Crime Causing Conservative Policy in Major Cities

An interesting phenomenon is occurring across the nation as crime rates soar in major U.S. cities, plummeting Uncle Sam’s safety ranking as chaos takes hold in American metropolises.

Rising crime rates and incidents have scourged the United States for years, but never more than the present as cities and states walk back on soft-on-crime policies which have thrown communities into turmoil.

In the past, conservatives have criticized soft-on-crime policy which has gained traction in many liberal American urban settings. Policies such as the decriminalization of drugs, violence against police and soft-handed approaches to theft have led urban populations to lawlessness.

In response, however, multiple local lawmakers, officials, residents and voters are shifting rightward in their legal directives towards crime, theft, drugs and violence.

These remediations are happening in some of the most liberal cities in the U.S., such as New York, California, Oregon and New Mexico. Washington, D.C. itself is also implementing stronger measures to curb crime.

In places like New York and New Mexico, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, respectively, are taking executive action to spur their legislative bodies to respond to crime rates.

“In New York City, Gov. Kathy Hochul recently ordered hundreds of National Guard troops to address crime in the city’s subways…Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, governor of the state with one of the highest rates for killings by police, is threatening to call a special legislative session for more anti-crime measures,” according to Axios.

In places like San Francisco, voters are approving tough-on-crime measures to make the City by the Bay safer.

“In San Francisco, voters passed Breed’s ballot initiatives to lift restrictions on police operations and screen welfare recipients for drug use — two traditionally conservative proposals that nevertheless resonated with an overwhelmingly Democratic electorate, illustrating voters’ frustration with public drug use,” according to Politico.

Drugs have become another hot topic in Oregon, where the state seems to be returning to moderately hard tactics toward public drug use, similar to the concerns of San Francisco residents.

“Oregon is recriminalizing possession of drugs such as heroin, cocaine and fentanyl, three years after becoming the first state to decriminalize possession and personal use of all drugs,” according to Axios.

The bigger issue at play here is how it seems Democratic Party voters and elected officials are reversing their stances on criminal justice, which would have been considered an act of Democratic political treason back in 2020.

Those pushing for softer punishments are reaping the unwanted and shameful results of slashing police powers – walking back on previous stances to fix issues which were created by their reckless rhetoric.

In response to current police powers and hoping to secure the capital, the Washington D.C. City Council “[passed] a major criminal justice package on Tuesday — with all but one member of the City Council backing the bill — that toughens penalties and expands police powers…They’re responding to constituents who are fed up with the city’s crime problems,” according to Politico.

The reversal of crime policy might well be a desperate effort to retain voter satisfaction, especially since the turn-around went from radical criminal justice reforms to moderate or conservative reversals, in some cases.

With the American public increasingly dissatisfied with President Biden, Democratic Party politicians and officials are trying to cover areas Republicans are successfully jabbing at them – with soft-on-crime policy being the most evident among political strategies the GOP is using against Democratic incumbents.

“‘I don’t believe it’s progressive to allow people to get assaulted on the streets at night. I don’t believe it’s progressive to allow people to sleep in tents,’ Mark Farrell, a moderate Democrat challenging San Francisco Mayor London Breed, said on Tuesday,” according to Politico.