PHILADELPHIA, PA – Crime reduction and public safety continue to show signs of improvement in the U.S. amid false claims and news outlet attacks, according to an Op-Ed in Next City by Brian Tashman, deputy director of Vera Action, a criminal justice reform organization focused on ending mass incarceration, protecting immigrants’ rights, and restoring dignity to people behind bars.
Tashman said that claims led by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his VP pick J.D. Vance have created a web of false statements suggesting the increase in extreme crime is the fault of Democratic presidential nominee and current VP Kamala Harris.
The Major Cities Chiefs Association reported that, in the first half of the year, the rate of homicides actually fell in large cities across the United States, like Baltimore and Philadelphia, according to Tashman.
Also challenging the remarks that were circling national media, Tashman’s opinion piece cited a report from the FBI that represented a nationwide drop in violent crime, one that is represented in large cities — though the COVID-19 pandemic was noted as a possible compounding explanation.
Tashman noted a mark of improvement, exemplified in Boston’s homicide rate falling by seven percent.
According to Tashman’s Next City Op-Ed, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was criticized by Fox News for having “a soft-on-crime agenda,” and that was coupled by another statement from Newsmax, stating that she was “doubling down on anti-policing policies amid a crime wave.”
Tashman cited comments made by a conservative news commentator, Bernie Kerik, who Tashman added called Mayor Wu a “moron.” Another spokesperson of the Fraternal Order of Police commented on Mayor Wu’s actions, saying Boston, and other cities alike, are turning into “absolute cesspools.”
Amid these claims, Tashman reported the Community Safety Team that Mayor Wu works with has focused on conversing with residents and community organizations like local churches to “address the root causes of violence through a public health lens.”
According to the Op-Ed, Boston is utilizing social workers and funding community violence intervention programs as the city is working toward long-term solutions as these strategies can respond to crises and disrupt potential violence. Boston is connecting people and implementing violence prevention practices instead of increasing punishments and threats.
When it comes to strategies, voters are responding more favorably to prevention techniques rather than “tough-on-crime” policies that take the shape of increased policing and stricter sentencing, Tashman wrote, adding when programs work, like the ones in Boston, people need to hear about it.
However, the Next City opinion noted, usually the discussion is dominated by those who yell the loudest, like Donald Trump, and rhetoric that only spreads fear and paranoia.
Successful policy implementation, according to Tashman, is often “playing defense due to sensationalized news coverage and malicious political attacks,” adding that outcomes in places like Indiana should be celebrated, where both crime and incarceration rates decreased, even though predictions said otherwise.
Tashman wrote in Next City that places like Philadelphia are seeing a drop in gun violence due to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, and his reform efforts bringing more accountability to officers who break the law.
Op-Ed author Tashman said he recognizes a history of a system that practices mass incarceration and unaccountable policing, and how that plays into a negative effect on how people view crime, but he argues improvement is the key, and not getting bogged down in the data.
