By Steve Pomper
In an op-ed recently published in The Washington Times (full article here), Brooke Rollins of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) provided an interpretation (or, more apt, a translation) of the recent 2022 State of the Union address, as it affects American law and freedom.
The interpretation/translation addressed issues such as, “Build Back Better is Wrong for America,” “Americans [are] More Vulnerable Because of Biden’s Foreign Policy,” “The State of America’s Economy,” “The State of America’s Border and Security…,” “The State of the American Dream—President Biden is Eroding Our Nation’s Values,” and, for our purposes, “The State of America’s Safety—No Law and No Order.”
Each of the above issues affects law enforcement officers, at least indirectly, as each can lead to crime increases, especially regarding border security. However, what is the current state of security and law and order in America? Externally, we’ll leave security to the military, which has enough of its own problems keeping our nation safe while they contend with the woke politicized leadership’s misplaced priorities.
Internally, though, helping Americans keep themselves safe, so they can enjoy their liberty, rests with cops. But law enforcement officers can only be as effective as their communities allow by what kind of political leadership they elect and what kind of policies and laws those leaders enforce or ignore.
That leadership dictates what cops may and may not do to accomplish their mission. In too many communities, leaders actively block cops from doing their jobs. However, in some communities, a good police chief or sheriff can make all the difference, even in a state with an anti-cop agenda. For example, I live in a cobalt blue state (Washington), but I also live in a county (Snohomish) smart enough to elect a great sheriff.
Still, the nationwide evidence for a systemic lack of law and order is overwhelming. Rollins wrote, “The devastating effects of soft-on-crime policies and dangerous rhetoric denigrating law enforcement, which have unleashed a crime wave across the country.”
Matthew Whitaker, former acting-U.S. Attorney General, is the co-chair for the Center for Law and Justice (CLJ). He wrote, “Americans deserve to live in safe communities. Liberal policies have allowed crime to run rampant and for criminals to rule the streets. Throughout this administration, we have seen the results of dangerous rhetoric that have created policies emboldening criminals and straining law enforcement.”
Rollins provides the evidence “By the Numbers:”
- 12major cities, including notable ones listed below, broke annual homicide rates this past year. Many worked to defund their police:
- $15million cut from Washington, D.C.’s police department
- 15% increase in homicides in 2021 from 2020
- $16million cut from Portland’s police department
- 63% increase in homicides in 2021 from 2020
- $33million cut from Philadelphia’s police department
- 11% increase in homicides in 2021 from 2020
- $120million cut from San Francisco’s police department
- 16% increase in homicides in 2021 from 2020
- $150million from Los Angeles’ police department
- 12% increase in homicides in 2021 from 2020
- $1billion cut from New York’s police department
- 52% increase in homicides in 2021 from 2019
The AFPI works to ensure Americans will have a political system and live in a society dependent on law and order administered with integrity and equal justice, not leftist-defined social justice. Also, “AFPI’s CLJ team strives to advance the rule of law and freedom, the bedrocks of our Republic.”
Pam Bondi, former Florida Attorney General and Co-Chair of the CLJ, wrote, “Fortunately, many cities have begun to reverse course and have halted their efforts to eliminate law enforcement. But so much of this was avoidable, and many people who have suffered did not have to. Human trafficking is not being addressed by this administration. Not only have they not prioritized the issue like the Trump Administration, but they have exacerbated it through open borders policies.”
As I recently wrote at NPA, even my blue state’s legislature is currently attempting to repair the damage it wrought by enacting sweeping anti-police laws last year. I wrote, “Nothing good happens when radical activists and politicians try to ‘fix’ something that isn’t broken—just because they don’t like it. Policing in America is not ‘broken.’ So, what happened when they tried to ‘fix’ what wasn’t broken in Washington State? They broke it. Now, they really have something to fix. Their stupid new anti-police laws.”
I added, “Now, the lawmakers and governor have been scrambling to ‘fix,’ through new legislation, what the state’s cops warned them not to do in the first place.”