July 31, 2024

ICYMI: New Dems’ Public Safety Efforts Featured in Washington Post

NDC Vice Chair Brad Schneider: “We recognize that we face challenges in our communities, that people are concerned about public safety… Let’s do something about it.”

ICYMI: Today, the Washington Post’s Early Brief newsletter featured the New Democrat Coalition’s public safety endorsement slate as an example of how House Democrats are working to combat crime in Congress, in stark contrast to House Republicans’ empty messaging on violent crime and attempts to slash funding for critical law enforcement agencies.

Read the full piece here and below:
How House Democrats want to combat crime

The reality is that violent crime is decreasing. The Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, found that “monthly offense rates for 12 violent, property and drug crimes in 39 cities” were lower in the first half of 2024 than the same time period in 2023. The only crime that has seen a spike is shoplifting, with a 24 percent increase.

Most violent crimes, according to the report, “are at or below levels seen in 2019, the year prior to the onset of the covid pandemic and racial justice protests of 2020.”

But many Americans believe crime remains historically high amid GOP dominance on framing the issue and far-left progressives’ anti-police stance. Twenty-three of 27 Gallup polls that have tracked what Americans think about crime since 1993 showed that roughly three-fifths of U.S. adults believe crime has risen over the past year.

Democrats know they have a lot of work to do to flip the script if they want to also flip the House majority this November. The New Democrat Coalition, a group of 100 pragmatic moderate and liberal House Democrats, proposed a slate of 15 largely bipartisan bills the House could take up this year — or next year if Democrats hold the reins of the majority.

The proposals range from preventing auto theft, combating opioid trafficking, providing federal grants for communities to recruit and invest in new police officers and preventing gun violence.

  • “The irony to this, and it’s so frustrating to us when we’re campaigning, is that because of efforts that the Biden administration and Congress under Democrats have taken, violent crime is actually decreasing all across the country,” said Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), who chairs the New Dems.

Democrats believe they can make the case they and Harris should be in charge next year by spending the next month at home talking about their public safety record and pointing out that House Republicans have voted to slash funding for the FBI, DHS and other federal government agencies.

  • “What we’ve seen is Republicans are good at stoking fears. They curse the rain rather than trying to solve the problem,” Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) said. “We recognize that we face challenges in our communities, that people are concerned about public safety. We also recognize that there’s a role for Congress to help state and local police departments improve and enhance public security. Let’s do something about it.”

 

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