Can We Trust Democrats to Fix the Disaster They Created By Backing the 'Defund The Police' Movement?
Violent crime in American cities has been on the rise. Theres no denying it. In fact, even Democrats are panicking over the situation they caused. It was hardly surprising to see Democrats worried about the consequences of their disastrous endorsement of defunding the police. As unfortunate as it was to see the Democrats paint the police as the enemy, it was good to see that woke liberal city leaders who thought they were protecting their citizens by defunding the police have realized the error of their ways and are suddenly re-funding them. Good for them, I guess. But the damage may have already been done. As I wrote earlier this week, While its good that these woke cities that thought they were doing something good by calling police racist and defunding their police departments are starting to acknowledge the error of their ways, why would anyone want to serve a city whose leadership doesnt have their backs and caves to the outrage mob?  I also noted that I suspected restoring funding to the police wont fully solve the problem. And I was right. One problem is that respect for police has plummeted. I will say words matter, Inspector Joseph Seminara, commanding officer of the 46th Precinct, told CNN. I think a lot of the small element here, thats making quality of life miserable for the hard-working community, feel emboldened that its okay to ignore a lawful command by the police. Its okay to fight the police. Words matter. The growing animosity creates real dangers for these officers on the beat. Weve had people threaten us, you know, threaten to kill us, threaten to kill our families, Officer Rosado told me. I hope your family dies. I hope your family gets raped. You know like, stuff like that, that were supposed to brush off.  This environment can have a debilitating effect on the rank and file. The NYPD is now shedding officers faster than it can recruit new ones. Some are retiring early or simply leaving the force. Officers say it is partly a problem of morale. But thats not the only problem. Police across the country are more cautious when it comes to proactive policing because they know they dont have the support of their communities. You just have to be honest and say that police in America are far more cautious today about stopping someone than they were a year ago, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement policy group. Proactive policing is much more complicated. And now were in the post George Floyd era, which makes police understandably cautious. The national mood is not sympathetic to the police, Wexler said. I think well find balance down the road. We always do. But right now theres trepidation about proactive police work.  In other cases, lawmakers have made it harder for police to do their jobs, particularly with lower-level crime. In New York City, lawmakers have decriminalized quality-of-life offenses, restricted the use of proactive policing tactics and effectively ended the prosecution of many low-level crimes, said Patrick Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association. At this point, there is nothing left for police officers to step back from. We are doing the job exactly as our elected leaders have asked us to do it. They will have to answer for the results.  Another problem is the current occupant of the White House. During the campaign, Joe Biden called for the defunding of police, and now he has to address the consequences of the realities of that policy. Its not going well. Predictably, Joe Biden is calling for more gun control, which we know doesnt work. Democrats created this problem, and, I dont care what anyone says, theyre the last people who can be trusted to fix it. They perpetuated hate and distrust of police and thats something that wont be easily mended. I would argue that as long as theyre in charge of cities and the federal government, fixing the problem will be impossible.