On Friday, Jan. 28, thousands upon thousands of New York police officers filled the streets of the city in a staggering and almost jaw-dropping tribute to 22-year-old rookie Jason Rivera who was killed in the line of duty. One of the youngest of New York’s finest to die, the NYPD show of force was meant to send a message. And that it did.
America’s men in blue are dying in record numbers and yesterday’s funeral in New York served to highlight the horrific truth.
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The statistics are as damning as they are telling. The National Fraternal Order of Police calculated 346 officers were shot in the line of duty in 2021. Particularly concerning are ambush attacks which were up 115% from 2020. *
Starting Off With a Bang
This year is not shaping up to be any better. The New York Police Department reports five officers have been shot in the line of duty since the beginning of 2022. The cop killing is unsurprisingly in direct correlation to the national crime rate. According to a new report by the Council on Criminal Justice, homicides rose by 5% in 2021 compared to 2020, and in 2020 they were 44% higher than in 2019. As of Jan. 23, 2022, the ignominious list of U.S. cities with the highest homicide rates are:
Houston – 38 murders
Chicago – 36 murders
Los Angeles – 26 murders
NYC – 20 murders
Statistics from these reports reveal two fundamental facts: Police are being killed in higher numbers, and so are civilians. Now, what could be the cause of this? It doesn’t take a doctorate in criminal justice to recognize the two most significant changes in U.S. crime control have been the reduction of funds for police departments and a growing reticence by local district attorneys to set a reasonable and confining bail. But now we have the figures in black and white to show that these changes in law enforcement policy are not working.
Just to put a pin in it, let’s take a moment to review a U.S. crime database compiled by a prominent newspaper in the nation’s capital. Updated as recently as Jan. 26 of this year, their statistics show the rate of shootings across the country remains steady. It’s not worth arguing the paper’s conclusion, which appears to contradict other studies. Still, for the sake of discussion, it’s worth teasing out the reasoning as to why these new crime policies – which the left pushed through in most municipalities across the country – are not working.
In a breathtaking explanation for its statistical result that the rate of shootings in the country remains steady, the newspaper posits:
“Probability theory may offer an explanation. It holds that the quantity of rare events in huge populations tends to remain stable absent major societal changes, such as a fundamental shift in police culture or extreme restrictions on gun ownership.”
So according to those who put ideology at the root of policy, the nation can fix the rising crime rate and the climbing number of police killings in two ways: Denude law enforcement of its power and disarm law-abiding citizens. That the evidence on the ground after two years of this failed experiment shows the opposite has not stopped the gun-control cheerleaders from making their case, no matter how absurd.
Who Is Right?
Most Americans understand that the United States has a multitude of firearm restrictions already on the books. They are, in many instances, so numerous as to make them almost incomprehensible to the average citizen. Logically speaking, if police had too much power, then why are they being gunned down in record numbers? Never underestimate the cognitive dissonance of those on the left.
Thus, we the people are left to follow the numbers, look the statistics squarely in the eye, and know they are not adding up to a safer society for us or the men in blue.
~ Read more from Leesa K. Donner.
*This article initially cited statistics from the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum report which included COVID deaths. We regret the error.
