New Radical Policies Are Making American Streets Dangerous For Women

Millennial and Gen Z women grew up being told they needed to be inspired by actresses, models, or PR mavens who lived in tiny apartments in NYC. Dazzled by daunting skylines, seemingly endless opportunities, and productive chaos, many people choose to move to the cities and shrug off any ugliness.

It’s not your everyday woman’s fault that the media portrays city living as a fantasy, since the mainstream belief is that the most empowering and rewarding lifestyle is in the “girl boss” landscape. Yet there may not be a more dangerous environment for a young woman to live in than the city. Major cities have never been known to be beacons of safety, but things have taken a turn for the worse and, unfortunately, we’re only at the beginning of a quick and extreme regression as we see these issues trickle into every community across America. 

There’s a troubling trifecta brewing – an anti-law enforcement sentiment, a progressive prosecution movement, and an increasingly cavalier attitude toward crime – all coming together in unexpected ways which harm women, children, and families.

Anti-Law Enforcement Movements Are Accelerating 

It’s no coincidence that an extremely steep jump in homicide rates coincided with the mass riots that took place following the May 25 death of George Floyd. Lawlessness is on the rise for a multitude of reasons, including unrest over police violence and the coronavirus pandemic. 

As justified as anger should be over wrongful deaths, taking to the streets to riot, loot, or burn down innocent civilians’ property in the heat of the moment actually disproportionately harms minority communities. 

Peaceful protest can deliver true change, but seeking out retribution or seizing funding from the groups that will inevitably have to break up the mess in the streets is anything but productive.

Portland saw a 2,000% increase in homicides after it defunded its police.

Anti-law enforcement movements are aimed at overhauling the policing system which is alleged to be rife with discrimination, racism, and misogynistic behavior. Advocates for defunding the police want the public to think outside of the box and consider alternatives to a traditional criminal justice system.  They argue the real problems with public safety are the very institutions charged with protecting us. That the police, for example, are unleashing terror on minority communities.

Paradoxically, many of the businesses negatively affected in the name of racial justice were minority-owned, whether it’s an Ecuadorian restaurant in Minneapolis owned by an immigrant that was burned to the ground, or a black-owned business that was the first of its kind in its area in Atlanta completely looted to the point of emptiness.

Defunding the Police Has Led to Increased Crime Rates

Fast-forward to 2021, and the ramifications of reducing police department funding and the restructuring of law enforcement agencies are becoming clearer. How safe are our streets? If you call Portland home, you’re subject to a 2,000% increase in homicides after your city chose to defund the police. 

Portland isn't alone. Early data analyzed by the FBI has suggested that the national murder rate has reached a 25% increase over the past year. America is torn on how change should be made within our law enforcement system, but if we continue down this path then our major cities will become increasingly dangerous to live in. We can’t allow innocent people to pay the price for radical policy changes that don’t even solve the problems they purport to address. 

The Job of a Prosecutor Is To Make Sure Justice and Truth Prevail

Our battle doesn’t end with law enforcement’s reaction to crime, but with the prosecutor’s role in the criminal justice system. The same people who call to defund or abolish the police will also assert the false notion that their version of criminal justice reform will tackle injustices within the system. They identify as progressive prosecutors, meaning they prioritize the rehabilitation (release) of criminals over the prosecution of crime.

For example, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón and others like him have eliminated sentencing enhancements that are meant to lengthen prison terms for criminals who have prior convictions or who commit heinous offenses. DA Gascón and others have shrugged off criticism of their policies as partisan politics, but that’s intellectually dishonest – crime does not discriminate.

Progressive prosecutors prioritize the rehabilitation of criminals over the prosecution of crime.

There has been widespread bipartisan outrage over progressive prosecution reforms. In response to the potential lessened sentence for her husband’s murderer due to DA Gascón’s special directives, Tania Owen called out the movement against sentencing enhancements saying, “It doesn’t matter what your background is, whether you’re black, white, brown, purple, pink, green, or party lines — Democrat or Republican, rich or poor. Here’s the bottom line: If any of our loved ones are murdered, we all want the same thing, all of us: And that’s justice.”

Mothers are speaking out about the pro-criminal directives that have led to the murderers of their sons and daughters being protected rather than the rights of the families whose voices are being silenced. Is the second chance that DA Gascón is offering to career criminals and violent offenders really conducive to a safe society?

Progressive Prosecution Reforms Have Led to Increased Crime Rates

Why do we keep criminals in incarceration? Why don’t we focus on releasing and rehabilitating? While longer prison sentences don’t necessarily deter crime, they incapacitate the criminal from their ability to reoffend given they’re not on the streets. A less punitive criminal justice system sounds nice, but progressive reforms have led to spikes in crime wherever they are tried.

Longer prison sentences incapacitate the criminal from their ability to reoffend given they’re not on the streets.

Look no further than recent crime rates in cities with leadership focused on progressive prosecution, like Philadelphia, where the murder rate has risen 40% compared to 2019. Or in Chicago, where murders were almost twice as high as New York’s rate. Allowing violent criminals to return to the public sphere is counterintuitive and harmful for a productive society.

Closing Thoughts

An unexpected law-bending takeover is harming the very same communities that many politicians and thought leaders simultaneously claim to be champions for, such as minority groups, domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, and human trafficking victims. 

Can young women comfortably seek out a promising career in the big cities? Can new families comfortably start out their lives and put down roots? There’s a swiftly approaching regression away from safe communities to thrive in, and we’re only at the beginning of it.

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