I really wish perceptive writers would stop saying things like "As shootings and murders continue to rise in cities across America, including New York." This is just not true, at least for New York. There WAS a clear spike in shootings and murders that seemed to begin around last year's lockdown, and then really surge over the summer, but it has been falling ever since. In Jan/Feb of this year, murders were actually down from those months in 2020. Shootings are not yet back to where they were pre-pandemic, but they are certainly not continuing to rise. It's also worth noting that even with the huge summer spike, last year's murder rate of 468 would have been a record LOW in almost any Bloomberg year.
Given the way this issue has been cynically deployed, I think it's worth being precise. I still talk to people outside of the City who seem to think New York has returned to 1980s level of crime, when actually it's more like mid-2010s levels, AND most of the evidence suggests even that was a temporary shock caused by the pandemic. Obviously every shooting and murder is a tragedy, and people's perceptions may be more important than reality in evaluating the political implications, but I wish writers would at least remind readers of the actual facts about crime when discussing this subject.
I really wish perceptive writers would stop saying things like "As shootings and murders continue to rise in cities across America, including New York." This is just not true, at least for New York. There WAS a clear spike in shootings and murders that seemed to begin around last year's lockdown, and then really surge over the summer, but it has been falling ever since. In Jan/Feb of this year, murders were actually down from those months in 2020. Shootings are not yet back to where they were pre-pandemic, but they are certainly not continuing to rise. It's also worth noting that even with the huge summer spike, last year's murder rate of 468 would have been a record LOW in almost any Bloomberg year.
Given the way this issue has been cynically deployed, I think it's worth being precise. I still talk to people outside of the City who seem to think New York has returned to 1980s level of crime, when actually it's more like mid-2010s levels, AND most of the evidence suggests even that was a temporary shock caused by the pandemic. Obviously every shooting and murder is a tragedy, and people's perceptions may be more important than reality in evaluating the political implications, but I wish writers would at least remind readers of the actual facts about crime when discussing this subject.
The savings of eliminating the police force are huge. No 35,000 standing army. Everybody just buy an assalt rifle for protection.