Peach Tree Times

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Editorial Board argues crime is an extremely important issue for voters in Georgia and nationwide during the midterm elections, with racial differences based on victim demographics, data shows an overall rise in violent crime in the last two years. The largest jump was an almost 30% increase in homicides in 2020.

According to an opinion piece by Ronna McDaniel in The Hill, Sen. Raphael Warnock “lobbied for the end of Atlanta’s bail system, which led to an approximate 100% spike in released offenders failing to appear for their court dates. He’s voted to confirm Biden’s soft-on-crime Supreme Court pick. He’s demonized our men and women in blue, calling them 'thugs' and 'bullies.' He’s even voted to give stimulus checks to prisoners, including the Boston Marathon bomber.” The op-ed argues Herschel Walker as a better alternative to Warnock as Atlanta’s homicide rate has continued to increase. McDaniel claims, “Warnock has done more for criminals than law-abiding citizens.” 

According to CBS News, as of Wednesday morning, Warnock and Walker appear to be headed for a runoff on Dec. 6. Warnock has a slight lead over Walker at 49.2% vs 48.7%.

In 2019, in Georgia, the FBI Crime Data Explorer lists 6,200 violent-crime incidents and 7,280 offenses reported by 125 Georgia law enforcement agencies. In 2021, the number increased to 26,159 violent crime incidents and 33,550 offenses reported by 447 Georgia law enforcement agencies.

According to the WSJ Editorial Board, a recent Pew Research poll on crime demonstrates a significant majority of voters are concerned with rising violent crime. The poll reports 61% say violent crime is very important to their vote, around the same as energy policy, but more than abortion at 56%. Republican voters view violent crime as a bigger issue than Democrats. Although the Editorial Board gave Congressman Lee Zeldin a chance in New York over crime, incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul has defeated him, according to CBS News.

“Lee Zeldin was always a longshot for governor in Democratic New York. But one issue has given him a real chance: Crime. A poll this week from the Pew Research Center underscores why it has become such an albatross for Democratic candidates this year,” the Editorial Board said. 

The Editorial Board argues there is a “racial disconnect” between Democratic voters and the Democratic Party. The Pew Research poll says, “Differences by race are especially pronounced among Democratic registered voters. While 82% of black Democratic voters say violent crime is very important to their vote this year, only a third of white Democratic voters say the same.” According to the Editorial Board, “black Americans are disproportionately the victims of the soft-on-crime approach favored by Democratic politicians and prosecutors in crime-ridden big cities.” They give an example where the White House has attempted to call out Republicans for being in favor of defunding the police, or Hochul calling rising crime a “conspiracy.” The Editorial Board says Hochul is “hopelessly out of touch.”

AP News reports police departments are struggling to keep up with rising crime. George Spaulding, whose son was killed five years ago, spoke on the job the police have done in his home city of Portland, Oregon. 

“We’re not dissatisfied with the Police Bureau because I think they’re doing the best they can,” Spaulding said. “They are just overwhelmed. It’s insane.” 

Portland reported 89 homicides in 2021 and is on track to have more in 2022, “three times more than the historical average,” according to AP News. Among a rise in violent crime, AP News says many police officers across the country have retired early or quit following George Floyd’s murder and the call to reform police departments. Philadelphia police spokesperson Eric Gripp said, “This isn’t just an issue in Philadelphia. Departments all over are down and recruitment has been difficult.” The surge of violent crime in 2020 was due to COVID-19 “social disruption” and was higher in cities that chose to reform their police departments, although AP News notes crime is up all over the nation.

According to FBI Crime Data Explorer, nationwide, in 2019, there were 448,783 violent-crime incidents, and 520,209 offenses reported by 9,042 law enforcement agencies. In 2021, the number increased to 694,050 violent-crime incidents, and 817,020 offenses reported by 11,794 law enforcement agencies.

The crime rate nationwide in 2020 was 6.52, a 28.64% increase from the year before, according to statistics from Macrotrends.