AOC VS. ERIC ADAMS ..... WHO WILL WIN? DON'T COUNT AOC OUT

AOC’s crime denialism out of touch: Eric Adams’ win signals NYC done with far left on law, order 

 

By Andrew Stein

 

New York Post

December 15, 2021

 

 

Mayor-elect Eric Adams ran on a sensible approach to New York's rising crime, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called for defunding of the NYPD  

 

In Corona, one section of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Queens and Bronx district, murder has increased 42 percent and rape 66 percent over the past two years. In this precinct, the 42nd, robberies have risen by 21 percent, per CompStat.

Will Ocasio-Cortez deny these statistics?

The Democrat doubts the existence of mass smash-and-grab robberies around the country: “A lot of these organized retail thefts are not actually panning out,” she asserted this month.

In my New York City neighborhood and countless other urban locations, Walgreens has many products locked up because thefts make leaving them open on the shelf no longer feasible. The national drugstore chain, a top robbery target, stated plainly, “Organized retail crime is one of the top challenges facing” the company.

“Respectfully, the congresswoman has no idea what she is talking about. Both the data and stack of video evidence make clear that this is a growing problem in need of solutions,” said Retail Industry Leaders Association spokesman Jason Brewer. “If she is not concerned with organized theft and increasingly violent attacks on retail employees, she should just say that.”

New Yorkers are concerned. And Eric Adams’ win signals they’ve had it with the far left on law and order.

AOC wants fewer prisons and the police defunded. “If we want to reduce violent crime, if we want to reduce the number of people in our jails, the answer is to stop building more of them,” she’s said.

Her view is the view of the radical left, and it is completely absurd.

 

Ocasio-Cortez has questioned existence of a swarm of smash-and-grab robberies around the country 

 

Is this crime denial? Or is this using words to spark provocation? Shall we close the jails to the most violent criminals, who tear apart families and communities? Shall we close them to lower-level offenders, for whom jail time might provide a deterrent to committing future crimes? Should we close jails to the gang member who recently killed a Columbia University grad student and injured a tourist?

Education, strong families, jobs and addressing mental-health issues are absolute necessities to stop crime, but they are longer-term solutions. And we have not addressed them correctly or adequately.

Defunding police and letting felons out of jail is not a solution unless stoking chaos, increased crime and anarchy is your objective.

The irony is that the more crime committed, and frequently by repeat offenders, the more public opinion shifts to supporting more police and more jail time.

A December Siena poll found New Yorkers are most concerned about crime and economic development.

According to a recent Pew Research Center piece, “Americans’ attitudes about police funding in their own community have shifted significantly” amid “mounting public concern about violent crime.”

Forty-seven percent of adults “say spending on policing in their area should be increased,” up from 31 percent in June 2020. “That includes 21 percent who say funding for their local police should be increased a lot, up from 11 percent who said this last summer.”

 

Eric Adams has proposed improving the NYPD and how it polices, and is against defunding the department

 

The Pew poll also found support for reducing spending on police fell by 10 points, from 25 to 15, in the last year.

New York City residents confirmed this sentiment shift by electing Eric Adams mayor. Long before there was clarity on this issue, Adams understood that black Americans — even more than whites and Hispanics — have changed their minds significantly about decreasing police funding.

Black Americans often have greater concern about rising crime rates because their communities tend to bear the brunt of increasing violence. Polls regularly indicate that for all Americans — including blacks — worry about violent crime far outstrips concern about climate change and budget deficits.

Denying citizens a measure of safety will add to the economic burdens our city must face. Denying children safe, quality educational opportunities will affect them for the rest of their lives.

Adams understands the connection between education and crime. He has offered common-sense solutions. He does not deny the crime crisis or believe that defunding the police and tearing down jails will solve it.

And he seeks to improve the education system. “Poor education and lack of preparation lead to incarceration,” he’s correctly said.

To increase public safety, there must be true police reform including greater transparency. Adams will diversify the NYPD and add officers who will respect and protect New Yorkers. He will make it easier for good cops to identify bad cops. And he will get guns off the street, bringing back anti-crime units.

Adams realizes that too many judges let violent criminals out the next day. He knows he must go to Albany and lobby the Legislature to change bail laws so violent criminals don’t go back on the streets immediately and commit more crime.

He made a good choice for the next NYPD commissioner, but it’s always the mayor himself who decides administration policy on policing. Unlike AOC, Adams is not a crime denier.