Is the crime pendulum swinging back?
A few events this week show that people want order.
It’s overly dramatic for the San Francisco Chronicle to announce that SF “can no longer be called a progressive city.” But voters did approve two pretty conservative ballot measures on Tuesday.
One requires drug testing for anyone getting welfare. The other approves expanding police surveillance cameras across the city to reduce crime and keep communities safe. Both propositions were supported by Mayor London Breed, and it’s a contrast to her attempts to defund the police in 2020. In fact, the idea of voters approving more police surveillance in San Francisco would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
The swing back toward the center perhaps began two years ago when voters recalled notoriously liberal District Attorney Chesa Boudin. He was elected with promises to eliminate cash bail and to refuse to help ICE with raids or arrests. But by 2022, San Franciscans had had enough of his soft-on-crime ways and booted him.
I mentioned recently that a few cities that were big on defunding the police have shifted back towards wanting more law and order … and both politicians and voters are starting to get tougher on crime again.
This week, NY Governor Hochul announced the state would deploy the National Guard and State Police in New York City subways. They’ll be patrolling and checking bags.
Remember in 2020 when Sen. Tom Cotton wrote an op-ed for the New York Times, arguing to send in the troops and quell the George Floyd riots? And several Times editors were fired or resigned after the paper backtracked and apologized for his essay? I think we can give him a second for some mild gloating:
Meanwhile, progressive Los Angeles DA George Gascón is headed to a runoff in November after getting 23% of the vote on Tuesday. He led the 11-person race, with 77% voting against him, and heads into November as a long shot to keep his job.
Some Democratic California politicians – including London Breed, again – are also backing a proposal for the November ballot that would get tough(er) on crime.
After years of liberal policies that sent criminals back out on the streets, and going light on many non-violent offenses, it seems like several deep blue cities have had enough.
- Ken
Look at the videos of the 2020 riots fwd, then Defund police, then Bidens illegal immigration flood, retail vandals & thefts, Weak bias judges, for cases, 2 tier Justice
People are FED Up
It's not hard to understand why places like San Francisco are returning to policies designed to bring about law and order. What's really hard to understand is the level of delusion that was required to abandon them in the first place! No rational, sane person would tell you that defunding the police or eliminating bail would result in less crime. Why this seemed like a good idea, I'm sure I'll never know.