With all the Christmas presents passed out, the Department Of Justice (DOJ) snuck a little something under the tree for all their crime-ridden cities…all cities that are also led by Democrats. In a sharp bit of irony, these cities proclaim that they can do more to fix the situation by letting people walk free even easier with bail reform, and programs to defund the police are now experiencing record crime levels.
These ideas sound lovely on paper. Let criminals out easier and decrease the costs to run and keep operating jails and prisons. Invent a bunch of programs (at a significant cost to the taxpayer) that do nothing to ensure people don’t end up back in prison, and sit back and watch them ‘work’ while saving money. Sounds brilliant, right?
Unfortunately, these programs are often run by people who do not truly understand why they are necessary, and they have zero proof to show how or why these programs are effective. Instead, they just regurgitate what a tape or a trainer showed them, with no understanding of how to tailor them to an individual need. These are never one size fits all, and in many cases do not work at all. Now, we are seeing firsthand just how ineffective these programs are. The cities are rampant with criminals being arrested then bailing out or being given an appearance ticket because they cannot keep them locked up.
To help these cities stay afloat, the DOJ is now giving 56 state law enforcement agencies and 900 cities/counties a portion of the $271.9 million Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. The idea is that this money can be used for “multijurisdictional drug and gang task forces, crime prevention and domestic violence programs, courts, corrections, treatment, justice information sharing initiatives, or other programs aimed at reducing crime and/or enhancing public/officer safety,” per the JAG website.
The unfortunate side effect of such grants is that it removes personal accountability. Not just of the person committing the crime but also the people enforcing the laws. Not the police, but the lawyers prosecuting the cases, and the public defenders that often defend the people committing the crime in the first place. These people need to be encouraged to convict and imprison these people. To keep them locked up and prevent them from committing more crimes.
By giving these cities these grants, you are, in effect, telling them “hey, sorry our policies for equality bit you, hope this helps.” There is nothing there to provide restitution to the victims, and given how little they are convicted, those funds are rarely ever restored. In turn, the victim is often left having to go after their insurance to cover the costs, and that just increases premiums and makes getting renewed more difficult, if not downright impossible.
Policies and procedures like these set a dangerous precedent. It tells criminals that what they have done is not only acceptable but that we also understand why they felt the need to commit these crimes. It will only encourage more problems and more crime in these cities. Meanwhile, the DOJ states that this is completely false. “The Department of Justice is committed to supporting our state and local partners to combat crime across the country. This latest round of funding will deliver critical public safety resources, helping public safety professionals, victim service providers, local agencies and nonprofit organizations confront these serious challenges.”
If you want to see a real change, you need to make people act a certain way. You need to encourage them to do the right thing and encourage them to be on the lawful side of things. These grants don’t encourage that. What does, though, is reducing bail reform, putting people back in prison for serious crimes, and stopping poor excuses for criminal behavior. You knew that it was stealing, and you did it anyway. Now pay for it.
