A group of 30 House Democrats wrote a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to bring forth bipartisan legislation to ‘refund’ the police show constituents they care about rising crime.
‘Members should have the opportunity to show our constituents that we are addressing crime in our communities,’ the letter read. ‘We are also asking that you please meet with us next week to discuss the need to invest in law enforcement to make our communities safer from criminals.’
The letter asked Pelosi, D-Calif., to take up a number of standalone bills and not to attach them to the fiscal year 2023 appropriations, so that members can ‘publicly show their support for law enforcement.’
The letter, obtained by Punchbowl, called out the House Judiciary Committee and said it made clear it has ‘no intention’ of bringing forth any law enforcement bills, so members asked Pelosi to use her powers as speaker to bring the bills forth for a direct vote to get everyone on record.
The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., has a number of progressives likely to be hostile to such legislation like Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., and Cori Bush, D-Mo.
Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Katie Porter, D-Calif., Dean Phillips, D-Minn., Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and 26 others signed on to the letter.
The letter takes a notably forceful stance after the ‘defund the police’ movement on the left, as Democrats grasp to hold onto their seats in upcoming midterm elections where Republicans are expected to sweep the House.
A group of 30 House Democrats wrote a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to bring forth bipartisan legislation to ‘refund’ the police show constituents they care about rising crime
Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Katie Porter, D-Calif., Dean Phillips, D-Minn., Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and 26 others signed on to the letter
Most notable of the recent crime wave is a spate of mass shootings, particularly last month’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas where 21 were killed.
And in a massive political shakeup San Franciscans successfully recalled their progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin.
READ RELATED: What Happened Between Ngizwe Mchunu and Sihle Zikalala Assault Charges Details, Could He Get Arrested? Explored
The recall campaign against Boudin, which was funded mainly by local business groups, accused the attorney of not doing enough to keep citizens safe, and introducing policies that allowed repeat offenders to commit crimes without fear of incarceration.
Late last year the Democratic bastion of New York City elected Mayor Eric Adams, a former Republican who ran a tough-on-crime campaign.
Meanwhile just a year and a half ago President Biden won San Francisco by 72 points and New York by 53.
In New York City, grand larceny (theft of items worth more than $1,000) is up 51 percent, petit larceny is up 43 percent. Larceny theft is up 20 percent in San Francisco from one year ago theft is up 66 percent in Chicago.
But it’s not just major hubs where Americans feel less safe – a Gallup poll from earlier this year found that 72 percent are dissatisfied with the nation’s policies to reduce crime, up from 49 percent in 2020.
Republicans were the most dissatisfied, 87 percent, but 65 percent of Democrats expressed dissatisfaction too.
Meanwhile, five major cities – Washington, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Milwaukee are on track to surpass their already-soaring homicide rates from last year.
Last year, the FBI warned that homicides in the US rose nearly 30 percent from 2020 and overall violent crime rose for the first time in four years.
The stunning trend in homicides has continued this year. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the homicide rate leaped 24.7 percent from the year-to-date compared to the same period last year.
Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia, have seen a 13.4 percent and 13.3 percent increase in homicides, respectively, Fox first reported.
Meanwhile, law enforcement in Baltimore, Maryland, has reported 7.7 percent more homicides this year. Los Angeles tailgates the Charm City with a 7.3 percent spike.
Source:
