Democrats Look The Other Way As Crime Skyrockets

Even As Crime Rates Continue To Rise, Democrats Stick With Their Reckless “Soft-On-Crime” Agenda

CRIME IS SURGING ACROSS THE COUNTRY

• In at least six of America’s major cities, all Democrat-run, violent crimes are set to outpace the already historic levels experienced in 2021.
  • New York City has seen the largest increase in violent crime out of these cities, up more than 40 percent when compared to last year.
  • In Los Angeles, murders are trending to exceed the 15-year record set last year, while shootings have spiked 69 percent since 2020.
• Theft and property crimes have also increased dramatically.
  • Vehicle thefts were up 88 percent in Washington and 31 percent in New Jersey just in the first three months of 2022.
  • In San Francisco, a wave of smash-and-grab crimes have taken over the city.
  • Catalytic converter thefts are up 33 percent nationwide from last year.
• Biden’s open border policies “are fueling a drug-related crime wave across the United States.”
  • Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45 under Biden.
• Residents of Democrat-run cities have been left feeling scared for their lives.
  • An Oakland, California resident: “Our norm is feeling like you always have to be ready to fight” to deal with out-of-control crime.

DEMOCRATS DEFUND, THEN DEFLECT BLAME

• Democrats are on record repeatedly calling to defund the police and following through by slashing money from police budgets.
  • This week, the Democrat-run city council in West Hollywood, California voted to reduce law enforcement funding despite escalating crime.
  • Mayor Pro Tempore Sepi Shyne: “We have all talked for two years about re-imagining policing and reimagining policing means reallocating funding.” 
• Democrats are trying to shirk responsibility for the rise in crime despite their own far-left policies being to blame.
  • Democrat Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blames retailers, not criminals, as they fight against smash-and-grab thefts.

DEFUND DEMOCRATS ARE HYPOCRITICALLY HIRING MORE PRIVATE SECURITY

• While Democrats push to defund the police that protect our communities, they are beefing up their own private security to protect themselves.
  • Democrat Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams paid over $1.2 million to a private security firm last year while simultaneously supporting the defund the police movement. 
  • Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), one of the first Democrats to call for defunding the police, responded to rising crime by spending over $300,000 in taxpayer money for her own private security force.

BIDEN REFUSES TO STAND UP TO SOFT-ON-CRIME DEMOCRATS

• Biden failed to stand up to the radicals in his own party who pushed defunding the police and has surrounded himself with an administration full of defund the police activists.
  • Biden’s Vice President Kamala Harris supports “reimagining” the police, saying putting “more police on the streets” is not the way to make communities safer.
  • Biden’s Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta stated “It is also critical… to decrease police budgets and the scope, role, and responsibility of police in our lives.”
  • Biden’s Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke wrote an op-ed where she repeatedly called for defunding cops, saying “we must invest less in police.”
  • Biden’s Senior Advisor for Public Engagement Keisha Lance Bottoms admitted she was defunding the police through a “reallocation of resources” when she served as Atlanta Mayor.
  • The Biden administration has hosted numerous defund the police activists according to White House visitor logs.

LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ARE PAYING THE PRICE FOR DEMOCRATS’ POLICIES

• Police departments are struggling to combat both a lack of funds and a lack of respect as they try to do their jobs.
  • An Ohio police chief said that due to rising gas prices, his department is resorting to “stationary patrols” to cut costs which hurts visibility and safety.
  • One Michigan police department has “blown through their fuel budget” and will no longer respond to every 911 call in-person.
• As crime surges, so have attacks on the men and women in blue.
  • In Biden’s first year in office, ambush-style attacks on law enforcement increased 115 percent from 2020.
  • This trend has continued into this year, with 141 officers shot and 27 ambush-style attacks so far in 2022.
• Police departments across the county are seeing historic drops in staffing as police officers have become fed up with the lack of support.
  • The NYPD has seen roughly 1,600 total departures from the department, a 38 percent spike compared to 2021, yet Mayor Eric Adams says he is “not concerned.”
  • The Chicago Police Department has now reached its lowest staffing levels in recent history.
• This year, New York City has seen prosecutors quit after the adoption of soft-on-crime policies by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
  • Bragg directed his office to prosecute armed robbery as a misdemeanor and said that “low-level” drug dealers should not actually be charged with dealing.

POLLING SHOWS AMERICANS REJECT DEMOCRATS’ SOFT ON CRIME POLICIES

• Polling consistently shows the American people are fed up with Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies.
  • In a CBS News poll, 61 percent of voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of crime.
  • A Washington Post-ABC poll found Republicans hold a 12-point advantage on the issue of crime.
  • Americans’ concern about crime and violence is at its highest level in years, with 53 percent worrying about crime a "great deal" according to Gallup.
• Voters are already holding Democrats accountable for their radical, soft-on-crime policies.
  • In 2021, voters in Minneapolis overwhelmingly rejected a Democrat-led ballot measure to eliminate their police department after a sharp spike in violent crime.
  • In deep-blue Seattle – where Biden won by 53 points - Ann Davison is now the first Republican elected city attorney in more than three decades.
  • San Franciscans resoundingly recalled Democrat District Attorney Chesa Boudin in a “landslide,” rejecting his pro-criminal agenda as a violent crime wave grips the city.
• Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, more than one million U.S. voters have rejected the far-left policies of the Democrat Party and switched their party affiliation to the GOP.