We are reaching a dangerous moment in the escalating rise in shootings and murder.
There has been an incessant blame game for the rise in shootings and murder that started in December. De-enforcement during the past two years, bail reform, Covid-19 and its attendant prolonged lockdown, the declining economy, summer, dissolution of the NYPD anti-crime unit, a crisis of police legitimacy, low police morale, alleged failure of prosecutors to prosecute and courts to judge … the list goes on and on.
In truth, it is very unlikely there is a singular cause; virtually never can a single cause be traced to explain a spike in violent crime. Rather, it is likely the destabilizing impact of all these factors.
When government engages in the blame game, the governed suffer. This is particularly acute in times of crisis. Anxiety, worry, a sense of lack of control, loss of faith in institutions, unpredictability of the immediate future, a feeling of vulnerability and even hopelessness can settle in at the individual and group level. Clear, concise, consistent messaging describing how the government is responding to crises injects stability into an otherwise chaotic condition.
The rapid and continuing rise in shootings is such a crisis. While we may not be able to point to a single cause for the rise in violence, the lack of a uniform response is not helping, and it may be adding to the mayhem. The combination of a non-unified response to the shootings crisis by government, the already present crisis of police legitimacy, with distrust by the community, coupled with incessant attacks on the police and the continued denigration of the prosecutors and the courts, is creating a toxic narrative that we must change and change fast.
There has been a steady flow of allegations that prosecutors are no longer prosecuting cases, that grand juries are not sitting and that no one is being convicted of anything. Likewise, the courts have been accused of not operating. We must set the record straight. People who carry or use illegal guns must know that when arrested, they will be prosecuted, and when convicted they will be sentenced. The various arms of law enforcement and criminal justice must collectively stand together with the community and government leadership and set forth a compelling, comprehensive plan that starts with a laserlike focus on illegal guns.
This collective response should not be seen as a choice between respond or reform. Critically important questions have been raised by the police protests of recent months, and we should engage in an open, transparent process to consider the questions raised and decide what we want for our city and our country. Rather than hindering the response to the shootings, such a process should aid in our collective effort to create safer communities for all, ensuring that those who have suffered under too-often-aggressive policing have their voices heard. Likewise, the collective voice of rank-and-file police must be considered. Such a collective response might help to create and restore trust.
Regardless of the direction from which one approaches the critically important questions being raised, everyone has the same goal: to make our communities safer. Our first step in doing so must be to rein in the shootings, before it’s too late.
Richard Aborn is president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City.
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July 23, 2020 at 12:03AM
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