(American Prosperity) – In an interesting twist of irony, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) now blames the police for the rising crime rate in the North Star State. Statistics from the police department reveal that violent crime in Minnesota has surged by 30% this year compared to the same period in 2019. The rates of homicides, at 116% more compared to 2019, have been particularly alarming.
While the facts with respect to crime rates are clearly incontestable, commentators will be quick to view Omar’s pronouncement as incredulous, seeing that she was at the forefront of campaigning to abolish the police department or slushing its funding at the height of George Floyd’s murder and the BLM protests.
As a result of the pressure from such voices as Omar’s, the Minneapolis City Council, on the 10th of October 2020, voted to slash nearly $8 million from the police department budget. In a 7-6 vote, the funds were re-allocated to other services like mental health management and prevention of violence.
Granted, it was a tiny reduction, bearing in mind that the total budget for the police department stood at $179 million. But the 4.4% reduction was still a reduction nonetheless and there must have been an opportunity cost—a policing activity that was probably scaled down. It’s these little trinkets that go a long way in keeping everyone secure.
It would therefore look odd, even a little hypocritical, for the Mogadishu-born 39-year-old congresswoman to turn back and blame the police for the depressing crime statistics, which, in all probability, are linked to her previous push to cripple the police department financially.
At the town hall event of 23rd October, Omar described the police department as “dysfunctional” and that they had “chosen to not fulfill their oath of office” with respect to public safety and security.
These comments are likely to enliven public debate, seeing they are coming just days before a proposal to abolish the police department which will be decided during the mayoral elections slated for the 2nd of November.
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