Opinion: CA'ns sick and tired of pols soft-pedaling State's crime uptick

As CA'n leaders continue huckstering absurd and altogether backwards approaches to criminal justice (namely, that hamstringing our police depts will reduce crime), frustrated residents and businesses are speaking out. According to Newsweek, it's getting harder for locals to ignore the State's surging violent and property crime—though Supe Ellenberg insists our problem is we're jailing too many people.

California has experienced a sharp increase in violent and property crime over the past few years, accordingly to state figures, sparking a growing backlash against the state's governing Democratic Party.

One leading political scientist told Newsweek the situation in California means Democrats are struggling to "shake" the perception they are "soft on crime," which is likely to be a Republican focus during the 2024 presidential election.

The murder of George Floyd by a police officer in May 2020 sparked a campaign to "Defund the Police" which gained the support of many progressives. However, subsequent crime surges in major U.S. cities have ignited recoil, like Oakland's local Police Officers' Association and NAACP branch both calling for tougher law enforcement.

According to California's 2022 annual crime report published last month, violent crime in the golden state was 6.1 percent higher than the 2021 figure, whilst property crime had increased by 6.2 percent.

This continues a broader trend that saw the number of reported violent crimes in California surge from 173,864 in 2020 to 193,019 in 2022, whilst property crimes rose from 851,171 to 902,977 during the same time period.

This article originally appeared in Newsweek. Read the whole thing here.

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