CA Police Data Shows ‘Tough-on-Crime’ Counties Experience Higher Crime
The latest data from the San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento police departments show that in Sacramento, where officials practice "tough-on-crime" policies — violent crime rates have skyrocketed, whereas progressive policy cities are getting a tighter grip on the trends.
Landwebs
California has been in the spotlight in recent weeks for its battle handling crime spikes, and most recently their Sacramento battle recovering from a devastating mass shooting.
With that, a debate regarding policing strategy rages on — and new police data shows California counties with tough-on-crime policies actually have a greater crime increase compared to counties with progressive policies, Davis Vanguard reports.
California’s homicide rate jumped by 31 percent last year, making it a 13-year high, according to ABC 10 News.
An example Davis Vanguard notes includes District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert of Sacramento County, who has characterized her time in office with her tough-on-crime policies.
“I think it’s a very, very dangerous time right now in California,” Schubert has said in regard to the perceived rise in violent crime.
To that end, many have criticized Schubert’s conservative policies, saying that being “tough-on-crime” does little but force people to be system-involved and that the strict policies still have not resulted in a decrease in crime in respective countries.
“San Francisco and Los Angeles, both of which have progressive DAs, have much lower violent crime rates than Sacramento where Schubert resides,” Davis Vanguard reports.
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The writers continue, adding: “Reports from their respective police departments for the 2020 – 2021 calendar year shows that San Francisco had a 17 percent increase in homicide and Los Angeles had a 12 percent increase in homicide, while Sacramento has had a 31 percent increase in homicide.”
Comparatively, San Francisco and Los Angeles saw decreases of 9 percent and 6 percent in rape cases, respectively. In comparison, Sacramento — with a tough-on-crime policy — saw a 30 percent increase in rape cases from 2020-2021.
Looking at robbery cases, San Francisco saw a decrease of 7 percent, whereas Los Angeles had a 5 percent increase, and Sacramento had a 12 percent increase.
Lastly, aggravated assault cases from 2020-2021 were up 9 percent in San Francisco and up 7 percent in Los Angeles, but they spiked by 16 percent in Sacramento.
Overall, as the three police department data reports regarding violent crime detail, the two cities with progressive crime policies (San Francisco and Los Angeles) seemed to have gotten a better handle on crime compared to Sacramento, a “tough-on-crime” county.
In sending a message to ABC News, the attorney general’s office has publicly responded to the rise in crime, saying “At the California Department of Justice, we’re committed to working with our partners across the state to tackle crime in all its forms. The Attorney General believes any increase in crime is unacceptable,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.”
Additional Reading: Why Acting ‘Tough on Crime’ Won’t Reduce Violence
