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Thursday, December 16, 2021

Governing: The Disconnect Between The Elected and Unwashed Masses Concerning Crime

Governing does an annual survey among city Mayors called the Menino Survey of Mayors. They reflect the views of the elected on topics like the pandemic, homelessness and affordable housing. But they note a growing disconnect when it comes to crime. "Just 26 percent of mayors considered rising crime a long-term concern. But 2020’s spate of violence hasn’t so far proved to be an aberration. Homicides jumped by nearly 30 percent last year, an incredible surge, and this year at least a dozen major cities have set all-time homicide records. Residents are clearly concerned: Our Manhattan Institute poll found six in 10 saying crime was increasing in their area, and nationwide the share that agree is nearing a 25-year high."

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Basic Logic 101. Crime increases when penalties decrease. Big cities governments are watching while business is looted, set aflame. While innocent people are carjacked, mugged, and cheated. Arrested offenders sometimes are immediately sent back out to the streets with no bail. Some such criminals have long records of prior arrests. It’s no matter.

A child puts his/her finger on a cooktop flame only ONE time. Why? Because it hurts, there’s a price of pain to pay. Lesson learned.
This is the lesson not being taught by our government.

Anonymous said...

I think we've overreacted to racism charges by going too far with relaxed bail, or no bail, for even violent offenders. Theories about Soros-PAC-funded DAs in major cities (https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-prosecutor-campaign-20180523-story.html) claim this is by design. In any event, a more reasonable medium would be better. But that's unlikely to be achieved when the law-abiding identify with their tormentors, as seen in the story below. They'll eventually tire of the incivility and leave the city to those who are fouling it. Decline is easy and happens fast. Rationalizing it after electing it is more tricky.

https://abc7.com/trunk-open-car-break-in-why-not-to-leave-your/11344070/

Anonymous said...

We just need to send more social workers into the field to talk people out of committing crime.

Anonymous said...

We need more chain gangs, picking up litter, doing park upkeep etc. Many more people need to be incarcerated, until there are only non-violent law abiding left. Give inmates a choice, 1200 calories a day and sit in your cell or sign up for work details, more food, more benefits. Privileges earned. Most need a real structured life or they will revert into more crime.

Anonymous said...

@8:18 - that is a giant bowl of conjecture, fabrication and outright fantasy you just ladled out there.

STFU with the looting and arson like its some nightly occurrence, shit went down when large groups of people got together and protested things they didn't like around the country. Emotions ran high and people lost control and did bad things that they should be punished for - ALL OF THEM.

Don't recall reading or seeing any reports of regular run of the mill rioting and destruction in Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Newark, Camden, or Philly or NYC for that matter. Can't say the carjacking and mugging are huge issues either.

Now if were talking drug dealing turf war crime that does impact law abiding residents of these urban areas I will agree with you. But your FOX News "inner city is scary - because of Hillary Clinton" or whatever the talking points are these days is pure bullshit.

Anonymous said...

The criminal disconnect is the politicians and what they do and what they self justify. As long as many of them continue to be degenerates adn criminals it makes it hard to prosecute others that are only doing what those politicians did. Until all politicians and governmental people have to fully abide by and be punished under the same laws that the unwashed must crime will continue to rise. First step is to abolish all political biased laws that give benefits to politicians and make them adhere to the common law immediately. Heck let's start with insider trading. That would weed out at least 50 or 60 according to a recent article and probably 3 or 4 times that many when their dealings were fully investigated. Then next lets look at the common definition of bribery we understand and that would probably weed out another 50% at least.

Anonymous said...

Stop being wishy washy. Set minimum jail time for certain crime so some cannot get off with just a slap on the wrist while other are locked away for a long time for the same thing. EQUALITY. Next make it once a case is announced and charges are dropped there is no going backwards for lesser charges. Maybe only a reduction to the minimum level previously mentioned. Third Once a court date is set the criminal is screwed no plea bargaining, no change your plea, no other legal horseshit. You chose your path suck it up butter cup. Stop the crap with bail and set minimums regardless of who you are based on the level of the crime you committed. The judge can make them more but no less. Do not allow delaying tactics to bring something to trial. Or hiding of evidence. Any lawyer that knowing conducts this activity should lose their license as well as have the same penalty as the criminal the are defending inflicted upon them once found guilty. This shoudl also apply if the lawyer knowing lies or intentionally deceives.

Anonymous said...

Your headline and write up is misleading. This is not a Governing article; this is an option piece published in Governing by someone at the Manhattan Institute ("Our Manhattan Institute"). The Manhattan Institute is super right-wing.

As it says at the bottom of the piece, Governing's opinion columns reflect the views of their authors and not necessarily those of Governing's editors or management.

Anonymous said...

So many of our leaders deny there's a problem and pursue gun control measures from their leafy neighborhoods inside fenced or walled compounds, protected by people with guns. There's a disconnect alright. They certainly act afraid. It's difficult to understand why they don't think regular citizens without walls, fences, and armed security might be afraid, too.

Anonymous said...

another thing, no one talks about restitution, shop lifters and other thieves should be made to pay restitution+20%, even if they are still paying after retirement.

Anonymous said...

10:58 - I clearly remember plenty of looting and burning in Philly in 2020. Murder rate for 2021 is right around 500 thus far. Try a quick search for Philadelphia riots 2020. Only took me a few seconds to poke holes in your assumptions.
The age of information? only if you use it.

