We usually associate violent crime and disorder with America's impoverished urban centers - places like New Orleans, the south and west sides of Chicago, or long-troubled counties like the Bronx. But today the center of American crime is increasingly found on the west coast, within some of the richest and most famous cities in the country.
The explanation is also new: instead of the traditional link between poverty and crime, this crime wave has more to do with politics. Virtually all cities with major crime epidemics - San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles - are places with progressive prosecutors working to limit punishment for looters, organized thieves, and undisciplined, sometimes violent homelessness. Cities, with the exception of Los Angeles, are also among the whitest in the United States, with a large population of educated people.
The lax legal environment has made West Coast cities the happy hunting ground for "smash and grab" thieves on a scale hitherto unprecedented. These cities have also seen rapid growth in violent crime, which is never far from the clutter on the streets. Once these places, particularly Portland, were seen as urban specimens, but few would choose a city whose center has collapsed under the pressure of months from radical protesters and suffers from record killings.
California's deliberate reduction in sentence for minor property damage below $ 1000 has been linked to a spike in shoplifting, particularly in San Francisco. Mike Shellenberger, author of the recently published San Fransicko, suggests that criminals and the homeless go to cities where they are least likely to be prosecuted; homeless people tend to migrate to where they are free to camp and avoid prosecution for property offenses. Free hotel rooms, drugs and alcohol are also provided.
California is one of the few states to see a dramatic increase in its homeless population. According to Shellenberger, between 2015-2020, San Francisco's homelessness grew 32%, despite tripling funds to address homelessness. Unlike the rest of America, California is one of the few states to see a dramatic increase in the homeless population.
Los Angeles has also taken an increasingly violent turn. Just this week, 81-year-old philanthropist Jacqueline Avant was killed in a burglary at her Beverley Hills home.
The images of poverty in the city are supplanting the glamor of Hollywood. In some parts of Los Angeles, growing homeless camps spawned medieval diseases such as typhus. Businesses, particularly outside of technology and entertainment, are starting to relocate from Los Angeles and other blue cities in unprecedented numbers as emigration increases.
Many progressives understandably do not want to admit this reality. The ubiquitous Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez simply denies the facts of the recent "smash and grab" incidents in various cities across the country. Major media and San Francisco’s political elite have tried to downplay such incidents to the indignation of many residents, attributing political motivation to the right. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle seems more concerned about the impact on the city's image than the terrible reality of the street.
Now Chesa Boudin, the ultra-awakened San Francisco district attorney, is facing a call from angry citizens. Another effort, this one against the equally awakened Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, has failed but is being renewed. In an increasingly crime-ridden Seattle, far-left DA, a police "abolitionist", was badly beaten by a moderate Democrat turned Republican. Even in Portland, voters chose to avoid further radicalization and defeated a candidate for mayor who identified with the progressive anti-left militia.
The wave of crime in these deep blue cities could also have an impact on a national level. These are key bastions of the progressive left, and their continuing anguish constitutes a powerful political point for Republicans seeking votes in the suburbs, exurbs and smaller towns. When it comes to election season, crime tolerance doesn't pay.
The great diaspora from California is proof of this. Although I feel terrible for the people that don't have the means to leave I do get a little bit of joy when I see retail businesses leave these cities permanently because identity politics have taken full control of these cities and law enforcement is now powerless.
The left always destroys everything it gets control of. They do it by design. Only once everything is leveled to the lowest common denominator and they have complete control through fear and devastation, then they will be able to build their utopia of equality for all from the ground up ie. equal misery, suffering and death for all. Only recently they tried to recall the governor of CA but failed. So I wouldn't hold my breath for any change through the ballot box. After all, if voting could really make a difference it would be illegal
I used to live in a big city and it was nasty, trash everywhere, and the liberals who claim to care about the homeless let them be homeless without ever trying to help them with any programs or initiatives.