By Michael McCutcheon and Alyssa Eng
SAN FRANCISCO – A Gallup poll found that crime is an important issue for voters, second only to the economy, and Republicans have focused on this issue, spending more than $49 million during the midterm election for the airing of 93,000 ads related to crime.
An additional $21 million was spent on 43,000 ads related to “defund the police.”
Despite this heavy spending, a new study demonstrates homicides increased less rapidly in cities with forward-thinking prosecutors. Furthermore, in 2020, per capita murder rates were 40 percent higher in states won by Donald Trump than those won by Joe Biden.
Additionally, the study showed while forward-thinking policies such as including limiting the prosecution of juveniles as adults, ending the death penalty, moving away from cash bail, and ending excessive sentences have not been found to negatively impact public safety, they are associated with reductions in reoffences.
However, these statistics have not prevented Republicans from attempting to connect progressive prosecutors to higher crime rates, said analysts.
At his rally last week, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, voiced support for increasing criminal penalties and incentives for police recruitment. He stated a desire to “let police do their jobs … We don’t want to be part of a social experiment.”
Numerous similar comments have been made by other Republican candidates – including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin in the New York Governor’s race.
Studies show while Republicans tend to take similar stances on this issue, crime is a more divisive topic among Democrats.
It has become such a wedge issue that many are going back to tough on crime policies.
Most notably, President Biden makes a point to highlight his allowance of over $10 billion in federal stimulus funds to be put towards police hires and equipment.
Compared to 1970’s crime rates, today’s crime rates are much lower. There is no legitimate reason to criticize Democrats as soft on crime. As this article so ably demonstrates, Democrats are reducing crime through progressive practices.