OPINION:
The threat of crime remains dangerously high in our nation despite President Biden’s recent statements to the contrary. Slight decreases in certain crime categories over the past year do not erase the fact that violent crime remains above pre-pandemic levels and persists as an ongoing threat to the public.
Unprecedented levels of social unrest and violence at the start of pandemic in 2020, which saw a record 30% rise in homicides across the country, have only been exacerbated in the ensuing years by the promotion of misguided criminal justice reforms aimed at nebulous “social justice” goals.
In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the adoption of progressive criminal justice policies, including broad decriminalization efforts and “catch and release” policies for repeat offenders, across jurisdictions nationwide. Although these ideas are not new, their broadening implementation has proved ineffective and dangerous, compromising public safety and intensifying the dangers faced by our brave law enforcement officers.
Sadly, none of these outcomes were unforeseen. In our combined decades of service, one of us enforcing the law on the streets as a police officer and the other fighting for justice in the courtroom as a prosecutor and at the highest levels of government, we have witnessed the challenges that progressive criminal justice policies and a weakening commitment to the rule of law have placed on public safety and law enforcement.
It is unconscionable for innocent Americans to be victimized because of the social justice agenda of some far-off politician — a reality that both of us have experienced in our roles and which compels us to speak out against these dangerous policies.
This has never been more apparent than with the advent of the progressive prosecutor, an oxymoronic attempt to combine a liberal reform agenda with the fundamental responsibilities of upholding law and order. These concepts are inherently at odds.
When George Gascon, a progressive liberal, assumed the role of Los Angeles district attorney in 2020, he immediately implemented sweeping reforms regarding how and when his office would hold criminals accountable. Under his leadership, the district attorney’s office stopped pursuing “three strikes” sentencing enhancements for repeat offenders. It stopped seeking cash bail for any misdemeanor or nonviolent charge, regardless of the suspect’s criminal record. This approach not only undermined the basic precepts of accountability and deterrence but also contributed to a significant increase in violent crime.
This catch-and-release approach to justice not only endangers public safety but also demoralizes the men and women of law enforcement. Few things have been more dispiriting to officers than feeling that their efforts and risks were in vain.
Similarly, public safety took a hit when progressive activist and defense attorney Larry Krasner took office as Philadelphia’s lead prosecutor in 2018. Having gained notoriety for defending militant Occupy Philadelphia demonstrators, Mr. Krasner immediately inculcated the city district attorney’s office with a similar ethos.
Sadly, this mindset has had real-world implications. In his first two years in office, Mr. Krasner lost or dropped nearly half of illegal gun cases, allowing ever more violent criminals a second chance to reoffend. Violent crime has unsurprisingly spiked, placing the lives and well-being of the people of Philadelphia and surrounding communities in jeopardy.
The spillover effect of crime around Philadelphia and elsewhere hits close to home. The Florida Attorney General’s Office contended with crime from lenient, liberal jurisdictions that literally bled over into other areas of the state. Florida fought back against those dangerous policies, and we all must do so now.
Progressive liberal orthodoxy is simply incompatible with law and order, and the above examples are but two of many more across the country.
As we observe Police Week this year, a time to honor officers who have sacrificed their lives in service to their communities, it is our collective duty to recommit ourselves to public policies that enhance public safety rather than continuing to indulge in those that have demonstrably undermined it.
Now is the time to reject criminal justice policies that upend the tenets of accountability and coddle rather than punish criminals. Instead, we must reaffirm our commitment to the rule of law, support and defend the thin blue line that separates order from chaos, and insist that public policymakers, especially those in leadership positions in the criminal justice system, place the public safety interests of Americans first.
• Pam Bondi is a former prosecutor and former attorney general of Florida. She currently serves as co-chair of the Center for Law and Justice at the America First Policy Institute. Scott Erickson is a former San Jose, California, police officer and the director of the center.
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