Americans have been gaslit for decades surrounding the issue of crime, its prevalence and impact on our society. This has been accomplished by way of manipulative partisan readings of crime statistics, the reclassification of what was formerly criminal activity as being no longer subject to criminal prosecution, misguided efforts to reform the criminal justice system by adapting soft-on-crime approaches ranging all the way from what unlawful activities police officers are permitted to engage citizens in regard to, a court and bail system that puts dangerous repeat criminal offenders back on the streets while awaiting trial, and a politicized response to crime that has prioritized an ethos that seeks to reverse what has been labeled an American “incarceration state” over the safety and security of our citizens and our way of life.
The result of decades of these misguided efforts has been a profound societal decay on the streets of American cities and towns that sees lawlessness and danger as the accepted societal norm and an atmosphere of disorder and chaos having replaced any sense of security Americans should be afforded in the orderly civilized first-world society we are alleged to be.
Certainly Americans are more aware of criminal behaviors and the threat that crime poses to their well-being. This has been accomplished mostly by way of local news coverage that utilizes available security camera video and fast-response news crews that go directly to crime victims and bring their stories into the living rooms of the American people.
But Americans also witness the societal destruction brought on by rampant criminality by the striking decline of storefront businesses, both locally owned as well as national chains, due to the decriminalization of everything from shoplifting totaling less than $1000 to no longer enforcing laws against public intoxication and drug use as well as establishing encampments on the streets.
A traditional criticism of those who speak out about the crime that is plaguing our society is to blame the televised news reporting that exposes the public to the horrific experiences of their fellow citizens. We are implored to stop watching the news because it is said to be showing us a statistically distorted view of the threat that criminal behavior poses to society at large.
But what the news does is essentially what many political and social justice movements seek to do as their most basic strategy to affect societal change and that is to raise public awareness to whatever issues they may be attempting to have an impact on. Thus we see protests on every issue from climate change to actually defunding police departments. This reveals a basic hypocrisy on the part of those who have long succeeded in turning the issue of public safety into a highly politicized ideological fault line. Traditionally, those on the left would accuse anyone who expresses a concern about crime or dares to suggest tough-on-crime approaches as engaging in fear mongering.
But we are now in a period of political realignment wherein the strict ideological interpretations of public issues are shifting.
So it is in that spirit that I would first suggest that anyone reading this take a moment to re-imagine America without the threat that rampant crime poses to each and every one of us. Try to imagine an America where women and small children are free and safe to walk the streets of our towns and cities without the fear or concerns that they most certainly are burdened with at this time.
Imagine how small business would flourish instead of being systematically shuttered in towns and cities from coast to coasts. Imagine the boost to local economies of safe crime-free streets.
I thus suggest a complete rethinking of our approach to crime in America. We have tried a soft–on-crime approach for over two decades and it has failed miserably. We have to put the safety of our citizens first and the health and well-being of our society at the forefront of our concerns and our efforts.
We must therefore:
Re-criminalize behaviors that have been either decriminalized or determined to be no longer worthy of being enforced by front-line law enforcement officers and allow police officers to do their jobs of fully policing our streets and addressing criminal behavior wherever they might find it and removing those engaging in criminal behavior from society.
Reinstate tough-on-crime remedies such as California’s original three strikes sentencing guideline that was amended in 2012 by the passage of Prop 36 which then prevented felonies deemed to be non-violent in nature to count as a ‘strike.’ Before Prop 36, all felonies were counted as strikes.
Disengage our court systems from any ideological movement-based efforts to soften society’s response to crime by passing laws that impose strict sentencing restrictions on judges and prosecutors.
Fund the ongoing buildup of adequate prison facilities to humanely house convicted criminals for the full duration of their sentences. This is critical because without it there has been a long-established legal justification for the early release of dangerous criminals back into society.
We must, as a civilized society, begin the process of meeting our obligations to our citizens and the keeping of the promise of justice to victims of crimes that criminal perpetrators will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. No exceptions.