The Washington Post - USA (2022-06-09)

A8 EZ RE THEWASHINGTONPOST.THURSDAY,JUNE 9 , 2022

BYJÚLIALEDURANDKATERABINOWITZ

There have alreadybeen more than250 mass

shootingsintheUnitedStatesthisyear,accordingto

the Gun Violence Archive. Thirty-eight have taken

placesince arampageatanelementaryschoolin

Uvalde, Tex., left 19 childrenand twoteachers dead

onMay24.Justthispastweekend,massshootingsin

multiplecitieskilled11andwoundedmorethan60.

Mass shootings, where four or more people —not

including the shooter —are injured or killed, have

averagedmorethanoneperdaysofarthisyear.Nota

single week in 2022 has passed withoutatleastfour

massshootings.

Mass shootings have been on the riseinrecent

years.In 2021,almost700suchincidentsoccurred,a

jump from the 611 in 2020and 417in2019. Before

that,incidentshadnottopped400annuallysincethe

GunViolenceArchivestartedtrackingin2014.

This year is on pacewithlastyear’s highwhen

comparingthesametimeperiod.

Thetoll is immense. Mass shootings have killed

256peopleandinjured1,010morethroughtheendof

May.

AndrewJeongcontributed tothis report. Data is fromthe

GunViolence Archive.

There have been over 250

mass shootings so far in 2022

Source:GunViolence Archive THE WASHINGTON POST

2014 91

116

121

141

106

147

155

240

232

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Massshootingsin the first fivemonthsof the year

February

36 MASS SHOOTINGS

8DAYSWITH NONE

May

63 MASS SHOOTINGS

5DAYSWITH NONE

Uvalde

Buffalo

March

42 MASS SHOOTINGS

10 DAYS WITHNONE

June

19 MASS SHOOTINGS*

2DAYSWITHNONE

Tulsa

January

34 MASS SHOOTINGS

13 DAYS WITHNONE

Sun. Mon.

*AsofJune 7

Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri.

Sat.

April

57 MASS SHOOTINGS

9DAYSWITH NONE

Source:GunViolenceArchive THE WASHINGTON POST

Calif. primaries heighten Democrats’ concerns over public’s views on crime

He notedthatthe American
RescuePlan,thefirstmajorbillhe
signed into law,included billions
forpolicingbut complainedthat
someplaceshaven’tusedthemon-
ey.“It’s time the states and the
localitiesspend the money they
havetodealwithcrime,aswellas
retrain police officers, as well as
provide for more community po-
licing,” Bidensaid.
Homicide rates in cities across
the countryhavesoared over the
pasttwo years, with officials
blamingacombination of pan-
demic-related changes to the
criminaljustice system and in
some places new, more lenient
policingpolicies.
Inresponse,Democraticcandi-
datesacrossthecountryareshow-
casing atougher approachon
crime.InD.C.,aliberalhavenwith
primarieslaterthismonth,Mayor
Muriel E. Bowseris running on
her record of bolstering police in
schools.“Youhavetohaveamayor
who’s willing to maketough calls
andnotjustgoalongwithtrendy
wordsoftheday,”Bowsersaidina
recent debate, where another
Democraticcandidatealsosought
atough-on-crimemantle.
Republicansarepoisedtocapi-
talize on concernsabout rising
violence.
“Crimeis the sleeperissue of
this cycle,”said Chris Hartline,
communicationsdirector for the
National Republican Senatorial
Committee,themaingroupback-
ingSenateRepublicans.
Hesaidfearaboutrisingcrime
dovetails with inflation, still the
topissueforvoters,becausequali-
ty of life contributes to ageneral
sense of uneaseabout the direc-
tion of the country. “Itstretches

