Politics
Flood the Zone
Soft on Crime
Democrats have lost the presidency, the Senate, the House, and, by extension, the Supreme Court. However, they still govern most of the nation’s larger cities. Citing urban crime statistics, Republicans have long claimed to be the party of ‘law and order,’ dating back at least to the Nixon Era. George H.W. Bush’s campaign famously used the example of the furloughed repeat felon Willie Horton to illustrate the Democratic Party’s alleged softness on crime. Today, the Trump administration uses the Democrats’ past inability to control immigration as a justification for urban crime. President Trump has suggested that a single, severe incident of police violence would eliminate crime. He has advised police to “please don’t be too nice” when arresting accused criminals. Republicans pride themselves on being ‘tough on crime’ by attacking big city prosecutors, advocating for mandatory prison sentences, police immunity from prosecution, and the death penalty for murder and drug dealing.
Politicizing Federal Authorities
Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) border czar Tom Homan has revealed his plan to “flood the zone” in urban areas with ICE officers. While a substantial federal law enforcement presence may temporarily reduce crime, it has also been associated with well-documented abuses of power. Moreover, President Trump’s activation of the National Guard to safeguard ICE operations further complicates the situation. Critics argue that the federal immigration efforts are more of a political spectacle than an effective measure to prevent genuine criminals from entering the country.
Community Policing
Instead of flooding the zone with federal authorities for short-term partisan political gain, the federal government could contribute to hiring more local police officers to engage in community policing. Community policing practices involve collaboration between law enforcement and community members to build support for local police efforts. The concept of community policing was introduced in the 1994 crime bill, ‘Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994’. A police-community effort involves residents actively participating in creating safe neighborhoods. Earning the trust of the community allows police officers to address the underlying factors contributing to crime and combat the pervasive atmosphere of fear.
How the Federal Government Can Help
Large urban areas like Chicago require federal government assistance in combating crime. However, the appropriate authority to address crime should be local police officers, not federal agents who are guided by a clearly partisan political agenda. The federal government can contribute by revisiting a Clinton-era initiative to increase the number of local police officers in the affected areas.
Clinton’s COPS Program
Instead of employing federal agents for short-term partisan political gain, the federal government can effectively enhance local police recruitment to foster community policing. This approach has proven successful in the past. The 1994 Crime Bill introduced a provision known as the COPS Program. This program allocated over 13 billion dollars to hire local community police officers, upgrade technology, and provide training in community policing. As a result, the COPS provision facilitated the hiring of 125,000 additional officers across over 13,000 law enforcement agencies. Furthermore, the COPS Program has trained over 600,000 law enforcement personnel and support staff through organizations funded by the program. Beyond crime-fighting, the COPS Program played a pivotal role in building community support and engagement for law enforcement initiatives.
Tough vs Smart
Getting tough on crime simply means imposing severe penalties on criminals (if they’re caught—a very big if) after they’ve already harmed their victims. Community policing, on the other hand, aims to prevent crime rather than addressing its aftermath. The Clinton Era Community Policing initiative and the COPS Program provide Democrats with a blueprint for an effective urban crime prevention strategy. The future of both the Democratic Party and our urban areas hinges on whether they choose to adopt a superficial approach to crime or a smart strategy for crime prevention.
Sources
https://stories.clintonfoundation.org/the-lasting-legacy-of-the-cops-program-170b0821a77a
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/29/trump-violent-day-policing-crime-00181619
https://reason.com/2024/07/17/republicans-have-completely-abandoned-criminal-justice-reform/
Thanks and a tip of the hat to the US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE for the image of Tom Homan.