There was no more perfect encapsulation of the Democratic Party’s crime problem than Joe Scarborough’s bruising interview with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. “Morning Joe” is of late a more moderate voice among liberal commentators, and is using the platform to push the Democratic Party to move ever so slightly closer to the average voter’s views on some issues, like crime and policing.
Many polls show broad public support for President Trump’s efforts to reduce crime, which have included deploying federal troops to Washington, D.C. We should remain vigilant about increasing federalization of law enforcement, because we don’t want to live in a police state, but we also need to recognize the inarguable successes associate with such an approach. D.C. finally had a murder-free week, last week, thanks in part to the presence of the National Guard.
Trump thinks that what worked in D.C. could work elsewhere, and has suggested that other big cities beset with crime problems could benefit from an influx of federal troops and or resources. Chicago is one of those cities, but its far-left mayor is opposed to Trump’s plan.
When pressed on “Morning Joe” on whether the city should accept federal help, Johnson simply refused to directly answer the question, saying instead that he thought other things were more important than law enforcement.
And so Scarborough asked again. “Do you believe the streets of Chicago would be safer if you had all those other extraordinary programs put into place, which do have a history of being successful, if that’s complemented by having 5,000 more cops on the streets of Chicago?”
Johnson deflected once more: “I don’t believe that we should narrow that down to just police officers is what I’m saying. That’s an antiquated approach.”
After that second non-answer, Scarborough asked a third time, getting much the same response. “Look, we are working hard to make sure that our police department is fully supported,” Johnson said. “I don’t believe that just simply putting out an arbitrary number of police officers is the answer.”
The man either does not believe, or will not admit, that more police on the streets would deter crime — even though we know that it would.
Look, this aspect of crime isn’t complicated: If you have more police, you get less crime. Except for the most far-left scholars of criminology, experts — even those who support criminal justice reform — agree that when you have more members of law enforcement patrolling the streets, busting bad guys and clearing cases, you get less social disorder and not as many incidents of crime.
The question, though, is not really whether more police would help. It’s whether national police are a long-term solution — whether other trade-offs are worth considering, like civil liberties being undermined, and whether, frankly, there’s enough money to pull it off.
Chicago, for example, is facing significant budget constraints. Reason magazine’s Christian Britschgi notes that Johnson had to break a pledge not to raise taxes. In fact, he’s had to increase taxes on everything from digital streaming services to grocery bags to rideshare trips. He also tried to pass a $300 million property tax, but the city council killed it.
My point is, Chicago might want to think about whether it’s really going to say no to federal help. Getting our cities under control is expensive work.
Robby Soave is co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising” and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary.
