08.10.21

Democrats Are Still The Party Of Defunding The Police

No One Can Deny That The Most Prominent Elected Officials Calling To Defund The Police Are Democrat Members Of Congress, And They Are Setting The Agenda


SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “Last summer, across America, peaceful protests were overtaken by lawless rioters. For nights on end, violence and looting left cities in flames. And in too many state capitals and city halls, local officials froze under pressure from the Left and failed to protect their citizens, their homes, and their businesses. In fact, at every level of government, elected Democrats instead rapidly embraced radical calls to ‘defund the police.’ To the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, they succeeded in gutting local law enforcement budgets and validating the worst instincts of anti-police agitators…. The Biden Administration has amplified these efforts by appointing avowed supporters of defunding the police, like Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke, to high ranking positions in the Department of Justice – the agency charged with enforcing federal criminal law. We didn’t have to imagine the consequences of betraying the brave officers charged with keeping the peace. Millions of Americans have been living this dangerous new reality for months. Last year closed with the nation’s sharpest one-year increase in homicides in decades. In New York City, the murder rate jumped nearly 45 percent. And in my hometown of Louisville, it’s already on pace this year to exceed last year’s all-time record.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 6/24/2021)

  • LEADER McCONNELL: “In city after city, powerful Democrats vocally refused to uphold their responsibilities to protect public safety. Violent crime filled the void. Against this backdrop, the American people chose to defend themselves by exercising a core constitutional right. But now, as Democrats at the state and local level play politics with public safety, Democrats here in Washington want to make gun ownership in America more burdensome than ever. Prominent voices on the left – including some of our colleagues -- fanned the flames of a dangerously misguided experiment. And law-abiding Americans are paying the price.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 6/24/2021)

SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): “Americans want safety and security for themselves and their families. But safety and security are at risk when local governments embrace the dangerous rhetoric and policies of the ‘defund the police’ movement. More than 80% of all law enforcement in our country is conducted by state and local governments. These men and women who wear the badge are heroes who put their own lives on the line every day to protect their communities, and they deserve the full support of elected officials at every level of government. The woke rhetoric of ‘defund the police’ is dangerous – it puts our law enforcement at risk, and it puts the safety and security of Americans at risk. This must end. If local leaders in Minneapolis or Portland are so beholden to the radical Left that they cut financial support for their law enforcement, there is no reason federal taxpayers in Alabama or any other state should have to pick up the tab. My amendment is simple: if a city council believes the ‘woke’ thing to do is to cancel the police department, then they shouldn’t expect the federal government to bail them out.” (Sen. Tuberville, Press Release, 8/10/2021)

 

REMINDER: Elected Democrats Have Said For Months That ‘Defunding The Police Has To Happen’, ‘No More Policing’, ‘Defunding Police Means Defunding Police’

REP. CORI BUSH (D-MO): “I'm going to make sure I have security because I know I have had attempts on my life and I have too much work to do. There are too many people that need help right now for me to allow that. So if I end up spending $200,000, if I spend 10, 10, 10 more dollars on it, you know what, I get to be here to do the work. So suck it up and defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police and put that money into social safety nets because we're trying to save lives.” (“Cori Bush Explains Her Position On ‘Defund The Police’ While Paying For Private Security. Her Full Response,” CBS News 08/06/2021)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): “Defunding police means defunding police.” (“Ocasio-Cortez Dismisses Proposed $1B Cut: ‘Defunding Police Means Defunding Police’,” The Hill, 6/30/2020)

REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): “I will never stop saying, ‘Not only do we need to disinvest from police but we need to completely dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.’” (“‘Defund The Police’ Movement Hits Semantics Roadblock,” The Hill, 6/14/2020)

REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): “… Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist. ... I am done with those who condone government funded murder. No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.” (Rep. Tlaib, @RashidaTlaib, Twitter, 4/12/2021)

REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA): “From slave patrols to traffic stops. We can’t reform this.” (Rep. Pressley, @AyannaPressley, Twitter, 4/12/2021)

 

The Far Left Is Steering The Ship: ‘Progressives Keep Hold Of Biden Agenda’

ABC Headline: “Progressives keep hold of Biden agenda” (“Progressives Keep Hold Of Biden Agenda,” ABC News, 8/06/2021)

The Washington Post Headline: “Liberals look to build off successful effort on eviction moratorium to shape Democrats’ agenda in coming months” (“Liberals Look To Build Off Successful Effort On Eviction Moratorium To Shape Democrats’ Agenda In Coming Months,” The Washington Post, 8/04/2021)

 

Amid Calls To Defund The Police, Violent Crime Keeps Increasing, With Murders In 2021 At This Point Outpacing 2020’s Record Highs, Leading To ‘Concerns About Crime … [Surging] To The Top Of Issues That Worry Americans’

“Last year, the US saw the biggest increase in the murder rate in decades. The estimated total number of homicides rose to levels not seen since the late 1990s, even as the overall crime rate declined. So far, the spike has continued into 2021: Murders are up nearly 15 percent so far this year compared to the same period last year, based on data from US cities collected by crime analyst Jeff Asher.” (Vox, 7/21/2021)

“A large majority of voters agree that 2021’s rise in violent crime in the United States is a significant, increasing problem, according to a new Morning Consult/Politico poll... Roughly 3 in 4 voters (78 percent) said they believe violent crime is a ‘major problem’ in the United States, and a similar share (73 percent) said it is on the rise after weeks of news about shootings and the proliferation of videos online showing violent incidents nationwide.” (“Most Voters See Violent Crime as a Major and Increasing Problem. But They’re Split on Its Causes and How to Fix It,” Morning Consult, 7/14/2021)

