crime data was releases recently with glaring holes in it. Forty percent of all law enforcement agencies didn’t submit any data. That included cities like New York and Los Angeles.
WHO DEFUNDED?
Minneapolis – which became known as the epicenter of the Defund the Police movement after Black Lives Matter protests and non-stop rioting following the death of George Floyd.
Also on the defund police bandwagon:
New York City
Chicago and Cook County Illinois
Portland, Oregon
Austin, Texas
Baltimore
Los Angeles
Milwaukee
Philadelphia
The list goes on. All cities run by Democrats.
The American Police Officers Alliance puts it bluntly:
“Democrat politicians are destroying their cities and enabling extremist anarchists.”
In an emergency, dial 9-1-1. But what if no one answers? Or you’re told it’s going to be 15 minutes, an hour, three hours before police can get to you. That might be OK if your life isn’t in danger but when the wolf is at the door it’s an entirely different story.
If police in your community are taking too long to respond to your 9-1-1 call today, sadly, that should not come as a surprise. That’s what happens if you defund police. And if you’re in a community where police can still get to you quickly consider yourself fortunate.
It’s not because police don’t want to. Police departments are filled with men and women who revere the motto “Protect and Serve.” They’re cops. THAT’S WHAT THEY DO. But they can’t do it without support.
You wouldn’t hire a ditch digger and tell him, “Don't dig that ditch!”
You wouldn’t hire a plumber and say, “Oh, don’t fix that leak and while you’re at it - leave the toilet clogged!”
You wouldn’t call 9-1-1 when your house is on fire, then fire half the firefighters who showed up to save your home.
You wouldn’t show up in the hospital for life saving surgery and sit up on the operating table and fire the surgeon.
So, why in God’s name would you have a police department and tell them not to enforce the law?
That, in essence, is what’s happening today with all the defund police movements that have taken place over the past two or three years, and with all the prosecutors that refuse to prosecute, and with all the no bail laws that put criminals back on the street within hours of their arrests, and all the judges that either sentence too lightly or are hamstrung by woke sentencing guidelines that don't keep criminals in jail.
Cops are in the trenches. They’re the ones putting their lives on the line.
But under the current situation – which Democrats can proudly own – police feel as though no one has their backs.
Police staffing is at an all time low across the country.
Police suicides are rising.
People are afraid with crime at everyone’s doorstep, because criminals are running rampant. The crooks aren’t afraid of authority any more because there is none. They’re mugging people in broad daylight. Sometimes they’re killing people.
The nation is tired of it. Very tired of it.
And so are the police, because the police aren’t our enemy.
If we’re to be a civilized society we have to protect ourselves from the dregs of society. And that’s why we have police.
If I were Dictator for a Day my edict would be to impose a NO STAND DOWN law for police.
In essence, a blanket law that tells police officers they don’t need to stand down from crime, even when their superiors and politicians tell them to.
When I was originally outlining this podcast I was thinking, “Well, half the states in the country have a stand your ground law,” which essentially means if you have the legal right to be somewhere you don’t need to retreat from someone who is threatening you. And you can use deadly force if your life or someone else’s is in danger.
While I’m not a lawyer my idea for a NO STAND DOWN law might work better if it’s based on something like an implied warranty. Implied warranties are simple. When you buy something you expect it to work as the thing that it is. In other words, if you buy a broom and it doesn’t sweep, you get your money back. You buy a ball, it doesn’t bounce, it’s refund time.
Cities are collecting taxes to provide certain services to their citizens and they’re funding police and the court system but the system isn’t working, because it’s been neutered.
Every American has the right to expect police protection and the right to expect communities not to back off the idea of enforcing the law. We need to let cops be cops and to run toward the danger. We can’t second-guess them. And when they arrest someone for a violent crime that person should be kept in jail or required to post bond so they’ve got some skin in the game and maybe not go right back out and re-offend. If they’ve got a violent history maybe there is no bail. We can’t keep putting them back on the streets.
New York City went from being the nation’s crime capital to one of the safest cities in the country in the 1990s by cracking down on crime, not just letting it run rampant. The city had its cops’ backs. Criminals expected to be arrested and jailed for committing crimes, so fewer crimes were committed.
Today the criminals know they can commit crimes with impunity. It’s like a sale on crime for lowlifes. Hey, as long as you’re mugging that guy you might as well beat him up or stab him, the penalty is the same: nothing. You’ll be out in an hour.
Police are discouraged because they feel they’re just pushing criminals into a revolving door. They go in one side and come out the other.
So that’s what I’d do as Dictator for a Day.
I’d issue a NO STAND DOWN edict to police.
You know – I mentioned this on my last article and podcast – the Justice Department has opened an investigation into the city of Phoenix Police Department over use of force, including deadly force, and to find out if other laws are being violated. It’s a method by which the Feds can tell Phoenix PD how they should be enforcing the law. Other cities are also being investigated. But one worries if this type of investigation is really to find out if cops are using too much force, or if it’s just a way for a woke administration to do an end-run around local rule and extend its tentacles into more nooks and crannies where it doesn’t belong.
Bottom line: we’re constantly telling police how to enforce the law. Maybe we should stop telling them HOW to enforce it and just tell them TO enforce it.
NO STAND DOWN could give police the confidence to get back to the business of fighting crime instead of fighting their own city halls and – in this case – the Biden Administration.
Don’t get me wrong. A NO STAND DOWN law would not absolve police officers for acting illegally. Officers could still be held liable for breaking the law. But it would return the benefit of the doubt to honest cops just trying to protect us.
And isn’t that what we all really want?
Because if we don’t want this, pretty soon we won’t have any police to protect us.
And then, what will YOU do?
A very timely piece, Dennis, especially for Milwaukeans where $0 bail and defunding the police seem to be gaining traction.
As an urban teacher, I saw it myself. The police (that's "po-po" in the local vernacular) are seen as the enemy, objects of fear and distrust. To cooperate with the police makes one a "snitch," a social outcast.
Worse yet, it seems many Milwaukee residents are perpetually looking for an excuse -- any excuse -- they can find to hang good, service-minded cops for some sort of malfeasance. And these generally frivolous charges seem to carry some weight with the MPD brass, aldermen and such. Thus, good, service-minded cops tend to get frustrated and leave the profession, or at least leave the city for policing jobs where they're more appreciated and protected.
With MPD already desperately short-staffed, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson warns major budget cuts are ahead for the police department, and other public safety personnel.
Where does it end?
As a country, we cannot continue allowing this crime spree to continue on our streets. Your thoughts are well formed and make common sense. We must back our police. Let’s hope some of our officials in justice read this.