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Law and Crime
Recipe for a Summer of Violence
Why this month may see a further uptick in violent crime across the nation.
Posted July 2, 2021 Reviewed by Kaja Perina
Key points
- Crime rises as criminals perceive reduced deterrents, more opportunities.
- An anti-police social climate gives a boost to criminals.
- Many citizens clamor for more police protection.
A spike in crime is engulfing U.S. cities in a manner not seen since the 1990s. This is especially true both in midsize cities, such as Columbus, Ohio where homicide rates have doubled over last year and in large cities such as Atlanta where homicides are up 50% from 2020.
Explanations of the causes of this increase in crime focus on factors outside the individual. The usual culprits are cited: poverty, lack of opportunity, pressures of the street culture, and discrimination of one sort or another. Hardships related to the covid pandemic have been added to the list of causes of crime: depression, anxiety, isolation, unemployment, dislocation, and suffering brought on by the “long haul” aftermath of covid.
There is nothing new about assertions that the environment causes crime. But facts are facts. Most people facing severe adversities are not criminals and do not turn to crime to relieve their suffering. Far more important than a person’s environment is how he chooses to cope with whatever life hands him. Most poor people are not criminals, and many wealthy people are. It is absurd to imply that the pandemic has turned responsible people into criminals.
As the July 4 holiday was approaching, city leaders voiced fear that the summer of 2021 would be especially challenging in terms of a rapidly rising crime rate. Their apprehensions are well-grounded. All the ingredients are in place. Criminals look for opportunities, and they will discover them easily owing in part to the current social climate with its “progressive” prosecutors and anti-police rhetoric.
Operating With Fewer Restraints
Perceived by many people as victims rather than the victimizers they are, criminals are operating with impunity in many places. The new breed of prosecutors has decided not to prosecute some drug crimes, property crimes, and prostitution. In some jurisdictions where drug laws are not enforced, drug markets and associated crimes flourish.
Constant criticism and negativity toward law enforcement have taken a toll. A large number of retirements and difficulty recruiting new officers are impacting public safety. During 2020 civil rights protests, property was looted and burned with some perpetrators facing no consequences. Now some officers are reluctant to enter urban areas where they are most needed. According to The Washington Post of June 16, 2021, residents of some Black neighborhoods in Baltimore complained that they were overlooked as police gave attention to crime in more affluent White areas.
Criminals co-opted nonviolent protest movements and took over parts of cities, such as in Portland and Seattle. Some offenders were arrested and almost immediately were back on the streets due to new bail policies. Juvenile justice reforms have resulted in no criminal prosecution or in light penalties. Add to the mix a flood of illegal firearms that contributes to the lethality of some crimes but does not “cause” people to become criminals.
As U.S. cities approach the hottest season when people are outside and have more leisure time, conditions are propitious for the criminal. He has fewer restraints than at any time in recent memory.
What hasn’t changed are citizens’ desires to be safe. They depend on the police to respond to an emergency. Defund the police and Black on Black crime is likely to rise to even higher levels. A survey conducted in late May by a major Oregon newspaper (“The Oregonian,” 5/21/21) revealed that three-quarters of the residents of Portland reject calls to defund the police. More than half of those polled would like to see an increase in officers. These were the findings across the economic, racial, and educational spectrum.
What Citizens Really Want
There are additional indications that people want to ensure protection by police, not reduce the number on the force. Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington, D.C., has decided to keep police in the public schools. She has received intense criticism from activists who think that a police presence is “antithetical to environments needed to foster learning” (The Washington Post, June 17, 2021).
Advocates of defunding the police think that crisis counselors should respond to what are considered mental health emergencies. The Washington Post (June 17, 2021) reports that counselors are “wary of being seen as a police alternative.” Understandably, they might have second thoughts about responding without police backup to a situation that could quickly escalate.
Efforts to remedy social problems need not come at the expense of public safety. Social reform is about providing opportunities for people to improve their lives. It is not about increasing opportunity for criminals to strike.
