As a preamble to this commentary, we should be able to agree that the vast majority of police throughout America provide outstanding protective services to the people. They are not the belligerent gun-happy characters Democrats on the left and their media cronies make them out to be. The vast majority of police never discharge their guns outside the practice ranges. They are more often the victims of criminal attacks than they are the perpetrators. The rogue cops are few and far between.
However …
… only the most ardent partisan Democrat would attempt to deny the fact that the Democratic Party is anti-police … period.
The Democratic Party has long had a bias against police and policing. The modern anti-police culture arguably started on the left during the 1960s. At the time, there were legitimate concerns about police racism and brutality – ironically found mostly in the Democrat-controlled cities with large, segregated minority populations. And even that negativism against police was the domain of the less powerful radical left within the Party.
Over the years, it has evolved into a major policy point for Democratic politicians. It reached an apex with the defund the police movement in recent years. While Democrat politicians have tried to distance themselves from the irrationality of eliminating policing as crime rises to epidemic proportions, the anti-police bias remains part of the Democrat DNA.
The most radical left-wing faction of the Democratic Party still calls for the defunding of police departments. It takes different forms. In the extreme, they want to seriously eliminate the policing function and replace it with a form of a social welfare agency. They seem to believe that criminals can be talked out of proceeding with a crime by talk.
(You only need to recall that the police in Uvalde, Texas tried talking to the shooter – calling him “sir” and asking him politely to put down his gun so no more people would get hurt. The response was more shots and more dead children.)
Other forms of defunding involve the reduction in money for basic police functions. They call it “re-imagining policing.”
Some Democrats – like President Biden – express their opposition to defunding – but there is a hitch. Biden has proposed federal legislation to fund police work. BUT … if you check out that actual legislation, much of the funding is for social work.
The Democrats’ war on policing is more than funding. They focus on virtually every violent arrest or killing as a police failure. They promote legal action against officers. Democrats have advanced a false narrative of pandemic police racism across the country.
Democrat mayors have ordered police to stand down as rioters vandalize, burn and loot – often attacking police equipment and officers without response. In Portland, rioters were allowed to take over a police headquarters for weeks and the Democrat mayor said the occupation was like a street festival.
Democrat officials have passed laws reducing or eliminating the pursuit of criminals. In some jurisdictions, police are not allowed to chase fleeing criminals. Democrat district attorneys – abusing prosecutorial discretion – refuse to prosecute crimes they inappropriately declare to be non-violent – including shoplifting, looting, theft and mugging. Even with more serious crimes like drug dealing, rape, attempted murder, and even murder, the perpetrators are released as fast as they are arrested – demoralizing police.
The man who attacked the Republican candidate for New York Governor got released without bond in a few hours. Two illegal aliens who smuggled millions of dollars worth of Fentanyl were released on no bond – and have now disappeared. That is because Democrats passed the law that freed them.
Those who are commissioned to protect the southern border for illegal entry are prevented by Democrat policies to do more than play the welcome wagon – even though they see the crime that is visited on border communities and in other locations across America. They are not able to vet the migrants in the search for bad hombres.
Democrats have called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — the one agency that tracks down alien criminals. Democrat officials have ordered their local police and sheriff departments not to cooperate with ICE by handing over alien criminals. Democrat administrations have further frustrated police work by establishing “sanctuary” cities and counties.
More police are resigning – and there are insufficient applicants to fill the vacancies. That is especially true in the high crime cities were more police are sorely needed.
Every police killing, no matter how justified, subjects police to public scorn … tedious administration polices … and law suits. Truer if the criminal is black. Consequently, Police are reluctant to track down criminals … engage in personal contact … or use potentially lethal force even when necessary. The quality of policing declines and the rate of crime increases.
Democrat anti-police policies over many years and over broad stretches of America have undermined effective police enforcement. The results should have been obvious. The depletion of the ranks and the intimidation against police has resulted in an unprecedent rise in crime of every kind in every community.
Most folks have high regard for their local police. In high crime areas – especially in the minority communities – there are calls for more policy, real policing – not the feel-good pseudo policing that Democrats are offering. Things will not change, however, until we get rougher on the criminals than we are on the police.
Seeing some of these left-wing Democrat prosecutors being recalled or thrown out of office by the voters is a good sign. It is time for law and order – and that requires professional policing. Next time you see a cop, thank him or her for their service.
So, there ‘tis.