“Concerns about crime and gun violence have surged to the top of issues that worry Americans, a new USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds… In the survey, 7 in 10 supported increasing police department budgets; 77% said they would like additional police officers deployed on street patrols.” (USA Today, 7/08/2021)

“Violent crime is on the rise in urban areas across the country. Many small cities that typically have relatively few murders are seeing significant increases over last year. Killings in Albuquerque, N.M., Austin, Texas, and Pittsburgh, for example, have about doubled so far in 2021, while Portland, Ore., has had five times as many murders compared to last year, according to data compiled by Jeff Asher, a crime data analyst and co-founder of AH Datalytics. Most cities in the United States, including each of those named above, have a Democratic mayor. After protests last year over police violence against Black Americans — notably the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis — there has been a push from the left to ‘defund’ police departments. As a result, several cities, including Austin and New York, have reduced or reallocated police budgets …” (“Rising Violent Crime Is Likely To Present A Political Challenge For Democrats In 2022,” NPR, 7/22/2021)

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) Dismissed Concerns About Nationwide Increases In Violent Crime As ‘Hysteria’

“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D, N.Y., has expressed concern that recent headlines referring to spikes in crime across U.S. cities are stirring up ‘hysteria.’ ‘We are seeing these headlines about percentage increases,’ Ocasio-Cortez said during a conversation with New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman over Zoom. ‘Now, I want to say that any amount of harm is unacceptable and too much, but I also want to make sure that this hysteria, you know, that this doesn’t drive a hysteria and that we look at these numbers in context so that we can make responsible decisions about what to allocate in that context.’” (“AOC Dismisses Concern Over Crime Spikes In Major Cities As ‘Hysteria,’” Fox News, 6/28/2021)

 

‘Thousands Of Police Officers Nationwide Have Headed For The Exits In The Past Year’ With Some Citing ‘A Sense That The City Itself Did Not Back Its Police’

“Thousands of police officers nationwide have headed for the exits in the past year. A survey of almost 200 police departments indicated that retirements were up 45 percent and resignations rose by 18 percent in the year from April 2020 to April 2021 when compared with the previous 12 months, according to the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington policy institute.” (“Why Police Have Been Quitting in Droves in the Last Year,” The New York Times, 6/24/2021)

“New York City saw 2,600 officers retire in 2020 compared with 1,509 the year before…. Minneapolis, which had 912 uniformed officers in May 2019, is now down to 699. At the same time, many cities are contending with a rise in shootings and homicides. Asheville was among the hardest hit proportionally, losing upward of 80 officers, more than one third of its 238-strong force.” (“Why Police Have Been Quitting in Droves in the Last Year,” The New York Times, 6/24/2021)

“[Asheville, NC] Chief David Zack, 58, said that officers were pushed to quit because the protests were directed at them. ‘They said that we have become the bad guys, and we did not get into this to become the bad guys.’ A sense that the city itself did not back its police was a key reason for the departures, according to officers as well as police and city officials. Officers felt that they should have been praised rather than pilloried after struggling to contain chaotic protests.” (“Why Police Have Been Quitting in Droves in the Last Year,” The New York Times, 6/24/2021)

  • “To make do, the department has trimmed its services even as shootings and other violent crimes escalated during the pandemic. The police received about 650 calls for ‘shots fired’ last year, Chief Zack said, and there were 10 homicides, compared with seven the year before. Aggravated assaults were also up. The department shuttered a downtown satellite office, stopped bicycle patrols and is making fewer traffic stops. It published a list of 10 incidents to which it would no longer dispatch officers, including some vehicle thefts, and urged citizens to file simple complaints online rather than calling. All but one of the seven officers who investigated domestic violence and sexual assault left, so the department is trying to get three officers up to speed on the skills needed. ‘A lot of our experience is walking out the door,’ Chief Zack said.” (“Why Police Have Been Quitting in Droves in the Last Year,” The New York Times, 6/24/2021)

“Leaders in Portland, Ore., are looking to combat the city’s rising homicide rate by resurrecting a police unit focused on gun violence. But after a year of growing tension within the department, they can’t find enough officers to join. Since 14 job openings were announced in May, only four police personnel have applied to work with the new version of Portland’s Gun Violence Reduction Team, which was shut down last year amid long-running protests seeking racial justice and an overhaul of police practices. None have yet been assigned. Portland officers say such positions, once considered prestigious, are now less desirable, given the increased scrutiny that accompanies them…. ‘They’re demonizing and vilifying you, and then they want to put you in a unit where you’re under an even bigger microscope,’ said Daryl Turner, head of the union that represents Portland’s officers.” (“Portland, Ore., Can’t Find Police for Unit to Fight Rising Murder Rate,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/02/2021)

  • “Following calls to defund the police, the Portland City Council last summer voted to cut $15 million from the police department, including the 38-person gun-violence team, which they criticized for racial profiling…. After the team was disbanded, homicides rose. This spring, Portland police officials proposed creating a new team…. An internal posting described jobs on the Focused Initiative Team as focusing on the Portlanders most likely to be involved in gun violence, like the old unit. But it included a new list of required qualifications, including the ‘ability to identify and dismantle institutional and systemic racism in the bureau’s responses to gun violence.’ ‘Martin Luther King couldn’t dismantle systematic racism. Now you want a cop to do it?’ a veteran Portland officer said of the new unit. ‘Nobody wants to be part of something that’s set up for failure.’” (“Portland, Ore., Can’t Find Police for Unit to Fight Rising Murder Rate,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/02/2021)

 

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SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Related Issues: Law Enforcement