Americans are scared.
The last 18 months have been a whirlwind of unprecedented events, one being the rising crime rate. In the past 18 months alone, murders have increased by 30%. While many have stated that this isn’t a rise in crime but rather a rise in violence, the series of looting washing over California and Minnesota would contradict these ideas.
Even if stats on crime can’t conclusively determine if it is rising, it’s obvious that the number of blatant crimes has risen.
While we can only speculate about the cause of crime and murder rising, the combination of lockdowns, social justice protests, and policies could be the underlying reasons crime is spiking.
Some pundits believe that part of the rising crime in cities like Minneapolis has to do with the murder of George Floyd. The subsequent protests and calls to defund the police following the death of George Floyd could have had the unintended consequence of causing police officers to pull back from their duties, making criminals more brazen in their activities.
In cities across California, you can trace the rising crime to homelessness and poverty in addition to changing shoplifting policies. California’s Proposition 47 means that shoplifting under $950 is treated as a misdemeanor. Since misdemeanor felons are subject to the zero-bail policy, the state essentially removed the consequences of shoplifting.