Amidst growing concerns over rising crime rates, the focus on specific cities by certain political figures has come under scrutiny. While the president threatens to deploy national guard units to cities like Chicago and Baltimore, analysis reveals a broader pattern. Violent crime rates in major cities are actually decreasing nationwide, particularly in areas with Democratic leadership. However, the president’s focus tends to concentrate on these blue cities, overlooking others with higher crime rates in red states.
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California Governor Newsom pointed out a significant disparity in crime rates, specifically homicide, between California and Louisiana. He highlighted that Louisiana’s homicide rate is nearly four times greater than California’s, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control. The governor used the statistic to draw attention to the issue of crime and urged the President to consider these facts when addressing crime suppression efforts. Despite this comparison, Speaker Johnson did not address these troubling crime statistics.
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A CNN review of FBI data reveals that several cities within states deploying National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., at the behest of the Trump administration, had higher rates of violent crime and homicide than the District of Columbia itself. Governors from Ohio, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia are sending troops to assist with a crackdown on crime, despite the fact that cities within those states, such as Cleveland, Memphis, and Jackson, Mississippi, face more significant crime challenges. Critics, including Democratic lawmakers and criminal justice advocates, have condemned the federal takeover of D.C., questioning the priorities of states sending assistance while grappling with their own public safety issues. These critics suggest that political motivations, rather than genuine concerns for public safety, are driving these deployments.
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The article highlights the recent deployment of National Guard troops from several states, primarily in the Deep South, to Washington, D.C., ostensibly to address rising crime rates, echoing a narrative promoted by Donald Trump. However, a comparison of crime statistics reveals a striking irony: the murder rates in the capitals and major cities of the states sending troops to D.C. are significantly higher than those in the nation’s capital. This raises the question of why these states are not focusing their resources on their own cities. The piece suggests a counter-strategy: Democratic governors from states with lower crime rates should offer their National Guards to assist in cities experiencing higher crime rates in the states deploying troops to D.C.
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A study using Texas criminal records from 2012-2018 found that undocumented immigrants had significantly lower arrest rates for violent, property, and drug crimes than U.S.-born citizens. Undocumented immigrants’ arrest rates were consistently less than half that of native-born citizens for most offenses. This research, enabled by Texas’s unique data collection practices, provides a more accurate picture of crime rates by immigration status than previous studies. The study also revealed no evidence suggesting an increase in crime committed by undocumented immigrants during the study period. Further research should examine the replicability of these findings in other jurisdictions.
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John Q. Hosedrinker