ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Last week the White House finally addressed the horrific rise in our country’s crime rate — and completely missed the mark (“Biden to address reducing gun violence as key to stopping violent crime surge,” Web, June 21).
“I’ve been at this a long time,” President Biden said. “There are things we know that work to reduce gun violence and violent crime: background checks for purchasing a firearm are important; a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines; community policing programs that keep neighborhoods safe and keep folks out of trouble. These efforts work, they save lives.”
The problem is that these “efforts” are not the ones we really need. We had guns on the street of our major cities before the rise in crime rates; we have them on the streets now and we’ll have them on the streets once the crime rates subside. The two main problems that Mr. Biden did not address in any detail is police defunding (morale among police is very low, while retirement and resignation rates are skyrocketing) and the lack of prosecution of criminals.
It is unbelievable that nearly 70% of the individuals arrested during the Portland riots had their charges dismissed. Hundreds of people arrested for looting and rioting in New York in the wake of George Floyd’s death had their charges dropped, too. Progressive district attorneys and judges in our major cities are letting criminals go without punishment. So it’s certainly no surprise that crime is through the roof.
A recent estimate of more than 30,000 gangs in our country is a 15% increase from 2006, and the highest estimate since 1996. This is certainly a major factor in our crime-rate rise, especially since both policing and prosecutions have declined.
Why doesn’t the current administration address these issues? Incompetence is no excuse for allowing our city streets to be terrorized.
GEORGE BEIM
Leesburg, Va.
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