"President Biden's unqualified endorsement of the role of police in fighting crime represents a sea change in the prevailing political narrative of the past two years. Biden's planned funding for agencies and clampdown on illegal gun movement are positive steps. But while the president called out the critical violence-reduction roles of everyone from police to ATF agents, US Marshals, social workers, mental health workers, school nurses, and 'violence interrupters,' he was mum on perhaps the most vital group: local prosecutors. If district attorneys in the cities Biden named for their rampant violence—New York, Chicago, and San Francisco—do not add charging and sentencing consequences to gun possession and usage, all the other efforts will have limited effect."
—Hannah E. Meyers is director of the policing and public safety initiative at the Manhattan Institute.
“The federal government is a key partner in combating the recent violent crime wave, both through the strategic deployment of law-enforcement resources and the distribution of grant funding. President Biden should be lauded for continuing to acknowledge that the crisis is real—as many of his progressive colleagues frequently refuse to do—and for making policing the front-line response, rather than putting head-in-the-cloud ‘alternative’ policies first. That said, much of the funding which he touts in fact remains tied up in Congressional budget negotiations. Public safety is too important to be held hostage to politics; if Biden is serious about his proposals, he and leaders in Congress need to seek bipartisan compromise so that struggling cities can get the support they need.”
—Charles Fain Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor of City Journal.
“There are limits to what a president can do about crime: Most criminal-justice matters are handled at the state and local level—as they should be—and any changes to federal law must go through Congress. But with murder rates shockingly elevated these past two years, no politician can afford to ignore this issue. Several of the proposals and initiatives Biden announced today, including greater funding for police and attempts to better enforce existing gun laws, have the potential to reduce crime on the margins. But perhaps of equal importance, they signal that addressing crime should be a bipartisan priority.”
—Robert VerBruggen is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
To book an interview with one of our policing and public safety fellows, please contact lthomas@manhattan-institute.org or respond to this email.
To review Manhattan Institute research and commentary relevant to addressing increasing violence in New York City and around the country, please visit our Policing & Public Safety Initiative or click the links below:
Eric Adams Seems Serious About Crime. Is Biden? (Wall Street Journal op-ed, Heather Mac Donald, February 2022)
Yes, the crime wave is as bad as you think (Wall Street Journal op-ed, Rafael Mangual, December 2021)
Crime-Fighting Lessons from Summer Youth Employment Programs (Manhattan Institute report, Charles Fain Lehman, November 2021)
Evidence-Based Solutions for Improving Police Clearance Rates of Shootings (Manhattan Institute report, Anthony A. Braga, July 2021)
Reforming New York’s Bail Reform: A Public Safety-Minded Proposal (Manhattan Institute issue brief, Rafael Mangual, March 2020)