CRIME FROM A1 beyond citypolitics to an issue
thatcouldmovevotersstatewide,”
Hartlinesaid.
TheNational Republican Con-
gressionalCommittee(NRCC)an-
nouncedWednesday it will put
$52.3millionbehindpoliticalads
tobackGOPHousecandidatesin
keyraces.The ads will use mes-
sagingthatblamesDemocratsfor
spikesinviolentcrimeinaddition
to inflation and poor manage-
mentofthesouthernborder.
“We’regoing to relentlessly re-
mind Americanstheyare worse
offthanayear and ahalf ago,”
NRCC Chairman TomEmmer
saidinastatement Wednesday
announcingthat“soaringviolent
crime”willbeamong the attacks
againstDemocratsthisfall.
In states where the fieldisset-
tled, the issue is alreadyseeping
intogeneral-electioncampaigns.
Seekingtoginupdonationsfor
authorJ.D.Vance,theRepublican
runningforanopenSenateseatin
Ohio, Sen. TomCotton (R-Ark.)
praised Vance as “tough on
crime.”Inapostingonsocialme-
dia thatlinks to afundraising
page, Cotton attacked Rep. Tim
Ryan,theDemocraticnomineein
the Ohio race, for supporting the
GeorgeFloyd Justice in Policing
Act, which passed the House but
hasstalledintheSenate.
TomPersico,executivedirector
of the Democratic Congressional
CampaignCommittee, said he’s
encouragingHouseDemocratsto
confronthead-on concernsthat
Democratswant to defund the
police. “Attack the charge, say
whatyou’refor,andthenyoucan
moveon,”hesaid.
Nationally,Americansgive Re-
publicansanadvantageof12per-
centagepointsonhandlingcrime,
accordingtoaWashington Post-

ABCNewspollfromApril.That’sa

marked shiftfromlastsummer,

whenthecountrywasabouteven-

lydividedonwhichpartyisbetter

positionedtocontendwithcrime.

In recentweeks,Leeandother

Democratshaveco-sponsored bi-

partisanlegislationthatwouldin-

vestinpolicedepartmentstohelp

recruit more officers and provide

adequate resourcesto effectively

train officers on safety,de-escala-

tion and more. Other bills have

alsobeenproposedtoincentivize

national recruitmentcampaigns

and reauthorizecommunitypo-

licing grants to boostwages and

increasepolice presencein rural

towns.

Front-line Democrats, those

representing swing districts and

mostatrisk of losing their seats,

have spent the pastmonth push-

ing leadership to hold votes on

these bipartisan bills. Even if the

effortfaces little to no chancein

the Senate, membersand aides,

who spokeonthe conditionof

anonymitytocandidlydiscussne-

gotiations, said the votes are

worthtakingsotheycanreturnto

their districts and have evidence

thatamajorityofDemocratssup-

portfundingthepolice.

Republicans are particularly

hopefulthatthe heightenedcon-

cerns about crime can help them

with suburban voters, where

they’velostgroundinrecentelec-

tions. Tuesdayoffered some evi-

dencethattheymightberight.In

NewJersey’s7th Congressional

District,asuburbanswath near

NewYorkCitythattheGOPviews

asatop target in November,law

andorderwastopofmind.

“Crimeis the number-one is-

sue,”said Gerhard Otto, who is

originally from South Africa and

voted for the firsttime in aU.S.

electionTuesdayinScotchPlains,

N.J.“Thingshavegonebackwards

since Ifirstvisitedin2012,”Otto

saidaftercastingaballotforTom

Kean Jr., who prevailed in the

Republicanprimary.TheCookPo-

liticalReportratestherace“leans

Republican,”eventhoughthedis-

trictisrepresented by aDemo-

crat.

Otto blamesinflation for the

increasedcrime, which he thinks

is spreadingfrom NewYork City

to his community. “I never

thoughtitwouldhappen,andjust

in the space of the lasteight

months there’s been incidents

very close to the house —next

door,onbothsides,”Ottosaid.

Democratshavebeenweather-

ing attacks on crime since the

2020 election cycle and expect

morearecoming.

“It’sapiece of the puzzle with-

outadoubtinthemidterms,” said

John Anzalone, aDemocratic

pollster who worked on Biden’s

2020 presidentialcampaign. “It’s

going to be an issue thatthe Re-

publicanstrytouse as awedge

issue,andweknowit.Andwe’llbe

prepared.”

