On the recordJuly 29, 2021
let me state the obvious: There is a big and growing problem in our country, and the American people are becoming more and more alarmed. A recent poll found that 60 percent of Americans are worried about crime. The percentage of those who say they are extremely concerned is at the highest point in more than two decades. And it is easy to see why. Even our former colleague from California, Senator Barbara Boxer, was recently assaulted and robbed in California. But cities across our country have experienced an alarming spike in violent crime and murder rates. New York City has seen nearly double the number of shootings from 2019 to 2020. Nationwide, homicides are up 25 percent during that same period. That is the largest single-year increase since 1960. Not only are the American people noticing these increases with growing alarm, they are eager to see solutions that help make things better by improving public safety. A recent poll found that 90 percent of Detroit residents said they would feel safer with more cops on the street, not fewer. That seems intuitive. It seems obvious but apparently not to everybody because this is the antithesis of the rhetoric we have heard over the past year, as many on the left have called to defund the police and reduce the role that law enforcement officers play in our lives. A number of major cities took the recommendation of these activists and eliminated funding for their police departments.…
Source
govinfo.gov




