The fear of a bloody summer has become the focus of New York City’s mayor’s campaign, as residents participate in public opinion polls in the primary elections to choose Democratic and Republican candidates. Violent crime on the rise All over the United States.

The surge in homicides and other violent crimes in 2020 is continuing to rise across the country. President Joe Biden will speak on Wednesday about what he will do to help solve the rising crime problem, especially guns. Violence, “As we have seen, this country is a concern for many Americans,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday.

gun Crime rates in major metropolitan areas have risen sharply, especially in New York, the largest city in the United States. According to New York Police Department data cited by CNN, as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and New York begins to reopen, the number of shootings in May 2021 has increased by 73% from the previous year.

According to the NY1/Ipsos poll released on June 7, this has caused pressure on voters.PDF). The poll found that 46% of voters believe that crime is their top concern, more than 45% of affordable housing and 32% of COVID-19.

The Democrat Eric Adams, a former New York police chief and Brooklyn chairman, thinks he is best suited to deal with the rising crime rate, and voters seem to be listening.

One Ipsos Poll The survey released on June 21 found that potential voters under investigation believed Adams was the best candidate to deal with the increase in crime.

Opinion polls also show that Adams leads the 11 Democratic candidates with a 28% approval rate.

Although well below the 50% threshold required for a complete victory, Adams is still in a good position under New York City’s new ranking voting system, which allows New Yorkers to select candidates based on preference and then eliminate the lowest ranked candidate in several rounds People until the winner is chosen.

The Democratic candidate of New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a campaign event in Brooklyn, New York, June 11, 2021 [Brendan McDermid/Reuters]

Adams opposed the call for “removal of police funding” after the death of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin George Freud, Saying that this is a slogan adopted by wealthy whites.

Those who support the cancellation of funding call for the funds to be transferred to other social service projects that prevent crime by improving people’s living conditions.

The black community disagrees with this approach. Adams of Black claimed that more police were needed.

When popular progressive New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez supported Maya Wiley, she called for a $1 billion reduction in the budget of the New York Police Department, Adams published The statement criticized the two for calling for the cancellation of police funding.

He said: “They put slogans and politics above public safety, and they will endanger the lives of New Yorkers.”

On July 15, 2020, at a rally in Seattle to support police and other law enforcement officials, a person held up a slogan labeled “Back the Blue.”The group encountered a small group of counter-protesters from Black Lives Matter and other groups [File: Ted S Warren/AP Photo]

But Ernesto Lopez, a research expert at the Criminal Justice Commission (CCJ), told Al Jazeera that although “the budget reduction may weaken the police’s ability to actively reduce crime”, “some studies have shown that the “reduction of funds” will reduce the police’s capacity. Enthusiasm, which limits more active police work”, he “has insufficient confidence that this is driving the increase [in violence]”.

Increase or decrease funds

The National Brotherhood of Police (FOP) agreed with Adams and stated that the city “handed over the key.”Divestment police“Thugs”, obviously referring to Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest After Freud’s death, this situation arose across the United States.

FOP posted a picture on Twitter on May 25, showing that the murder rate in many major cities has “surged”, including New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis According to FOP, as of May 2021, the murder rate in Portland, Oregon has increased by 800%, which is shocking.

Guess what these cities have in common?

With the exception of some elected officials who did not perform their duties, the leadership of all these cities gave the keys to the “divestment police” thugs. pic.twitter.com/rF5QLskXqE

-National Brotherhood of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) May 25, 2021

Minneapolis and Portland led the way in police funding, but their police budgets were cut by 5% and 4%, respectively.

Portland’s homicide rate has increased dramatically, but the total number of homicides in May 2021 has increased from 2 in May 2020 to 10. according to To city data.

According to the Chicago Tribune, this is an increase of approximately 500%.

Los Angeles and Chicago Cut their budgets to a similar level, cutting 5% and 3% in Los Angeles and Chicago, respectively. These numbers are far below what activists want.

On July 26, 2020, a man stands behind a Chicago police crime scene videotape at the shooting site in southern Chicago, Illinois [File: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters]

Violent crime in Chicago has increased. According to the Chicago Sun Times, the deadliest day of 2021 is June 15, when 8 people were killed in the shooting.

However, regardless of whether the police budget is reduced, stabilized, or increased, crime rates across the United States are rising. There is little evidence that reducing funding to the police department will increase crime.

Houston and Nashville, two cities run by Democratic mayors, have increased funding for police in the past year. According to statistics, homicides in Houston have increased by 35%, and homicides in Nashville in January and February doubled compared to the same period in 2020. Local average.

Criminologists and other experts warn that the increase in crime is caused by a variety of factors. Some are structural and have been part of society for generations. The impact of COVID-19 cannot be ignored.

CJC research expert Lopez said, “It’s also worth noting that in the first quarter of 2020, George Freud. “

Community response

Although some people criticized the “divestment police” model of investing in community-based violence prevention programs, Baltimore’s safe streets program showed promise.

The Safe Street Program describes itself as an “evidence-based public health program to reduce youth gun violence.” McElderry Park and Belair-Edison are two historic and dangerous neighborhoods in East Baltimore, supervised by Living Classrooms.

“Safe Streets hires outreach workers to enter the community and mediate before the dispute escalates into violence, while recruiting young people who are troubled or judged to participate in the program,” their website states.

On June 19, 2020, during the June March against racial and gender inequality in Baltimore, a rally against black women and girls killed by the police [File: Rosem Morton/Reuters]

According to its website, the plan conducted 661 mediations in 2020, and only 4 of the 335 homicides in Baltimore that year occurred in two blocks.

As the public’s trust in law enforcement declines, communities are called on to respond to crime. An Ipsos poll found that in June last year, 45% of people wanted to “maintain law and order,” while 44% supported the “right to protest.”

However, this sentiment Already transferredAccording to Ipsos’s March poll, 31% of respondents support the right to protest, and 45% want to maintain law and order.

The police have been facing criticism in the United States for a long time.The tension between the police and activists has been tense since 2014, when Michael BrownAn unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri.

The public outcry and protest helped to launch the BLM movement. The killings continued, and the protests continued. In the middle of last year, people’s trust in law enforcement plummeted when there were constant protests against racism and police brutality in the United States.

Lopez said that instead of seeing BLM as a factor in the increase in crime, it is better to see it as “a reflection of current social conditions.”

“There is a lot of research supporting the legitimacy of the police, and even the legitimacy of the general government, has fallen and the crime rate has risen,” he continued.

“As the legitimacy decreases, people will only become increasingly non-compliant with the law” and “cooperation with the police tends to decrease. This hinders the police’s ability to investigate crimes and arrest suspects.”