‘People are scared’ as gang activity fuels Portland violence

An Associated Press story illustrates some of the built-in flaws of “progressive” thinking:

There have been 37 homicides in Oregon’s largest city so far this year, more than six times the number recorded in the same period last year. If nothing changes, Portland will surpass its all-time record for homicides of 70 set in 1987, when the city was in the midst of a gang siege.

There have been 37 homicides in Oregon’s largest city so far this year, more than six times the number recorded in the same period last year. If nothing changes, Portland will surpass its all-time record for homicides of 70 set in 1987, when the city was in the midst of a gang siege.

Those “protests” involved nightly violence and destruction, with few consequences for the culprits.

Memo to progressives: When lawlessness goes unpunished, expect more of it.

The surge in gang-related shootings, which has disproportionately impacted people of color…

Officials also disbanded a specialized unit focused on curbing gun violence that had long faced criticism for disproportionately targeting people of color — a decision that some residents impacted by gun violence are still questioning.

When most of the violence is perpetrated by a specific demographic (IE. people of color), then resources need to be funneled appropriately.

Memo to progressives: Stop bowing to political correctness, recognize the problem for what it is, and tackle it head-on. The taboo against recognizing black crime has got to stop.

… where violence is increasing as people continue to call for defunding police….

But now, following the pandemic shut down and Floyd’s murder, paired with a diminishing police presence, community leaders say the problem has returned…

The rise in violence comes at a time when the Portland Police Bureau’s staffing is at its lowest in decades — the department is more than 100 officers short of “authorized strength,” as determined by the city.

In the past nine months, the department has experienced a rapid turnover with more than 120 officers having left the department, many citing low morale and burnout from nightly racial justice protests that would end in confrontation and plumes of teargas. During that time, while officers’ priorities were shifted to protests, Portland was also experiencing its deadliest year in more than a quarter-century.

Despite police pleas for more personnel, city leaders slashed $27 million from the police budget — $11 million due to the pandemic-caused budget crisis and $15 million amid calls to defund the police — vowing to devote money to community groups working to curb gun violence.

Immediately after funding to the police, including its gun-violence unit, shootings increased dramatically. While we can agree that correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation, it certainly appears that way in this case.

On I-84, on the way to the airport, there’s a large handwritten sign that’s highly visible. It says “ACAB” (All Cops are Bastards). It’s been there for months. Apparently, cleaning it up is not a high priority. I would do it, but it’s right next to a homeless camp, and I’d be taking my life in my hands. When attitudes such as this are so pervasive, it’s no wonder that the police have trouble filling their staffing needs.

Memo to progressives: If you’re both anti-gun, and anti-police, criminals will see this as an open invitation. Y’all brought this upon yourselves.

Jo Ann Hardesty, the first Black woman elected to the City Council and who pushed to cut the unit, maintains disbanding the team last summer was the right decision.

“The police have a role but their role is simply to solve crime — their role is not to prevent crime, their role is not to intervene in other community activities,” Hardesty told KOIN 6 last month. “A response to gun violence should not be a knee-jerk reaction.”

I wrote about Jo Ann Hardesty last year. We could pick a random homeless person off the street, and he’d be a better leader than Hardesty.

Memo to progressives: When you elect inferior leaders just because they’re black, don’t expect good policies to be promoted.