How fast history changes. How fast we forget – without order, there is no ordered liberty. A year ago, Joe Biden boasted of the “Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994,” saying “the violent crime rate was cut in half” by that law. Today, he calls police the “enemy” and pushes “defunding.” His mental state, refusal of questions, rice paper persona aside, his reversal is tragic. As Biden leads an assault on law enforcement, crime is spiking – nationwide. See: https://www.factcheck.org/2019/07/biden-on-the-1994-crime-bill/.
The irony is that Biden used to be a law enforcement supporter, if not quite the cape-wearing hero he imagined himself. His committee managed the 1994 bill, which passed the Senate 95-4. In those days, he boasted of police union endorsements, seemed to respect America’s police.
No more. These days, as socialists subvert peaceful protests and his party, Biden has flipped –perceiving political advantage in demonizing, demoralizing, and now defunding the police.
The worst part is that Biden – and national Democrats – know this is wrong. They simply do not have the courage to say so. Nor will they if they gain control of the Senate and White House. They are intimidated by and have become the far left – which means attacking old friends.
Democrat attacks on police are having an insidious, undeniable, potentially devastating effect on police forces, Maine to Florida, Maryland to California, Texas to New York. It is measurable.
Largely unreported, violent crime is rising, police retiring, cities, suburbs, and towns suddenly insecure and worried. Something the size of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” would be needed to catalogue all the spikes in crime occurring across America, but examples are illustrative.
In a prosperous corner of Portland Maine, one day in June – during Black Lives Matter activism – 33 businesses were destroyed, looted, and damaged. “Bottles, rocks, and bottles of urine were thrown at police … people climbed on cruisers and pounded on windows,” Officers received injuries, while the city contended with fires and graffiti. Multiply that by 200 cities.
In suburban Maryland counties, crime is up 30 percent. Chicago has seen 95 murders in four weeks, 353 since January. Georgia’s governor has declared a state of emergency over shootings, mobilizing the National Guard. Detroit homicides are up 30 percent. In Los Angeles, homicides are up 250 percent. Seattle has seen a 525 percent increase in crime. See: https://nypost.com/2020/07/02/seattle-sees-525-percent-spike-in-crime-thanks-to-chop-mayor-durkan/.
Meantime, “anti-police rhetoric” is destroying morale, leading officers to leave – and departments to wither. In Washington DC, 71 percent of officers are “considering leaving” a force that is 52 percent Black. Nearly 40 percent aim “to leave law enforcement entirely.” See: https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-cities-increase-violent-crime-police-group/story?id=71411919.
Of the top 20 most violent cities, 17 are led by Democrats, nonsensically pushing defunding. Two are led by Independents, one by a Republican. See: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/bryan-preston/2020/07/09/video-you-will-absolutely-not-believe-what-bobby-beto-orourke-blames-for-spiking-violent-crime-n625863. Leadership is nowhere to be seen.
In New York, nerves are raw, police exhausted, and crime rising – as budgets are cut. In June, New York shootings and murders “spiked significantly,” 130 percent increase in shootings over 2019, with murders up 30 percent, burglaries 118 percent, auto thefts 51 percent. New York’s politicians do not care. New York’s Democrat Mayor de Blasio just cut the police budget by one billion dollars. See: https://news.yahoo.com/york-city-mayor-says-cut-185716655.html.
Overwhelmed, 40,000 fewer arrests have been made in NY City this year. NYPD’s Commissioner says violence “puts innocent people at risk and tears at the fabric of life in our city,” even as Democrats shrug. The 2020 class of 1,163 police recruits was canceled. See: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/news/pr0706/nypd-citywide-crime-statistics-june-2020. As one New York law enforcement leader warned, “we are starting to lose control.” See: https://www.foxnews.com/media/suffolk-county-sheriff-says-bail-reform-and-police-demonization-reasons-for-uptick-in-nyc-violence.
On July 11, a group speaking for police was physically accosted, creating what reporters called a “blue lives brawl.” “Tempers flared in Brooklyn …as anti-cop protesters crashed a Blue Lives Matter rally, complete with furious finger-pointing and a lot of shouting, pushing and shoving.” See: https://nypost.com/2020/07/11/blue-and-black-lives-matter-protesters-clash-in-nyc/.
This is where America’s top Democrats – including pasty Joe Biden – are leading us. Once proudly supporting men and women in blue, they are now anti-police. America’s long-established rule of law, promotion of deterrence, high integrity policing, non-lethal responses to violence, qualified immunity for discretion under fire, recruiting and retention – have no support.
Democrats like Biden – who barely dares go outside – defend defunding and denigrating police. Even in New Haven, Connecticut – home to Yale – Democrats are slashing police budgets, as crime spikes. See: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/new-haven-slashing-police-services-at-a-time-when-crime-is-spiking/ar-BB16s1q6. Socialist politics has consumed sober reason.
This cannot stand. It must stop. Rule of law – which opposes discrimination and rampant violence, not to mention a radical socialist take-over of police – depends on the American People. Americans everywhere need to show support for selfless law enforcement officers.
Americans need to return to common sense. Balanced reforms – as offered in Black Republican Senator Tim Scott (R-NC)’s reform bill, rejected by all Democrats – are timely. But needed too is prompt restoration of respect for police. Without order, there is no ordered liberty. Without ordered liberty, there is no America. Let us stand up, speak up, stop pretending otherwise.