Anzalonesaid thatDemocrats’

bestdefense is to makeitclear

thattheydon’tsupportdefunding

thepolice,asLeeandothershave

soughttodo.

Bidenmadeanefforttounder-

linethatmessageduringhisState

of the Union addresswhen he

dedicated amajor section to sup-

portingthepolice.“Weshouldall

agree:Theanswerisnottodefund

thepolice;it’s tofundthepolice,”

he said, before ad-libbing:“Fund

them.Fundthem.”

But voters are makingclear

thatthe issuegoesbeyond fund-

ing for police departments,to in-

clude concernsabout perceived

failuresthroughoutthe criminal

justice system thatare affecting

quality-of-lifeissues in cities still

grapplingwithhomelessnessand

economicdisruptioncaused by

thepandemic.

ExhibitAistherecallofBoudin

inSanFrancisco,wherehispledge

to keep nonviolentoffenders out

of prison when possible became

an animating issue. Ernestine

Jensen, a75-year-old clerical

workerwhohaslivedinSanFran-

ciscosince2009,saidshe’stiredof

dodgingneedlesandhumanfeces

when she walks her dog and

wantstoseeamorerobustpolice

response.

“Wewantsomelawandorder,”

said Jensen, whovotedtooust

Boudin.

Republicanshavesaidtheywill

highlight this race, telling voters

thatDemocratic policiesare so

radicaltheywererejectedevenby

SanFranciscovoters,longconsid-

eredamongthemostliberalinthe

country.

While Boudin’s recall epito-

mized the frustration Califor-

nians feel about crime and the

unhappystateofmanycoastal

cities,therewasevidencethata“a

toughoncrime”messagewasnot

resonatingeverywhere.

In the stateattorneygeneral’s

race, the incumbent,Rob Bonta,

held alargelead in afield offive.

TheBayAreaDemocrat,appoint-

edtothejobbyGov. GavinNews-

om (D), is viewed as aliberal

criminal justice reformer,al-

thoughnottothesamedegreeas

Boudin.

Crime and qualityoflife also

buoyedCarusoinLosAngeles.At

Caruso’s election night party in

LosAngeles,somevotershopeful-

ly compared him to Mike Bloom-

berg,the Republicanbillionaire

andformerNewYorkmayorwho

waspraisedbymanyforreducing

crimeandpresidingoveraneraof

prosperityinthatcity.

“Bloomberg was able to grab

thecitybyitsreinsandreallylead

it,”saida43-year-oldformerNew

York CityresidentnamedWil-

liam,whospokeonthecondition

thathenot givehis lastname.

“Nowmorethanever,ifyouwere

to walk down anystreet, you

wouldfeelthatneedandtheneed

to really improveabeautifulcity

thathaslostitsway.”

InNevada,Leeisfacingachal-

lengerinTuesday’sprimarybutis

expectedtowinhandily.Thelarg-

erchallengecomesinthegeneral

election,wheresheislikelytoface

RepublicanAprilBecker,alawyer

whohasearnedtheendorsement

of House MinorityLeader Kevin

McCarthy(R-Calif.).

Shoringup her standingon

publicsafetywillbeimportantin

November,and officers at the

meeting praised Leefor talking

with them, even when theydon’t

always agree on how to address

growingconcernsaboutcrime.

“I appreciate you, you know,

somebodyworkingup in Wash-

ington for us,”Clark CountyPark

Police Sgt. Wade Barnhardt,who

is also amember of the National

RifleAssociation,saidtoLee.“Ido

believethatonanyissue,nomat-

ter whatitis, wecan’t have both

groupssittingintheirtwocamps.

...We’reall citizens of United

States.Therefore,weneedtowork

togethertosolvetheproblem.”

Scott WilsoninSantaBarbara,Calif.;

Jack GregoryWrightin Scotch Plains,

N.J.;KatherineKaminSan Francisco;

Miranda Green in LosAngeles; and

Scott Clement in Washington

contributedtothis report.