Absolutely incredible numbers out deep blue heavily black Detroit -- further evidencing just how wildly out of touch the elite lefty media, political and activist class has been on police matters. People want accountability and are open to reform. They do not want enervated, timid, demonized, or defunded police forces. Via USA Today, it's hard to overstate how comprehensive this rejection of the anti-police movement truly is:
Amid a jump in violent crime in this and other cities nationwide, Detroit residents report being much more worried about public safety than about police misconduct, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University/Detroit Free Press Poll finds. By an overwhelming 9-1, they would feel safer with more cops on the street, not fewer. Though one-third complain that Detroit police use force when it isn't necessary – and Black men report high rates of racial profiling – those surveyed reject by 3-1 the slogan of some progressives to "defund the police." ... In Detroit, 1 in 5 residents (19%) cited public safety as the biggest issue facing the city, second only to education, named by 23%. On a list of eight concerns, police reform ranked last, at 4%. The poll found a significant racial divide on the question. Black residents ranked crime at the top of their list of concerns: 24% cited public safety, and just 3% named police reform. But white residents were a bit more concerned about police reform than public safety, 12% compared with 10%.
A thunderously overwhelming preference for more cops on the beat, versus fewer. Lopsided sentiment against "defunding the police," a rallying cry for so-called 'progressive' Democrats that has been simultaneously denied and indulged and partially embraced even by alleged moderates like President Biden. Eight times as many black Detroit residents pick ensuring public safety as a top priority, versus police reform -- while more white Detroiters prize the latter, some undoubtedly seeking to signal their solidarity with black neighbors who actually don't share their priorities. How might Detroit Congresswoman and anti-Semite Rashida Tlaib, a vocal proponent of flat-out defunding the police, feel about this data? Her views are considered radical among her constituents. Meanwhile, other left-wing cities whose leaders have scapegoated and vilified their police, reduced their budgets, and actively undermined law and order are predictably experiencing spikes in violent crime:
Three more homicides. Seattle is on pace to beat last year's 26-year high homicide rate.
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) July 25, 2021
As the police chief recorded this, there was another shooting with multiple victims. https://t.co/CwN8mrpTLl
D.C. police chief: “We are 200 officers short.” pic.twitter.com/o7Sbjmen3Q
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) July 23, 2021
DC has seen more than 100 homicides in 2021 already, as the force is down roughly 200 officers compared to the tumultuous, riot-marred summer of 2020, per the chief. Why might that be, pray tell? In this Wall Street Journal op/ed, criminologist Peter Moskos diagnoses an obvious part of the problem:
The rise in murders in the U.S. in 2020 was unprecedented. Complete nationwide data for the year won’t be available until September, but we already know that in 70 cities and counties that account for a fifth of the U.S. population, the murder rate rose by 35%. The largest previous increase on record was 13% in 1968...No single cause can explain the spike in murder in 2020. Like politics, crime is local, and violent crime is often hyperlocal, but we can see some clear patterns among the most troubled cities...[George] Floyd’s death and other incidents in recent years have put a spotlight on racial tensions over the use of force by police and have spurred a political response, including the election in many cities of officials determined to change police behavior. In Boston, District Attorney Rachael Rollins pledged to stop prosecuting disorderly conduct, driving with a suspended license and trespassing. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot all but banned police from pursuing suspects on foot...Such external pressure, combined with a pullback on the part of police departments wary of intensified scrutiny, has resulted in less proactive policing in many cities.
It also doesn't help when anti-law enforcement elected prosecutors choose to go soft on crime, or run offices that are astoundingly incompetent. This is a disgrace and outrage in St. Louis:
On Wednesday, July 14, a St. Louis judge dropped murder charges against an accused killer. A prosecutor from St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office never showed up to court hearings in May, June, and again on Wednesday, July 14 because she was on maternity leave. There were two other murder cases dismissed this week because of absent or unprepared St. Louis City prosecutors...Fox 2’s legal expert Attorney Chet Pleban...said he has never seen anything like these recent circumstances in all of his time as an attorney. “Clearly there is a problem with her internal management system that needs a quick fix, someway, somehow. But it is inexcusable that you would have three continuances, three times that she doesn’t show up for a murder case,” Pleban said. He also said giving this case to an attorney who is on maternity leave could be a tactic to postpone having to try that particular case. More than 90 prosecutors have left the circuit attorney’s office since Gardner took over in 2017.
How's that "progress" working out? I'll leave you with this explainer that debunks a widely-shared anti-police video:
Thread: So the video below, claiming to show a cop planting drugs on an African American driver, went viral yesterday. As you can see, it was spread to hundreds of thousands of people. It led to people doxxing and targeting the cop involved & denunciations of police generally. https://t.co/SMFT4yzR7L
— AG (@AGHamilton29) July 25, 2021
Luckily, the officers involved were wearing body cameras (which are important to protect citizens from police and police officers from this type of abuse).
— AG (@AGHamilton29) July 25, 2021
Here is one of the body cam videos where officer explains what is happening right after that clip: https://t.co/4WXoclID0z
No one was arrested for any drugs. The only citation issued was for speeding. The person who posted the original clip knew that but left it out to promote this mob. The truth is unlikely to change the harassment that the officer and his family will likely face now.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) July 25, 2021
Part of the reason I support police reform measures such as requiring body cams is that such technology does not merely help hold bas cops to account; it also protects good cops from false allegations and helps vindicate them against bogus narratives based on incomplete information. Transparency is good.
