Bush told us he'd make us safer. Wrong. Not safer world-wide. Not safer in the U.S.:
Murders, robberies and other violent crimes reported in the United States jumped 3.7 percent in the first half of the year, continuing a troubling upswing that began in 2005, the FBI said on Monday.Fighting crime takes a serious commitment at the federal, state and local level. Bill Clinton understood that. George Bush doesn't.
The FBI said law enforcement agencies reported that robberies soared by a startling 9.7 percent, followed by an increase in murders of 1.4 percent and aggravated assaults of 1.2 percent.
Last year, the number of violent crimes increased by 2.5 percent, the largest percentage gain in 15 years. The increase came after years of declines.
The local commitment is key. Last summer, there was a brutal murder in Georgetown, here in DC. I was struck by the cavalier comment from one of our city councilors:
D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), whose district includes the neighborhood, said he fears people have been lulled into a sense of complacency by the low crime rate. Georgetown, Capitol Hill and Adams Morgan -- the District's leading entertainment centers -- are still "inner-city neighborhoods," he said.Robberies just don't happen. Evans made it sound like people who go out to bars and movies in D.C are at fault -- so it's not the fault of the robbers and certainly not the fault of the city leaders, like Evans, who are charged with keeping us safe.
"Robberies happen at this time of night because it's when the bars and the movie theaters let out," he said. "Whether you're in Georgetown or Capitol Hill or in Adams Morgan, it's that profile of the person leaving and going to their car -- and the robbers laying in wait for the people to come by."
Rising crime is a bad sign. And it feels like no one is really paying attention.
