Effects of ‘Defunding’ Law Enforcement and Reducing Consequences for Crimes

The Wall Street Journal has this article by Jason Riley addressing a few early outcomes we are seeing as a result of lowering prosecution rates and defunding law enforcement in many large cities across the U.S. Riley points out the following:

In New York City, shooting and homicides rose by 97% and 44%, respectively, in 2020, and felony assaults are up by 25% this year. Yet seven of the eight candidates running in the Democratic primary for Manhattan district attorney have pledged to cut the police budget or prosecute fewer suspects—or some combination of the two. Baltimore began defunding law enforcement and turning a blind eye to criminal behavior a decade ago, and since then nearly 3,000 of its residents have been murdered. 

 

These are just a few highlights of the damage we are seeing suffered by communities nationwide due to these haphazard policies being implemented. Riley uses the CJLF working paper by Elizabeth Berger and Kent Scheidegger as a reference to the published research on sentencing and recidivism. This paper is in direct opposition to Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón’s statement that longer sentences increase the rate of recidivism. 

In addition, Riley pointes out that the Census Bureau announced that due to the lack of population growth in California, there will be one less congressional seat in decennial appointments for the first time. In contrast, population in both Texas and Florida has increased. The change in population trends are likely influenced by lower tax rates and better job growth, as explained by Riley, but social factor such as spikes in crime and high homeless populations could also be influencing the change in locale.