CHICAGO \u2014 For months, Anna Balla, 47, tolerated the unruly behavior she says has become commonplace when riding the \u201cL\u201d downtown: smoking, harassment and even a stranger\u2019s uninvited use of her shoulder to vault himself into a spot in a crowded Chicago train.<\/p>\n
But it was a ride in March that made her swear off the trains completely. At a busy stop in the heart of the Loop during rush hour, she saw a young shirtless man yanking a woman and hitting her with an empty beer bottle as she cowered and screamed on the platform. Ms. Balla bolted from the packed car and fled to the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just worried that someone was going to pull out a gun, or if the cops arrived, it would become a shootout,\u201d said Ms. Balla, a museum registrar in Chicago. \u201cIt had that feel to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just as a number of major cities are trying to lure people back to formerly bustling downtowns, leaders are confronting transit crime rates that have risen over prepandemic levels in New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Earlier this month, a shooting on a subway train in Brooklyn injured 23 people. In other cities, stories of violent assaults, muggings and stabbings on buses and trains dominate the evening news and worried conversations in neighborhood apps.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Could we run that by one more time?\u00a0 The affected cities, according to the Times, are Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.\u00a0 The Times seems unable to spot the commonality, but readers won’t have any trouble:\u00a0 All those cities have notorious “progressive prosecutors,” that is, DA’s who have not merely stated, but boasted, that reacting soberly to “minor crime” is racism and punitive excess, and that they will take a different approach.<\/p>\n
Haven’t they ever.<\/p>\n
The story ends with one more example:<\/p>\n
Kimberly Benedetto has experienced her fair share of harassment over her 23 years driving buses for Philadelphia\u2019s system \u2014 passengers yelling at her and even spitting in her direction. But none of that compares with what she has seen over the last couple of years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like things have gotten out of control,\u201d said Ms. Benedetto, who said she experienced one particularly frightening incident in September by a teenager who threatened to assault her over a request to wear a mask, a requirement at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not stay one day past 30 years,\u201d said Ms. Benedetto, referring to the tenure she needs to receive her full pension. \u201cI\u2019ll drive school buses \u2014 I just want to get away from this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ms. Benedetto works in Philadelphia.\u00a0 \u00a0The principal public officer responsible for suppressing crime is its District Attorney, Larry Krasner.\u00a0 But Krasner’s name goes unmentioned in the story, as does the fact the violent crime throughout the city\u00a0 —\u00a0 and not just on the transit system\u00a0 —\u00a0 has spiked during his tenure, that he is a lifelong criminal defense lawyer, and he got elected on the back of a ton of Soros money.<\/p>\n
Still, please remember, going soft on “minor crime” is being done in the name of “compassion,” to help, so we are told, those who don’t lead privileged lives\u00a0 —\u00a0 people like Anna Balla and Kimberly Benedetto.\u00a0 Perhaps our “progressive prosecutors” should talk to them more and George Soros less.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As liberal programs for less accountability for criminals take root in one city after another\u00a0 —\u00a0 “criminal justice reform” is its intentionally opaque name\u00a0 —\u00a0 criminals have noticed.\u00a0 So have their victims.\u00a0 The quality and safety of urban life cascade downhill,\u00a0 but the most affected remain the common folk, so the political and academic elites can pretend it’s all a big mystery (or just ignore it).\u00a0 But the New York Times, of all things, spills the beans, albeit indirectly and unintentionally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prosecutors"],"yoast_head":"\n
Can You Spot the Commonality? - Crime & Consequences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can You Spot the Commonality? - Crime & Consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As liberal programs for less accountability for criminals take root in one city after another\u00a0 —\u00a0 “criminal justice reform” is its intentionally opaque name\u00a0 —\u00a0 criminals have noticed.\u00a0 So have their victims.\u00a0 The quality and safety of urban life cascade downhill,\u00a0 but the most affected remain the common folk, so the political and academic elites can pretend it’s all a big mystery (or just ignore it).\u00a0 But the New York Times, of all things, spills the beans, albeit indirectly and unintentionally.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Crime & Consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CriminalJusticeLegalFoundation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-26T01:04:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FB_DefaultLJ.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bill Otis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bill Otis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410\",\"name\":\"Can You Spot the Commonality? - Crime & Consequences\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-26T01:04:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d089f7e65aa652190318c44070da5e6e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Can You Spot the Commonality?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/\",\"name\":\"Crime & Consequences\",\"description\":\"Crime and criminal law\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d089f7e65aa652190318c44070da5e6e\",\"name\":\"Bill Otis\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can You Spot the Commonality? - Crime & Consequences","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can You Spot the Commonality? - Crime & Consequences","og_description":"As liberal programs for less accountability for criminals take root in one city after another\u00a0 —\u00a0 “criminal justice reform” is its intentionally opaque name\u00a0 —\u00a0 criminals have noticed.\u00a0 So have their victims.\u00a0 The quality and safety of urban life cascade downhill,\u00a0 but the most affected remain the common folk, so the political and academic elites can pretend it’s all a big mystery (or just ignore it).\u00a0 But the New York Times, of all things, spills the beans, albeit indirectly and unintentionally.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410","og_site_name":"Crime & Consequences","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CriminalJusticeLegalFoundation\/","article_published_time":"2022-04-26T01:04:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/FB_DefaultLJ.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Bill Otis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bill Otis","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410","url":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410","name":"Can You Spot the Commonality? - Crime & Consequences","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-04-26T01:04:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d089f7e65aa652190318c44070da5e6e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=6410#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Can You Spot the Commonality?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/","name":"Crime & Consequences","description":"Crime and criminal law","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d089f7e65aa652190318c44070da5e6e","name":"Bill Otis","url":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?author=6"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6411,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6410\/revisions\/6411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}