Violent crime is up in nearly every major city in the nation. According to FBI statistics, the United States saw about 25% more homicides last year than 2019. Murders in New York City are currently 37% above 2019’s pace and shooting victims are up 100% more than two years ago.
Whether it’s the continuing “Ferguson Effect” or cries to defund, it’s a reality: Crime. Is. Up.
It’s within this current climate of crime that New York City’s Mayor de Blasio plans to launch his biggest failure yet: paying gun offenders $1,000 a month for their “life experience.”
“Through an outfit called Advance Peace, the city will offer a stipend of $1,000 per month (“transformational opportunities”) to “young men involved in lethal firearm offenses,” at the same time pairing them with “neighborhood change agents” — “credible messengers, meaning they bring life experience, conflict mediation and mentorship skills to the target population,” the New York Post reports.
And if you think giving “credible messengers” (violent criminals) $1,000 a month to speak to “neighborhood change agents” sounds like an incredible waste of taxpayer money – you’re right. The program has already failed miserably in Stockton, California: murders skyrocketed – up 60% from 2019.
Mayor de Blasio’s New York City will spend $1 million dollars on the violence prevention pilot program. De Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson had previously promised to cut $1 billion dollars from the NYPD’s operating budget – but the cuts have yet to materialize.
More than 5,300 NYPD officers retired or left the force in 2020 – a 75% increase from 2019. De Blasio should focus on putting funds towards actual law and order – not experimental pilot programs.
[h/t New York Post]
