Murder and other crimes have surged in major cities following the efforts to defend and rein in police activity following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year, according to a law enforcement report.
In Minneapolis, police activity following Floyd’s death while in custody dropped 42%, and possibly as a result, murders surged 64%, said the report from the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund shared with Secrets.
The report said that in 10 major cities where cops were sharply criticized, police activity dropped 48% since June 2020 and murders rose 56%.
Nationally, murders jumped 25% to the highest point since 1995. A year before, former President Bill Clinton and then-Sen. Joe Biden pushed through a crime bill that granted millions to police and established the “three strikes” provision that helped to fill the nation’s jails and increase the length of sentences.
Brooklyn Center: The crowd is throwing projectiles at BCPD officers & National Guard. Officers are launching chemical irritants. pic.twitter.com/DHDd5pZLVf
— James Klüg (@realJamesKlug) April 13, 2021
The report suggested that the new crime spike was the result of liberal communities handcuffing police, cutting funds, and publicly mocking law enforcement.
“This data confirms that in places where law enforcement saw the most resistance from community leaders and calls for less policing, we saw more homicides,” said LELDF President Jason Johnson.
“Progressive prosecutors made it clear that making arrests for drug and weapons crimes that will go unprosecuted only exposes officers to the risk of disciplinary action, lawsuits, and criminal prosecution. So, to mitigate that risk, police took a more passive approach,” he added in a statement.
The anti-police trend has also resulted in soaring numbers of retirements, said the LELDF.
The report compared the periods of June to February in 2019-2020 to 2020-2021. Floyd died in late May last year. It found:
- Louisville: police stops down 35%, homicides up 87%.
- Minneapolis: arrests down 42%, homicides up 64%.
- Los Angeles: arrests down 33%, homicides up 51%.
