The panic is palpable. Democrat controlled cities across the nation are experiencing something they might never have experienced before: Consequences for their terrible criminal prosecution policies. And, they don't like. Not one bit.
Democrats have argued for the past couple years that crime rates are actually falling in the US compared to previous decades, but this does not seem to be represented on the streets as retailers in numerous metro areas are closing up shop after many years of operations due to increasing theft. If crime rates are falling, why are so many businesses leaving blue areas?
Boston, for example, has been bleeding retailers in recent months, with companies like Walgreens closing down four stores in the area in a single year. Residents and officials are “outraged”, arguing that these companies have a civic duty to stay and service communities in need. It's estimated that Massachusetts retailers are losing more than $2 billion per year to criminal theft. Maybe if the community stopped robbing them on a daily basis, these companies wouldn't feel the need to shut down.
The series of closures in Boston is similar to what is happening in San Francisco, with some neighborhoods slowly but surely losing nearby access to grocers. Companies have in some cases tried to hide the reason for shutting down (high crime) by suggesting that they are “improving” the area by opening land up for development, but locals know the real cause.
Conclusion – Crime is not falling at all in leftist run cities. Crime rates rely on reports and arrests. If leftist officials are making policies which discourage arrests and reporting, then crime rates go down – It's like magic.
Due to changes in the way data is being collated by the FBI during the covid years, many major cities are not actually required to provide full crime rate information until 2024-2025, and quite a few are taking advantage (at least 30%). San Francisco will not be reporting complete crime stats until 2025.
This means that when Democrats argue that crime is going down (ostensibly because of their leadership), this is based on a false and incomplete picture of the data. Lack of data, as mentioned, is also coupled with lack of arrests, lack of prosecution, and the consistent release of repeat offenders in blue cities. Lack of arrests and convictions does not mean there's less crime.
Again, using San Francisco as an example, the police department's closure rate on cases remains dismal because the city's District Attorney refused to prosecute; for every 100 suspects arrested, three are charged and one is convicted. Until he was recalled in a July 8, 2022, election, San Francisco’s DA was Soros-backed radical leftist Chesa Boudin. The Soros connection is widely considered one of the prime indicators of crooked DA's and prosecutors, as well as high crime rates for a city.
Soros DAs run several other major prosecutorial offices, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, St. Louis, New York, Baltimore, Albuquerque, Orlando, and three urban counties in Northern Virginia. In Massachusetts, Soros-backed federal prosecutor Rachael Rollins was forced to resign after the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General and the Office of Special Counsel released devastating reports outlining her serious ethical lapses and partisan political activity. It's not surprising that wherever Soros influenced DAs and prosecutors run things, food deserts seem to follow.
Once this dynamic of corruption is understood, it becomes clear why so many grocers and retailers are uprooting their stores and leaving. It's no longer profitable to stay because Democrat city governments have chosen criminals over businesses.