Progressives, for too long, have tended to minimize the impact of criminality in our communities. Crime tends to have a much bigger impact on low-income households and urban areas than in quiet, middle-class suburbs. It is also extremely disruptive for its victims, its perpetrators, and the community at large, both in terms of quality of life and economic opportunity. High crime levels are really, really terrible for poor and marginalized communities, and any self-described lefty that claims to care for the poor should make reducing its impact an absolute priority.
Inexplicably, Liberals and Progressives have managed to lose the issue to Republicans, who have become the “law and order” party. Unsurprisingly, they have done so with a big dose of fearmongering and bad faith, completely warping the debate on crime in ways that are not just unhelpful but counterproductive.
Let’s start with some basic facts. Despite constant screeds against out-of-control Democratic states full of Liberals who hate cops and want to defund the police, blue states are in fact considerably safer than red states. The three states with the lowest violent crime rates in the nation last year were Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut (yes, we are one of the safest states in the country). Places like Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi topped the charts. Louisiana’s homicide rate is four times higher than New York’s, or seven times higher than Massachusetts’s. New York City has a lower homicide rate than any Southern state.
The most dangerous cities in the country, with few exceptions, are Southern cities as well. Memphis, St. Louis, and Kansas City have much higher homicide rates than New York or Los Angeles. There are, of course, some outliers (Chicago and D.C., above all), but the overall picture is that those purportedly “soft on crime” states have, in fact, lower crime rates.
The misinformation extends to policing. The state with the most police officers per capita is Louisiana, followed by New Mexico and North Dakota. The fourth is New York, which at least has low crime rates to show for that larger force; Connecticut ranks close to the bottom. There is very little correlation between the number of police officers a state has and criminality. Instead, what seems to matter more is how police does its job, how well-trained and well-paid officers are, and the broader social policies a state has in place, from higher minimum wages to better substance abuse prevention programs.
Cities with a higher share of immigrants, by the way, have lower crime rates, and undocumented immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes than native-born residents. This is one reason crime rates are lower in blue states, which tend to welcome more immigration.
Of course, the most important overlooked fact about crime in America is that it is going down, and has been doing so steadily since 2021. Americans have not been this safe, by some metrics, since the days of the Kennedy administration. Crime rates did see a massive spike across the country in 2020, during the first Trump term in office—something that did not happen anywhere else (most of the world saw crime dip in 2020, only to return to “normal” in 2021)—but the trend reversed during the Biden years.
Crime, however, remains a significant problem nationwide. I am Spanish; the U.S. homicide rate is eight times higher than where I grew up. Spain is unusually safe by any standard, but even “safe” places like Connecticut are significantly more dangerous than any Western European nation. Americans tolerate levels of violence that would be seen as unacceptable anywhere else. When I tell relatives and friends back in the old country that my daughter had an active shooter drill at her school, they look at me like we have gone insane—and they are probably right.
Crime is an issue we must address, both in Connecticut and across the country. It is time for Democrats and Progressives, however, to stop being so helplessly defensive about it. First, because the places where they govern are much safer than red cities and states, and they should loudly make their case. Second, and more importantly, because reducing crime really helps the poor and communities of color and can have an immediate positive impact.
Democrats should stop running away when Republicans call them names, especially on issues where they consistently deliver better outcomes. Law and order are Progressive issues. Own them.