Keystone Today

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board argues crime is an extremely important issue for voters in 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.

Democrat John Fetterman won the Pennsylvania Senate race despite reports of him advocating for the release of criminals during a high crime period in Pennsylvania.

Homicides and overall violent crime are on the rise in Philadelphia as of late September. Axios Philadelphia claims although homicides are down by 2.4% in 2022, overall violent crime is surging with 388 homicides, on track to match the record 582 homicides in Philadelphia last year. Shootings, property crimes, robberies and burglaries are up. John Roman, a senior fellow at NORC at the University of Chicago, told Axios that Philadelphia has always struggled with high violent crime rates.

"That's really the thing that's keeping Philadelphia from bouncing back — it just doesn't have the local infrastructure support in government and social services to get it back on track,” he said.

Fetterman has made previous comments about eliminating life without parole for second-degree murderers, including a recent clip where he stated this to be the most important issue in his opinion. FOX News reports Fetterman's campaign is walking back some of his claims on criminal justice. Specifically, FOX News cites Fetterman's record as lt. governor and head of the Board of Pardons (BOP) in Pennsylvania. Fetterman called for the release of second-degree murderers and called it "mercy for the deserving and rehabilitated." He also said, "I hope that it could lead to a conversation that would free close to 1,200 people of a legacy that never made sense, that encompasses victims' input, encompasses their conduct and behavior in prison."

A recent Pew Research poll on crime demonstrates a significant majority of voters are concerned with rising violent crime, a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Editorial Board report says. The poll reports 61% say violent crime is very important to their vote, approximately 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 Lee Zeldin a chance in New York over crime, incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul has defeated him; CBS News says.

“Lee Zeldin was always a longshot for Governor in Democratic New York,” the Editorial Board said. “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 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.” The Editorial Board noted that “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 Gov. Kathy 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, Ore. 

“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 its historical average,” AP News says. In addition to 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.

FBI Crime Data Explorer reports that 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, statistics from Macrotrends show.