The recent violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is the latest episode in a new weekly show that the nation never asked for.
For months, the far Left has encouraged such chaos, cheering violent rioters, calling to dismantle law enforcement departments, and demanding the nation’s citizens bend their knees in defiance of America. For the hundreds of millions of people on both sides of the aisle who rely on the police to keep their neighborhoods safe, it has been surreal to see politicians and pundits declare that the real instigators of violence are the police, not gangs or rioters.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor and new darling of the media, wants to “reimagine public safety” and says that more police won’t lead to more safety. Joe Biden, her running mate, wants to “redirect” funds away from the police. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wholeheartedly endorses the movement to defund the police.
Columnists from the New York Times and the Atlantic call for abolishing the police. Few leading Democrats will take a stand and oppose defunding the police. The best they can do is say the debate over the term is “rhetoric.” Meanwhile, cities such as Minneapolis, Portland, Washington, and New York are cutting funding for their police departments, and violent crime is spiking in each city.
The evidence is clear that defunding the police leads to more crime. A study from faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley, predicted that cutting police budgets nationwide would directly lead to 1,000 additional homicides.
Policy changes aren’t the only issue with this new rhetoric — the rhetoric itself is a problem. A new study from economists at Harvard University found that in each city where a viral media event — think of the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri — sparked unrest and an investigation into the police, police activity decreased and crime increased. In just five cities, this cycle caused 900 deaths and 34,000 additional felonies, even without “defunding” the departments. The results are clear: The Left’s anti-police rhetoric and policies have sparked the violence in our cities, and this will lead to more deaths if it isn’t checked.
But there’s reason to hope. Between anarchy and peace stands a thin blue line supported by the people.
The people want safety, security, and a clear vision on how to quell the violence and restore the peace. While the Biden-Harris ticket thinks police are a problem, it’s a vocal minority. The silent supermajority knows police are the solution.
Heritage Action dug into the sentiments of the people in a new poll that ran this month in Florida, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. The results showed that 79% of respondents opposed defunding the police, with 69% “strongly opposed.” Even when we gave them the Left’s softer “explanation” of what defunding the police really means — “rethinking” policing to spend more money on social services — 62% still opposed it.
What does this mean? It means 4 out of 5 swing-state voters support law enforcement and want elected officials to do their job to provide safety and security. Regardless of party labels, most ordinary people instinctively understand the importance of the law and its enforcement. It’s what they rely on to keep their families, homes, and businesses safe. Without the law, there’s no society.
But while most voters know how important law enforcement is, they may not know just how many politicians refuse to stand up for the police or who actively campaign against them. They may hear politicians similar to Harris touting a law enforcement background without knowing their plans to “reimagine public safety.”
That’s why it’s time to hold politicians accountable to the people. At an event earlier this month with Vice President Mike Pence, acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, three of the greatest supporters of law enforcement we have in this country, we launched our Police Pledge. In the pledge, we call on lawmakers to stand up to the radical Left and its campaign to defund or disband the police and to choose safety and security over chaos and violence. Politicians across the country have signed up, including senators, governors, and House leadership. Tellingly, no one from the Left has joined.
Conservatives have played defense on this issue for too long. Some think it’s too harsh to focus on law and order or that it will lose centrists and independents. As our polling and conversations with millions of people have shown, they’re wrong. People want to stand up for our country and our laws, unlike the far Left and its representatives in Washington. This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to show people that their elected officials stand on the side of order in the face of politically driven chaos.
It’s time to encourage our leaders at all levels of government to stand up for the safety and security of the people.
Jessica Anderson is the executive director of Heritage Action for America.
