Sunday, April 30, 2023

The Crime Wave Here In Connecticut

I just saw that there was another mass killing again today… eight killed all because according to ABC News,
Police said they believe the massacre occurred after neighbors asked the suspect to stop shooting his gun in the front yard because there was a baby trying to sleep.
I got this email yesterday from my state representative:
Friends and Neighbors,

It's extremely troublesome to continue to read news story after news story about residents all across our state being victimized by lawless individuals who have absolutely no fear or concern for getting caught.

Just recently, a Rocky Hill resident interrupted an attempted car jacking in his driveway in broad daylight. There were 16 reported break-ins in Wethersfield over this past weekend alone. A juvenile was arrested for a string of purse thefts in Wallingford, along with a string of "smash & grabs" happening in Southington, South Windsor, Rocky Hill and two men have recently been arrested in Fairfield for their part in a recent carjacking, and most recently, homes in Greenwich are being broken into as well.

These are just a few recent examples to the types of crimes happening in towns and cities all across our state. This brazen behavior has been permitted to spiral out of control due to the failures of the legislative body to enact policies that hold the individuals who commit these crimes accountable for their actions. 
 
All the while, instead of ensuring public safety remains at the forefront of policy decisions made by the legislature, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle continue to introduce bills with a central focus on less accountability and more on absolving responsibility. 
In her email she is against proposed legislation…

This proposal would permit individuals who committed a crime before the age of 24 and received a sentence greater than 10 years to be available for parole by increasing the current threshold from 18 to 25.

The Chief States Attorney submitted testimony in opposition to this bill. In his testimony he states, "Increasing the age of eligible offenders to include non-adolescents up to the age of twenty-five at the time the offense was committed, is neither constitutionally required, nor apparently based on any credible and compelling scientific or psychological evidence."

[...] 

***
Whether or not any or all of these bills pass this session remains to be seen, but residents who are concerned with the policies being pushed out of the legislature should take note that the sentiment to not hold individuals accountable doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. These policies if passed, would only exacerbate an already growing problem. 
She believes in the Republican philosophy of “Lock em up and throw away the key.”

The website USA Facts show that the crime rate in the US is at the lowest point since 1980! Violent crime has stayed level but other crimes have decreased, in 1980 the crime rate per 100,000 was 5.950 and in 2020 it was 2,357!
The Northeast[3] is the region with the lowest crime rates. The property crime rate in the Northeast was 34% lower than in the rest of the country, and the violent crime rate was 26% lower than in other states.

Four of the bottom five states by property crime rate in 2020 were in the Northeast, as well as all five of the lowest states by violent crime rate. New Hampshire and New Jersey were in the bottom five states for both property and violent crime.

[…]

The Census Bureau defines more specific areas within each region, called districts. The West South Central District – part of the South region and composed of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas – had the highest crime rates of any district. Both property crime and violent crime were 22% higher in these states than the national average.
Hey wait a minute there is a divide between “Lock em up and throw away the key.” Republican and “Lets reform them” Democratic states! And look at Texas the “Fry them” state “Violent crimes per 100,000 people is 446.5 while the “Show them mercy” state of Connecticut is 181.6 per 100,000!

Arkansas is 671.9, Florida is 383.6, Louisiana is 639.4, and Tennessee is 672.7.

The property crime rate fell in every state between 1991 and 2020 with the states of Arkansas, Montana, Kentucky, South Dakota, and North Dakota having the lowest drop in property crime of the 50 states. With Massachusetts, Florida, New Jersey, Michigan, and Rhode Island having the greatest drop in crime.

What we need more is better reporting!

KWCH Channel 12 in Wichita reported right at the top of their article that,
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) on Wednesday released a report that showed vehicle thefts nationwide surpassing 1 million for the first time since 2008. The NICB reported in its year-end 2022 vehicle crime update that the stolen vehicle count exceeding 1 million for the year totaled an estimated loss of $8.9 billion.

With the latest report on vehicle thefts, 12 News looked into how closely the trend in Wichita matches what’s occurring nationally. Nationwide, Kia and Hyundai cars are ranked among the most frequently stolen, the NICB reports. In Wichita, the top three targeted vehicles so far this year are pickups: the Chevy Silverado, the Ford F-150 and the Dodge Ram 1500.

Wichita police report responding to more than 2,400 vehicle-theft cases in 2022. That mark sits at more than 350 so far in 2023. Comparing the past three years in the same timeframe, from January to March, 2021 took the lead with more than 550 thefts reported early in the year.
We need the news media to point out that this is a national trend in each article they write about the thefts in the state.

But the Republicans are trying to make this a campaign issue and I believe it will have traction. Why? Because all the voters see is the news headlines as my state rep. Reported “16 reported break-ins in Wethersfield over this past weekend alone” that is all the voters sees, not the fact that around around the country car break-ins are increasing. As they all voters vote locally and they never see the national data.



So I asked Google’s Bard about it.
Is there any difference in the murder rate between Republican and Democratic states as reported by the FBI?

The FBI does not report murder rates by political affiliation. However, it does report murder rates by state. In 2020, the murder rate in the 10 states with the highest murder rates was 10.9 per 100,000 people. Of these 10 states, 7 were won by Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. The murder rate in the 10 states with the lowest murder rates was 2.4 per 100,000 people. Of these 10 states, 9 were won by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

These data suggest that there is a correlation between political affiliation and murder rate. However, it is important to note that correlation does not equal causation. There are many other factors that could contribute to the difference in murder rates between states with different political affiliations, such as poverty, education, and access to healthcare.

Is there any difference in the crime rate between Republican and Democratic states as reported by the FBI?

According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, there is a difference in the crime rate between Republican and Democratic states. In 2020, the violent crime rate in states that voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election was 381.0 per 100,000 people, while the violent crime rate in states that voted for Joe Biden was 267.4 per 100,000 people. The property crime rate in states that voted for Trump was 2,674.4 per 100,000 people, while the property crime rate in states that voted for Biden was 1,886.1 per 100,000 people.

These data suggest that there is a correlation between political affiliation and crime rate. However, it is important to note that correlation does not equal causation. There are many other factors that could contribute to the difference in crime rates between states with different political affiliations, such as poverty, education, and access to healthcare.

It is also important to note that the UCR Program is based on data voluntarily submitted by law enforcement agencies. As a result, the data may not be complete or accurate.

No comments:

Post a Comment