Anonymous said...

try
governing is owned by erepublic " Governing was acquired in 2009 by e.Republic,"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.Republic
"Nearly all of e.Republic's owners and upper management, and many other employees, are Scientologists.
yet
https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-crime-homicide-violent-crime-132443b2bc09707394698e6a90d3f388
"James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston, said he considered 2020 a “unique situation” and not part of any sort of long-term trend"
"Violent crimes in 2020 went up by a more moderate 5.6% over the previous year while property crimes continued a nearly two-decade decline, falling 7.8%. Robbery and rape dropped 9.3% and 12% respectively.

Anonymous said...

Wait until arrests for mandate protests are rolled into the statistics. Those will undoubtedly be felonies. Cheesecake Factory will be a single-handed crime wave.

Anonymous said...

Philly has had over 500 murders this year. In almost every case the victims and shooters are black. It's mainly black on black crime but if one mentions this fact in public you are automatically branded a racist.

Anonymous said...

You're the one that's full of bullshit.

Anonymous said...

try
https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/?city1=50203000&city2=51714000

Seems Anchorage Alaska has a higher violent crime rate than Chicago strange how Fox news never mentions such a high crime rate area?
or Boise Idaho had a 24 percent robbery increase in 2020 another crime laden area missed.
Wonder what is the big difference between Anchorage, Boise and Chicago?

Anonymous said...

@10:58. What planet are you living on? I will politely say pull your head out of the sand (rather than some other location).

Anonymous said...

5:53 AM

"Wonder what is the big difference between Anchorage, Boise and Chicago?"

For the last five years Anchorage and Boise have had Republican mayors 5% of the time and Chicago has had one 100% of the time? Not sure what other point you might be trying to make.

Anonymous said...

Republican vs democrat centric.

Anonymous said...

Who is in charge of the cities in this country?

Anonymous said...

Philly has 535 murders this year as of today. in 2013 they had 246. In 2014 they had 248. So murders have more than doubled! Carjackings are epidemic now. So what changed? The gun laws haven't changed. What changed was a combination of parole reform that was slowly implemented under Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel, appointed by Tom Corbett no less. Once Wolf was elected Wetzel got the green light to accelerate the reforms. The state prison count today is 12,000 fewer than it was 5 years ago, (yet the budget keeps climbing for some reason).

Then Philly elected a radical DA who thinks criminals are victims and the cops are criminals. He refuses to prosecute many crimes. Then the pandemic hit and George Floyd happened. The defund the police movement was born. The Philly chapter of BLM has not only called for the defunding of the police, they have called for the total abolition of the police. They have a seat at DA Larry Krasners table while the DA's office relationship with the philly police is adversarial. This isn't rocket science, if you let the criminals run wild, they will.

There are a handful of radical DA's in big cities who have caused and exacerbated the problem. Krasner, Kim Foxx in Chicago, Gascon in LA, Chesa Boudin in San Francisco. Until they're replaced the problems with crime will persist. It doesn't matter what the police do if the prosecutors will not do their jobs.

For the record both political parties are responsible. Democrats felt there were way too many people locked up, and republicans saw some of the proposals as a reasonable way to save money. A state senator, republican Stewart Greenleaf from Bucks County, chaired the Senate Judicary committee and is responsible for many of the reforms that have to led to where we are at today. He's dead now, and it's too bad he's not around to see what havoc his policies have produced.

Anonymous said...

1.45
"Philly has 535 murders this year as of today. in 2013 they had 246. In 2014 they had 248"
and in 2011 the number was 322 so it depends on which numbers one wishes to cherry pick.
https://www.phillypolice.com/crime-maps-stats/
Homicides are rising yet "radical DA's" are not going after murderers?
That would be absurd and correlating property crimes with an increase in homicide rates is one really long stretch.
Anchorage has a higher violent crime rate than Philly yet Anchorage is hardly a hot bed of radical DA's. Boise had a 24 percent increase in robberies--again Boise is a hotbed of radical DA's?
Anchorage and Boise are not screaming "defund the police" either.
So are those two cities just letting criminals run wild?

Anonymous said...

crime? come on man is just you know!! people being people

Anonymous said...

@ 1:09 Yes, the murder rate in Philly bottomed out in 2013. Not sure what your point is but It's been creeping up ever since and I explain why in my lengthy post that you didn't bother to read. And who is correlating property crimes with homicide rates? Shootings and murders are way up in Philly under Larry Krasner. Period end of story.

You want say I am cherry picking, you use Anchorage and Boise but you don't want to talk about LA, NYC, Philly, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Newark to name a few, so who's doing the cherry picking? Is it your position is that these far left DA's have not contributed to the increase in violent crimes in all the cities listed? That vilification of the police, bail reform, and police budget cuts under the wide reaching umbrella of "criminal justice reform" have nothing to do with the rapid and dangerous increase in the violent crime rate in this country? It's got to the point where even far left San Francisco mayor London Breed has had enough and she's restoring the police budget cuts. If that's your position then you'll have to do better than just saying but but but Anchorage, AK and Boise Idaho LOL.

Show facts that back up why the crime rates have soared under these DA's and why their policies are not responsible for this.