There’s dumb, dumber, and dumbest. When I think of the idiots who decided that criminals should be released from jail to protect them from COVID-19, those descriptions apply. When you think that bail reform, meaning letting criminals go back onto the streets, is smart policy, it fits as well. But to believe that criminals are going to “shelter in place” and not do what they do, yeah, that is a special kind of stupid.
Thus, in the place where COVID-19 has hit the hardest — New York City — so has the virus of crime.As reported by Breitbart:
“While New York City remains under lockdown orders from Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, major violent crime continues to soar.
Cuomo implemented stay-at-home orders on March 20 that effectively force the closure of most businesses, except those deemed “essential,” to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Even with the lockdown, major crime categories such as murder, burglary, and auto theft have spiked across New York City.
Over the last 28 days, in the middle of the lockdown, murders in New York City have jumped more than 55 percent compared to this same time last year, when there were no lockdown orders in place. Between April 13 to April 19, murders increased 100 percent compared to the same week last year. From year-to-date, murders are up by 5.7 percent.
Likewise, grand larceny auto — a crime that no longer warrants bail in New York — has increased more than 53 percent compared to last year. Specifically, there have been 500 charges for auto theft in the last 28 days. During that same time in 2019, there were 326 charges for auto theft. Over the last week, grand larceny auto crimes across the city have jumped 50.5 percent and they are up more than 62 percent overall since the year before — the largest spike in crime year-to-date for any major category.
The lockdown has also not stopped the rise of burglary in New York City — another crime that in many cases allows the suspect to be released from jail without ever paying bail. Burglaries are up by 25 percent in the last 28 days and up by more than 36 percent in the last week. From January 1 to April 19, burglaries are up 27.1 percent compared to this same time last year.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea told local media that burglary suspects are getting “released immediately” from jail due to existing bail laws. Though other crimes — such as rape, felony assault, and grand larceny — have brought down the total number of major crimes committed in New York City during the lockdown by 32.6 percent, overall crime is still up 4.6 percent year-to-date.
The lockdown has dwindled the number of shootings and shooting victims in New York City but the overall year-to-date totals are still up. For instance, the number of shooting victims from January 1 to April 19 has increased 5.5 percent and total shootings have increased 4.1 percent compared to last year.”
So, “essentially,” criminals are doing what criminals “essentially” do while these seemingly dysfunctional elected officials are exerting their power to deem what is “essential?” Criminals do not follow laws, or orders, “essentially” only law-abiding citizens do so. But, law-abiding citizens in some states are “essentially” told they cannot defend themselves, because leftist tyrants have deemed gun stores and ranges, non-essential. After all, in the minds of the progressive socialist left, the Second Amendment is not essential, therefore, your constitutional rights, and individual liberties, are not essential.
We are witnessing a man-made disaster on two fronts, economic suicide by way of massive unemployment, and a wave of criminality. Who is suffering the most because of this? It’s simple: the everyday, hardworking (when not “sheltering in place), law-abiding American citizen.
Look, no one is dismissing the truth that 54,000 Americans have lost their lives due to COVID-19. But that number is still less than the number of deaths from the 2017-2018 influenza season. As we have shared with you previously, the COVID-19 death numbers are quite nebulous, and perhaps even deceiving. The motive as to why we will find out later. We do not shut down our highways indefinitely because of traffic deaths. Yes, the roadway is cordoned off in order to assess the incident, then traffic is opened right back up. You do not say, all cars must shelter in place in the garage, and everyone must take public transportation.
I will reiterate: these are the types of things that happen when you take a “carpet bombing” approach to solving an issue. You have collateral damage and create second, third, and fourth-order adverse effects.
Let this be a lesson learned, the nature of criminals is that they commit crimes. If you create a collective environment of mandating, coercing, threatening by way to achieve a certain modification of behavior, it will only work with people who respect the authority of those making the mandate. Criminals do not respect authority.
After this COVID-19 episode, there will be many law-abiding Americans who will not respect the tyranny of corrupt individuals in positions of authority. Lest we forget, “those who would give up essential liberty for temporary safety will deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
This column was originally published at The Old School Patriot.
The views expressed in CCNS member articles are not necessarily the views or positions of the entire CCNS. They are the views of the authors, who are members of the CCNS.
