The murder pandemic [UPDATED]

Daniel Horowitz writes:

Sadly, fireworks were not the only munitions shot over the July 4 weekend. Statues weren’t the only things felled by anarchists and criminals roaming free in the streets. This weekend was a bloody one across the country, with endless shootings in America’s cities, including New York City, which was considered the safest American city for a generation.

Once again, African-American victims, including a number of young children, paid the price while the anarchy was excused and even legitimized by the media and politicians.

Horowitz provides details that back up these statements.

He’s right to highlight New York City. Shootings there soared by 205 percent in June, making it the city’s bloodiest month since 1996. The increase corresponds to the disbanding of New York’s anti-crime unit of plainclothes cops.

And what about Atlanta? At least 93 people were shot in that city between May 31 – about the time when the George Floyd protests began – and June 27. That’s roughly double the number from the same span a year ago.

Then came July 4th. That night alone, 23 people were shot and wounded. One of the victims was an eight year-old girl. She died.

Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, has declared a state of emergency. This will enable him to bring in up to 1,000 national guard troops. The idea is for these troops to protect state buildings, such as the Georgia State Capitol, Georgia Department of Public Safety Headquarters, and Governor’s Mansion, while local law enforcement concentrates on policing communities.

Unfortunately, with police morale at or near rock bottom in Atlanta, it’s questionable whether officers will engage in the kind of policing needed to stem the runaway violence.

For years, we have been warning against the double whammy of (1) pulling back from proactive policing and (2) allowing criminals back on the streets before they complete their sentences (or sentencing them too leniently in the first place). Proactive policing and stiff sentencing played a key role in dramatically reducing violent crime in the last years of the 20th century and the first decade-plus of this one. Now, successful attacks on both practices are bringing back to bad old days of unsafe streets and high murder rates.

And, as in the bad old days, Blacks are the victims, to a frightfully disproportionate degree.

UPDATE: Bill Otis has more at Crime & Consequences. He notes that in the 36 largest cities in the country, murder is up more than 20 percent in the first half of 2020 over the same period last year.

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