{UAH} POLICE REFORM LOOMS LARGE OVER LOCAL RACES AS CRIME RATES RISE

Police reform looms large over local races as crime rates rise

by Sarah Westwood, Investigative Reporter 

 

May 18, 2021 09:50 AM

Rising crime rates and problems with policing have emerged as central issues in political battles across the country. This comes after last year’s push from the Left to “defund the police” created a minefield for local candidates to navigate.

Nationally, President Joe Biden has asked Congress to navigate the same difficult political terrain by advancing a police reform proposal before the May 25 deadline. Biden asked lawmakers during his first address to a joint session of Congress to move on police reform by the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a white police officer in a videotaped Minneapolis encounter that ignited nationwide protests.

Local politics have been roiled by a rise in crime that occurred while the country was largely in lockdown during the pandemic.

Los Angeles reported a 31% increase in murders this year. New York saw a 36% increase, and Portland, which moved to slash millions from its police budget in the wake of last summer’s protests, reported an 800% increase in homicides in the first four months of this year compared to the first four months of 2020.

The White House said Monday Biden is “eager to sign a bill” reforming the police, noting such policies are “long overdue.” But the uptick in violence has created a complicated backdrop for both Biden’s police reform push and for candidates running on more liberal agendas in major cities.

In the New York City mayoral contest, for example, rising crime has emerged as a major focus for Democratic candidates with just weeks left before the primary election.

Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president and a former police officer, has come out aggressively in favor of the New York Police Department and pushed back against “defund the police” rhetoric specifically. He is polling at or near the top of the field of candidates.

Andrew Yang, former presidential and current mayoral candidate, has also supported law enforcement on the campaign trail.

"Nothing works in our city without public safety," Yang said after a recent shooting in Times Square. "And for public safety, we need the police."

Some candidates in the race have pledged to slash police budgets, however, and they have polled near the bottom of the pack.

Maya Wiley, former top counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, has laid out a plan to cut $1 billion from NYPD and thin the force by more than 2,000 officers. Dianne Morales, another progressive candidate, has proposed redirecting as much as $3 billion from NYPD and closing Rikers Island jail.

In Atlanta, the mayoral contest grew heated earlier this year when City Council President Felicia Moore announced plans to run against incumbent Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and made the city’s spike in crime the focal point of her challenge.

Moore said in January that she would push to add more resources to the police force as violent crime rates in Atlanta grow.

“Right now, the things we need are more boots on the ground,” Moore said. “We have lost, I think, somewhere around 400 officers, and I’m going to come out with a proposal on how we can get more police presence.”

But Lance Bottoms surprised many political observers when she announced earlier this month she would not seek reelection in November amid criticism of her stewardship of the city.

Her exit has potentially paved the way for former Mayor Kasim Reed to run. He, too, has already begun talking up his ability to crack down on crime should he win.

“I do know how to fix crime, and I do know I could turn our crime environment around in 180 days," he said. "And I know that I’ve done it before."

An investigation by a local news station found murders in Atlanta were up 50% this year by April, while arrests were down by 40%.

In Philadelphia, growing violence may soon cost the city’s district attorney his job.

Homicides have increased 40% in Philadelphia so far this year, and incumbent Larry Krasner has faced criticism for pursuing a liberal agenda that prioritizes criminal justice reform and racial equity.

Carlos Vega, a former assistant district attorney — whom Krasner fired upon taking office in order to bring in people who would execute his reforms — has mounted a strong challenge to Krasner based on the idea that the district attorney’s office hasn’t done enough to go after criminals.

The primary in their race is Tuesday, with the winner likely to win the election in November.

In Boston, only one candidate for mayor has positioned against taking money from the city’s police department budget in a crowded field of Democrats pushing to reform law enforcement.

City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George said she does not support defunding the Boston Police Department, which the city did last year when it cut the department’s overtime fund.

The head of Boston’s biggest police union said the city needs to hire hundreds of new officers, not make cuts. Essaibi George has publicly supported the idea of growing the size of the Boston Police Department in budget talks this year, while several other city council members running for mayor have not.

Local politicians are facing pressure over their embrace of last year’s protesters as well.

In Seattle, city councilwoman Kshama Sawant faces an aggressive recall effort partly because of her actions during anti-police protests last year.

Supporters of the recall campaign allege that, among other things, Sawant let Black Lives Matter protesters into the City Hall building over the summer after the building was closed. The protesters later set up a camp near a police precinct they called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.

The recall is also fueled by alleged ethics violations.

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