Tough on Crime?

Tough on Crime?

Or Just Aiding and Abetting Criminals

One of my most fascinating observation is how different political interpretations skew emotional voter responses. Though there is actually no evidence that so-called cashless bail – which does not, by the way, simply release those likely to flee or commit violent crimes – has caused an increase in crime rates. But murder rates are definitely up, which the right blames on cashless bail. They refuse to take responsibility for those Republican-generated judicial rulings, from the US Supreme Court on down, effectively repealing assault weapon bans, justifying shooting under a “stand your ground” excuse and facilitating individual rights to carry legal concealed guns, that are directly statistically related to the latest flood of guns into our streets… and gun deaths.

That recent federal legislation, pushing background checks to screen out more mentally ill persons from getting guns, has accomplished almost nothing. Shooters who want guns, who want assault weapons, can always find them. And you may have noticed, there are a few additional recent realities that have pushed desperate people to the edge… that have nothing to do with bail. Here’s the liberal view of this issue from a March 25th release by the ACLU:

“Bail reform is a success — releasing more people from jail by minimizing or eliminating cash bail works. More people get out of jail and get home to their families, without any jump people skipping town, and without any jump in crime.

“There is a serious, newsworthy issue that warrants attention: an increase in homicide rates. This issue deserves an adult conversation that we’re not getting from major media outlets. Instead, reporters rely primarily on police sources who point to bail reform as the explanation for increased homicide rates. Article after article parrots this claim as fact — with no evidence whatsoever. With frustrating frequency, government officials and reporters assume that crime is a monolithic problem and jailing people fixes it. This narrative is false and irresponsible. Here are the facts:

“There is not a ‘crime wave.’ Homicide rates increased in 2020, at the same time that other crimes declined and remain at historic lows. Recent reports of a spike in shoplifting are largely unsupported. The real question is why there is a short-term increase in homicides while other crimes continue to decline. Responsible discourse would focus on how nationwide changes that began in 2020 — like social and financial disruption from the pandemic, or significant increases in gun purchases — may have contributed to this universal increase in homicides.”

I’ll tell you who’s really more edgy from the flood of new guns into our cities and towns: the police. They know there are more weapons out there. They know they sometimes are the intentional targets of criminals who are often better armed than they are. And edgy cops are obviously more likely to shoot than those who are not in fear of facing shooters with concealed weapons or assault rifles. Or just plain freeze. If you don’t think cops think that way, take a good hard look at the long pause of police officers before they entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas to face a mass murderer shooting children with a semiautomatic assault rifle.

For cops who are more likely to shoot a tad too quickly, rather than take a risk of underestimating a potential arrestee, police bullets can result in innocents or those guilty of lesser crimes losing their lives or facing serious and often permanent injury. And where that happens – increasingly provable with ubiquitous smartphone or bodycam footage – the state agency winds up with both guilt and a huge litigation settlement. In Los Angeles, for example, the cost to taxpayers from these wrongful deaths is staggering, but no more than the comparable settlements faced by municipalities across the United States. The situation is so bad here in LA that the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board (November 3rd) had to chime in. Here is some of what they wrote:

“Five bucks. A fiver, a five-spot, a fin. If you live in Los Angeles County, that’s how much you owe for the legal settlements the Board of Supervisors approved Tuesday for five people killed or injured by sheriff’s deputies’ actions. Nearly $50 million, spread out over 10 million residents, averages out to $5 a person. Pony up.

“No, that’s not the annual tally. That’s just this week. If you haven’t already paid the $3 you owe from the August jury verdict in the lawsuit over the photos of Kobe Bryant and others taken at the helicopter crash site in early 2020, add that in too. And be ready to keep paying .

“The county’s latest settlements, totaling $47.6 million, go to the families of Andrés Guardado, shot in the back five times by a sheriff’s deputy; Eric Briceno, who died after deputies beat and tased him in his home; Pedro Lopez, a bystander shot dead in his own backyard by deputies pursuing a suspect; and Rufino Paredes, who died by suicide while in Sheriff’s Department custody. And to Timothy Neal, shot by deputies in his own bedroom and left paraplegic.

“Imagine how long L.A. County residents would put up with getting monthly bills for sheriff’s deputies’ excessive force. Taxpayers would demand reforms, pronto — tougher hiring and performance standards, better training, smarter tactics. And certainly, tougher sheriff accountability. A leader who keeps costing the county millions of dollars, or even an occasional $5 collected from each person, would be out.

“But maybe it’s the supervisors and county lawyers who are being too careless with taxpayer money? OK, maybe they, too, should be paid or fired based on how much liability is racked up on their watch… It doesn’t work that way, but it should . Sheriffs and county supervisors should be evaluated at least in part on the cost of the injuries inflicted by those working under their direction. Better laws and oversight are important to curb Sheriff’s Department and police misconduct (and to keep deputies and officers safe, too, by the way). But unnecessary killings and injuries by law enforcement officers aren’t likely to stop as long as those agencies are permitted to pass the costs of their conduct to political leaders, who then pass them along to the taxpayers in the form of lesser services.”

It’s the same story amplified in every major city in America. Imagine how many fewer such settlements would be if cops were not acutely aware of how many guns are out there as a result of an American disease – a disease that is unique to America – that prevents rational people from contemplating reasonable gun control. It’s more than just cops being better trained!

I’m Peter Dekom, and you don’t have to rely on Occam’s Razor to tell you that the simple explanation of too many serious weapons in too many hands with very few meaningful limitations just might be the major contributing factor to an increase in murder rates and other violent crimes.