The latest going thing around social media is that crime happens in cities with a GOP mayor. We hear about Governor Greg Abbott of Texas and Mayor Eric Johnson of Dallas, who was elected as a Democrat and switched parties.
Yes, crime is a problem in Dallas. It may be one of the reasons why the surrounding areas are growing in population and Dallas is not. In other words, north Texas is booming but none of these companies end up in Dallas but rather places like Irving, Plano, Las Colinas, etc. Nevertheless, Dallas is more dangerous than any of the surrounding areas.
The real issue is judges who play soft justice, releasing people back to commit crimes again. Fix the judges and many of these cities will be safer, as Issues & Insights points out:
Well, you might ask, what does it matter who the mayor is? The reason it matters is that crime is local. And local law enforcement is what matters.
“Your public safety as a resident is dramatically impacted by your district attorney, by your police department, and by whether the local politicians support and adequately fund the police and prosecutor’s offices,” noted a Heritage Foundation research paper from 2022.
It doesn’t matter where these cities are located. If Democrats run them, it’s more likely than not that residents are stuck with local prosecutors who won’t prosecute crimes, police departments that are understaffed and demoralized, criminals who, if they are caught at all, get released on cashless bail, and political machines that keep these Democrats in power, decade after miserable decade.
Dallas’ mayor Johnson said it best when he switched to the GOP. “The future of America’s great urban centers depends on the willingness of the nation’s mayors to champion law and order and practice fiscal conservatism. Our cities desperately need the genuine commitment to these principles (as opposed to the inconsistent, poll-driven commitment of many Democrats) that has long been a defining characteristic of the GOP.”
Why aren't talking more about the judges? They are the problem, not the party affiliation of the mayor. All those Democrat mayors have judges who release these criminals and keep the vicious cycle going on.
Also, sending the National Guard will stop the criminals but not address the core problems, from bad judges to fatherlessness and schools graduating kids who can't read or write. Unfortunately, most of these Democrats do not have Mayor Johnson's courage in switching parties because he did not believe that Democrats have solutions for those core problems.
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Image: Department of Labor