Many laudable efforts have been made to make policing more responsive to community needs. However, some of these decisions are most likely leading to a spike in property crime. I'm going to predict that the murder spree of 2020 was most likely pandemic related, but cities and states have reduced the penalties for non-violent crimes, and it is having an impact on public safety.
Here in Connecticut there was an effort to reduce criminal penalties for teenagers committing felonies. The laudable goal was to keep kids out of the criminal system. It was an effort to interdict the school-to-prison pipeline. The result, however, has been to create gangs of teenaged car thieves, working for Fagin-like adults, who can steal cars and not face felony jail time.
This is going to lead to a correction. Will it be rolling back these laws - perhaps creating more stringent penalties and diversion programs - or will it be the advent of a more dangerous Nixon (like Trump). Someone who rides a fear of lawlessness to grab power and become lawless themselves?
The Defund the Police movement is exactly the sort of overreach that any political movement is prone to, but unlike the effort to overturn Roe, this really has and will move votes. Democrats need to get ahead of this NOW, before the (false) perception sets itself in stone.
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