Crime has become a huge problem in a lot of major American cities and many people, including a top New York former cop, are starting to speak out on the issue and ways to solve it.
Houston, Texas, USA downtown city park and skyline.
Bill Bratton, a former New York City Police Commissioner, spoke out saying that leaders will need to enforce more protocols and different policing methods to regain control of the city.
One recent example of this is the new Philadelphia Mayor who recently declared a public safety emergency after an increase of crime in the city. The mayor announced that they would be implementing “comprehensive plans”, hiring additional police officers, and taking other actions to fight crime in the city.
Bill Batton spoke out about the potential causes of the crime surges in some places. Batton, who served more than 50 years in the police force, mentioned the George Floyd case and how it may have affected the rise of crime in cities, as well as the way police officers respond to crime.
“I’ve watched that pendulum swing pretty far to the left, pretty far to the right. For a particular time, particularly over the last couple of years after the George Floyd murder, it really swung too far to the left,” he said.
He continued by saying that many cities with police forces have stopped effectively enforcing the law due to the overall reaction of citizens after the George Floyd case and the Defund The Police movement. He says that in most cases law enforcement is trying to do everything they can to decriminalize and find alternatives to arrest, but it has gotten out of hand now.
“You’d like to have meaningful reforms that would require fewer people to have criminal records, but, at the same time, you can’t ignore those offenses totally. And that’s what has been going on to the detriment of many cities,” he said.
He believes that leaders in these cities and officials are beginning to realize what kind of toll crime can take on a city. These crimes also affect businesses, especially when it comes to the excessive robberies, which have affected local stores and their ability to operate as businesses
Batton ended his statements by saying that “out-of-control crime in big cities impacts people’s choices, property values, and quality of life.”
Batton’s piece of advice to all local leaders and officers is to “Do it constitutionally, legally. Do it compassionately in dealing with people,” he said. “But you also need to deal with it consistently. At all times you have to do it in a transparent manner.”
