It apparently was a coincidence that on the day Republicans were using crime as the theme of their convention, Gov. Kathy Hochul came to Nassau County to tout dramatic reductions in violent crime rates in the county, Long Island, the state, indeed, nationally.
Shooting incidents with injury decreased 44% as reported by the Nassau, Suffolk and Hempstead Police Departments, which participate in the state’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination program.
Across Long Island, crime is down 15% (16% reduction in property crimes) during the first quarter of 2024.
Nationally, the murder rate fell by 26.4% (the largest single-year decline, to a 50-year low), reported rapes decreased by 25.7%, robberies fell by 17.8%, aggravated assault went down 12.5%, reported property crimes decreased by 15.1%, and the overall violent crime rate dropped by 15.2% in the first quarter of 2024 according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report.
Republicans declined to mention that crime rates soared during the Trump administration (the largest single-year spike in the murder rate in more than a century) – a reaction to literal invitations to political violence, loosening gun laws, and the toll of the coronavirus epidemic.
The dramatic drop in crime is directly related to the policies and record investments by the state and the Biden administration in law enforcement and public safety.
Hochul announced the state is investing a record $51 million for public safety in Nassau and Suffolk Counties (in comparison, the state spent $7 million in 2021 and $47 million last year).
But Republicans need crime and the border crisis to beat Democrats (they have nothing else – their abortion bans and democracy-killing Project 2025 are hugely unpopular, while the economy is soaring and inflation is deflating).
So, presented with the statistics showing a drop in crime, Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the findings, stating, “Joe Biden is trying to convince Americans not to believe their own eyes. Democrats have turned great American cities into cesspools of bloodshed and crime.”
But after the Republicans – at Trump’s behest – killed the bill, Biden issued a presidential proclamation on June 4 which reduced the number of encounters at the southwest border by 50% – to Trump’s 2020 level.
At the same time, Homeland Security decreased the number of people released by 70% so significantly fewer people are arriving in cities across the country – providing relief to local jurisdictions and shelter systems.
Also, DHS has removed and returned more than 50,000 individuals to more than 100 countries, including by operating more than 175 international repatriation flights. DHS has doubled the percentage of noncitizens removed or returned directly from CBP custody.
Hochul said the impact is being felt in New York: instead of the more than 4,000 migrants trafficked to New York State each week as a political stunt by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the number has come down to 900 with virtually none coming to Long Island.
“Long Island has never been a destination,” Hochul stated in response to a question. “They are not telling the truth when portraying immigrants as running rampant in the streets.”
But the biggest Republican lie of all – the stolen election and voter fraud – is being been used to justify voter suppression, purging voter rolls, and election subversion, and now, an incentive for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman to stand up his private militia.
“For the life of me, I can’t understand why someone would think there’s a need to build a separate militia,” Hochul said during her visit to Glen Cove. “I find it offensive to law enforcement that the leader doesn’t trust them to do their job.”
Some are suspicious that Blakeman will manufacture a reason to summon his vigilantes to suppress protest or even intimidate voters in targeted districts.
Blakeman did not attend the governor’s visit to a synagogue adjacent to the Holocaust Center, where she also spoke of the need to prosecute hate crimes and domestic violence.
He was at the RNC to pay homage to their leader, a convicted felon, and listen to how tough on crime they are and how lax Democrats are.
