Former Los Angeles and New York City police chief Bill Bratton said Thursday that major U.S. cities, which originally embraced the Defund the Police movement, are beginning to acknowledge the “unintended negative consequences” of their reforms as crime rates surge across the country.
“They’re recognizing that in a democracy, the essential element for public safety is the police,” Bratton said during a Thursday appearance on “America’s Newsroom.”
Bratton said that while the political “pendulum” surrounding policing had swung so far to the left it was almost “coming off the scale,” now it is returning to center.
“Do the police need to reform? They certainly do, but you can’t spend most of your time trying to criminalize the activities of the police and decriminalize the activities of the real criminals.”
Bratton said that the “crime virus” plaguing the United States has been “hidden in plain view,” and was drowned out by coronavirus media coverage, which permeated the news throughout 2020.
A recent Fox News Poll showed that 73% of Americans believe there is more crime in 2021 versus 2020, which Bratton was reacting to.
“Nobody was particularly paying much attention to the surging crime in our country’s major cities and indeed now even expanding into our suburban and rural areas.”
While referencing the recent shooting in San Jose, California, Bratton said crime in the U.S. has come “roaring back” into view of the media, and that the prevalence of violence across the country would likely “get worse before it gets better.”
“If it bleeds it leads,” Bratton said.
On crime in New York City, one of the major cities experiencing a rise in violence, Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently addressed the problem during one of his live-streamed press conferences.
“New Yorkers don’t feel safe. You know why they don’t feel safe? Because the crime rate is up. It’s not that they are being neurotic or overly sensitive—they’re right. They are right,” Cuomo said on Wednesday.
Bratton said that Cuomo’s statement was “right on the money,” and asserted that not only is the city facing a crime surge, but also a rise in the “fear” and “perception” of crime.
Between May 10 and May 16, 13 felony assaults occurred on NYC subways. The following week that number nearly doubled to 24 assaults.
*story by Fox News
