Former law enforcement officials have pushed back after the Biden administration touted that its policies have led to the lowest drop in violent crime in 50 years.
Former New York Police Lieutenant Darin Porcher argued that the White House cherry-picked crime statistics to make the case that crime in the United States is at an all-time low.
“I’m a firm believer in the will of the statistics, or the person looking at them, and that if you own the statistics, you can chart a better course for what you’re trying to express,” he told Fox News Digital.
“It’s clear what the White House is doing with this particular article,” Polcher said, “but it doesn’t take a quantitative genius to realize that crime is on the rise.”
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“But it doesn’t take a quantitative genius to realize that crime is on the rise.”
A former New York City police officer spoke about the White House’s recent plan to combat crime in the US.
Porcher said realistically, there has been a “sharp uptick” over the past three years under Biden’s leadership.
“Over the last three years under the Biden administration, we’ve seen a surge in crime related to the immigration crisis, violent crime in cities and in counties where civilians live,” he said.
“Perception is key,” Polcher said. “Any time the public perceives that crime is increasing, the government has an obligation to enforce the rule of law.”
A Chicago Police vehicle at a crime scene. (FOX32 Chicago WFLD)
Porcher said the Department of Justice quantifies crime in the US in the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), which he said don’t show the “whole picture” of crime because they report every crime recorded and don’t track crimes to resolution.
“We have had a lot of cases where people report a crime saying their car was stolen, and then they find it a couple of days later and it’s not stolen, they just forgot where they parked it,” he said. “The crime is already on the Uniform Crime Report and no one is adding it retroactively.”
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Porcher said UCR can be used to manipulate crime data for either advantage or disadvantage.
“The UCR Uniform Crime Report may be biased in a favorable or unfavorable direction in terms of increases or decreases in crime, and the White House touts it as the standard,” he said. “I take issue with this because we need a more qualitative approach.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended President Biden’s record on the border but blamed Republicans and former President Trump for not allowing the president to deploy more Border Patrol agents. (The White House)
in press releaseThe White House credited the record-low crime rates to the administration’s American Rescue Plan, which provided funding for a $15 billion investment in law enforcement and public safety.
The White House also boasted that Biden had signed “the most significant gun violence bill in nearly three decades.”
Polcher argued that the administration’s implementation of “red flag laws,” gun control laws that allow people to petition the courts for civil injunctions that temporarily ban people from possessing firearms, may not be in the best interest of the country.
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“I believe gun control is well-intentioned, but I don’t believe it will be effective because there are more guns and more people in America,” he said. “It’s like closing the gate after the horses have run away.”
“I truly believe that the best way to reduce gun violence is through law enforcement enforcement of necessary prohibitions — laws that are written into law. Gun violence would drop sharply if we enforced those laws that are written into law,” he said. “But relying solely on gun control only makes it easier for criminals to obtain firearms and less deterrent for law-abiding citizens.”
A New York City Police Department (NYPD) vehicle photographed on March 18, 2016. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
“History tells the future best,” said the former NYPD lieutenant, adding that the results of progressive policies in major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City must be considered.
“When it comes to what’s happening in our big cities, history tells us the best about the future,” he said. “If we’re not careful, we’re going to repeat the same mistakes of the past.”
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“If you look at many major cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and New York, you can clearly see a consistent claim to progressive policies that are not moving in the direction of punishing criminals,” he said, “but law-abiding citizens appear to be the victims of unfair trials.”
“Criminals are being given more rights and we, the public, are being given fewer rights,” Polcher said.
