The coronavirus pandemic has forced a lot of changes in the criminal justice system that have caused many to worry about crime. In some places, people are being released from jail early, police are less active, and courts are at a standstill. The crime rate resulting from this has surprised many.
Nationwide, the crime rate has seen significant DECLINES in places people wrongly assumed it would increase. Crime rate percentages have fallen by double digits in major cities like San Francisco, New York, Detroit, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.
This improvement has proven one particular group wrong.
Police officials had been outraged in many places around the country because they said releasing people from prisons and jails - where coronavirus (COVID-19) can incubate - would increase crime. This has shown us something we’ve seen before about police and crime rates.
Prisons and police do NOT guarantee safety. The U.S. spends tens of billions more today to achieve the same amount of public safety it had in the 1970s for a FRACTION of the price. Meanwhile, it has millions of prison beds and not enough hospital beds as COVID-19 spreads.
Large amounts of the public budget, money that could have gone towards healthcare and other resources proven to prevent crime, have been carelessly consumed by prisons and police. Now, we’re all paying a terrible price because police budgets have used so much money to lock Black people up.