by Katherine.Stiplosek · Jul 7, 2020 9:33 am
Amidst a global pandemic and a nation full of political tensions, this year’s 4th of July weekend proved to be another marker of civil unrest.
In Chicago, gun violence left at least 17 people killed, with another 63 injured. Two of these deaths are children, continuing a string of children fatally shot in recent weeks.
by Bill Otis · Jul 6, 2020 5:39 pm
My friend Daniel Horowitz of the Conservative Review is an incredibly diligent and resourceful investigator of crime data. He has given me permission to repeat here his story today about the gruesome toll our present murder spree is taking on those least able to protect themselves — black children. As Daniel observes:
[F]ireworks were not the only munitions shot over the July 4 weekend. Statues weren’t the only things felled by anarchists and criminals roaming…the streets. This weekend was a bloody one across the country, with [dozens of] shootings in America’s cities, including New York, [once] considered the safest American city for a generation. Once again, African-American victims, including a number of young children, paid the price while the anarchy was excused and even legitimized by the media and politicians.
by Bill Otis · Jul 6, 2020 12:36 pm
The New York Times today makes some efforts to explain away the story, but for the most part tells it straight up: Murder is surging in cities across the country:
Overall crime is down 5.3 percent in 25 large American cities relative to the same period in 2019, with violent crime down 2 percent.
But murder in these 25 cities is up 16.1 percent in relation to last year. It’s not just a handful of cities driving this change, either. Property crime is down in 18 of the 25 sampled cities, and violent crime is down in 11 of them, but murder is up in 20 of the cities.
by Bill Otis · Jul 5, 2020 1:21 pm
This is the headline in the New York Post: Shootings soar 205 percent after NYPD disbands anti-crime unit
The story doesn’t get any better. If anything, it gets worse.
by Bill Otis · Jul 3, 2020 9:02 pm
The types — mostly white — who went to Columbia and NYU Law and take the limo out to their weekend place in the Hamptons are none too pleased with the NYPD. Their man, Mayor Bill de Blasio, just cut the police budget by a billion dollars, in a time of dramatically rising violent crime.
But New Yorkers who lead ordinary lives have a different view. Asked about the prospect of abolishing the police, the response made up in common sense what it lacked academic refinement: “That would be suicide.”
The commentary in the Western Journal lays it on the line.
by Kent Scheidegger · Jul 2, 2020 4:47 pm
Timothy Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of New York, has this op-ed with the above title in the New York Post.
Whenever I go back home to Missouri, family and friends ask me, “What do you like most about New York?” The list is lengthy, I reply…. But near the top would be the men and women of the New York Police Department.
by Katherine.Stiplosek · Jul 2, 2020 3:34 pm
Part 3 in a three-part series.
Shortly after president Trump signed a new executive order aimed at initiating police reform at the federal level, both parties in the House and Senate drafted their reform bills, proposing new laws and amendments.
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina led the Senate Republican Bill, which was quickly and harshly shut down by Senate Democrats. The vote against the legislation is tragedy, as it eliminates any possibility of passing police reform this year. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Jul 2, 2020 2:52 pm
The witch-hunt atmosphere in American academia continues to get worse. Hans Bader has this post at Liberty Unyielding noting the recent ouster of Stephen Hsu as vice president for research at Michigan State University. Hsu’s crime was publicizing research done at his university, which is exactly what you would expect a VP of research to do. But the particular piece of research reached a Forbidden Conclusion.
by Katherine.Stiplosek · Jul 1, 2020 2:27 pm
Part 2 of a three part series.
On Tuesday, June 16, President Trump signed an executive order, establishing preliminary measures taken by the federal government to begin police reform.
Trump’s speech started strong, as he revealed in his Rose Garden remarks that he’d had met with nine families who had lost members as a result of police brutality or racially motivated killings. As he unveiled the details of the new order, he addressed his private meetings with the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Botham Jean, Antwon Rose, Atatiana Jefferson, Jemel Roberson, Michael Dean, Darius Tarver, Cameron lamb, and Everett Palmer. Continue reading . . .
by Katherine.Stiplosek · Jun 30, 2020 1:40 pm
Part 1 of a three part series:
Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at guiding police reforms following weeks of national unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd.
The order would create federal incentives through the Justice Department for local police departments that implement “independent credentialing” to certify that law enforcement is improving standards for the use of force and de-escalation training.
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