
<p>America is experiencing a very serious spike in crime across the nation. ; Especially hardest hit are the major urban centers. ; Everything has a cause &#8212; and finding the primary cause is essential to finding solutions. ; It is no different than a doctor diagnosing the correct cause of symptoms. ; Wrong diagnosis and the problem gets worse. ; And that is exactly the situation we have today in terms of crime.</p>



<p>Currently, most of the current crime crisis comes from the policies of the Democrats … the left. ; Where crime is at its peaks, blame the folks in charge. ; So, it is their diagnosis and their “solutions” that are failing miserably.</p>



<p>A recent online article in the <em>New York Times</em> by German Lopez does a pretty good job of delineating the left’s theories of the causes of the high crime rates across the country. ; ;</p>



<p>Lopez does a good job at showing the scope of the problem. ; In one graph he shows that the soaring murder rate across the country has moved up in the past two years (2019 and 2021) from 5 percent to 6.9 percent. ; The 2022 rate is on track to be another record increase.</p>



<p>And as bad as the murder rates are, the number of lessor violent crimes is increasing at a faster rate – in some cases doubling previous years.</p>



<p>Yes … we have a crime crisis. ; So, what is causing it. ; According to Lopez, there are primarily three causes.</p>



<p>The first cause has been the Covid Pandemic. ; Lopez argues that the Pandemic and the lockdown “disrupted all aspects of life, including the social services that can tame crime and violence.” ; ;</p>



<p>That suggests that social work successfully fights crime. ; I find that to be an unproven theory – but one embraced by those on the left. ; It does not explain why crime started going up as the Pandemic hit – and rose even faster and further as the Pandemic eased and the lockdowns largely ended.</p>



<p>Lopez second cause is the number of “high-profile police killings of 2020 and the protests that followed.” ; One can argue that the riots that grew out of the protests resulted in a definite spike in criminality – vandalism, arson, looting, assault, battery, etc. ; But to suggest that the post-riot street crimes we see every day are some sort of retaliation for the police shootings has an ominous implication. ; Since the “high profile police killings” were white officers killing black makes, Lopez is putting the rise in retaliatory crime squarely on the black community.</p>



<p>And finally, Lopez drags out the evergreen cause – guns. ; According to Lopez, “Americans bought a record number of guns in recent years.” ; It is first important to know that not all felony crimes involve guns. ; In fact, guns are Involved in only a teeny-weeny percent of all felony crimes. ; Think of those “crash and dash” crimes … the car jackings … home burglaries … assaults. ; Rarely is a gun involved. ; Even in the case of rape, only 25 percent of perpetrators are armed with a weapon &#8212; and fewer with a gun. ; ;</p>



<p>Obviously, a lot of murders (approximately 75percent) are committed with firearms – with handguns the weapon of choice (approximately 45 percent). ; Gun violence gets the most attention, but it is not the cause of most felony crimes. ; Not even close. ; To place guns as one of the three major causes of the overall crime spike is … well … absurd.</p>



<p>Lopez basically provided the leftwing social worker version of the causes of crime. ; I will give you the real answer – and it is not complicated. ; LACK OF ENFORCEMENT.</p>



<p>If you do not arrest criminals … prosecute them … and dole out appropriate punishment, you will get more crime. ; When enforcement is lacking, crime pays.</p>



<p>President Biden says he is against defunding the police. ; Of course he is. ; Defunding the police is so toxic to the electorate that anyone who proposes it need not run for office. ; But Biden is engaging in a bit of a scam. ; He favors increasing police funding AND diverting money from enforcement to the soft social worker approach. ; That essentially defunds the all-important enforcement – the primary purpose of policing.</p>



<p>What has Biden done to push back on the Democrat policy of NOT prosecuting crimes. ; He said nothing when his own Vice President raised money to provide get-out-of-jail-free cards to criminal rioters. ; Biden has not chastised Democrat prosecutors who have abandoned their duty in such places as New York City and Los Angeles – prosecutors elected by the radical left of his own Party. ; Biden has not offered any significant federal support – boots on the ground – to address the astronomical crime rates in the segregated urban communities.</p>



<p>The Democrat approach is to limit police activities. ; Intimidate police into inaction. ; Ordering police to stand down in the face of serious and life-threatening crimes – even as they are bombarded with rocks, urine and Molotov Cocktails. ; ;</p>



<p>Recall all those orders from Democrat mayors restraining the police as rioters burned and pillaged? ; Remember the Democrat mayor of Portland saying the presence of federal police guarding government buildings was provocative and they should get out of town? ; Democrats have spent years undermining public confidence in policing – not just the weeding out of a few bad actors.</p>



<p>Has Biden done anything to vet migrants at the southern border to prevent criminals, terrorists, gangbangers and drug cartels from entering America? ; Instead the administration warns local authorities not to take action since border security is a federal responsibility. ;</p>



<p>Rather than prosecuting criminals, Biden Democrats want to disempower Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) from doing its job. ; They even order local sheriffs not to turn over illegal aliens to ICE. ; Democrat mayors offer safe harbors in the name of sanctuary cities and counties. ; ;</p>



<p>Even if you are inclined to be concerned about guns, you have not seen Democrats proposing harsher actions against those who own illegal guns – or commit crimes with guns. ; Rather than go after the criminal, the Biden policy is to go after the gun and gun owners – ALL gun owners. ; Stopping the legal sale of guns will do nothing to reduce crime. ; You must arrest and punish the criminal.</p>



<p>The crime wave we are experiencing is largely caused by lack of prosecution and undermining policing – both are policies benefiting criminals. ; The way to reverse the trend is strict enforcement and putting police in the business of tracking down and arresting criminals. ; Insistent that prosecutors actually prosecute those charged with crimes. ; And judges should had out appropriate sentences. ; It is really that simple.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

The New York Times makes excuses for crime … but misses the primary cause
