Category Archives: Crime

The “revolving door” of crime in Washington State

Posted on October 18, 2023 by | 4 comments

Criminals in democrat-run cities are given a pass under the guise of “criminal justice reform,” “equity” and “systemic racism.”

Throw in activist judges, BLM and the “Defund the Police” movement popular in these cities and you have the perfect recipe for the release of repeat offenders and increased crime.

Seattle has 118 repeat offenders which the city, a couple of years too late, now realizes is a threat to public safety.

The problems associated with democrat policies extends south of Seattle as well.

In Thurston County, Washington (Olympia area) they experienced slightly more crime in 2021 compared to 2020.

Judge Sharonda Amamilo

In 2020 the people of Thurston County elected Judge Sharonda Amamilo to the Thurston County Superior Court. The Court web page describes the good judge:

“Judge Sharonda D. Amamilo was elected to the Thurston County Superior Court Bench in 2020 and began her historic first term in 2021 as the first person of color to serve as a Judge in Thurston County. She is committed to protecting the constitutional rights of all citizens, bringing a diversity of experience and background to objectively deliver compassionate justice to litigants appearing before the court; many with traumatic backgrounds.”

How compassionate is the judge? As reported by Jason Rantz at KTTH, she released a woman who led police on a high-speed chase, has 17 prior convictions, failed to show up for five previous court appearances, and was booked for three counts of assault in the first degree, possession of a stolen vehicle, attempt to elude, and DUI. The good judge released the suspect on her own personal recognizance, on the promise she’d return for a future court date.

You can read all the details about the judge’s compassion for criminals here.

Progressives never learn:

DCG

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Posted in Crime, Democrats, failed city, failed state, safety, The Left

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San Francisco, failed city part 3

Posted on October 3, 2023 by | 6 comments

We all know that democrat-run San Francisco is a failed city. The homelessness, crime, locked up store shelves, open-air drug use, poop-covered streets, stores closing, and the list goes on and on.

Yet I never did expect this headline:

San Francisco Bay boaters forced to fight off ‘pirates’ as seafaring bandits ravage community

Thieves are getting very creative in California. From the Fox News story:

“Residents living on houseboats and yachts in the San Francisco Bay resorted to physically fighting off seafaring bandits who are ransacking their ships, former harbor master Brock de Lappe said.

Another woman said she rescued a man whose sailboat drifted into the bay without a motor or any way to get back to shore after one of the “pirates,” which is what the resident call the burglars, cut his boat line during an argument. 

“The open shoreline of the (Oakland-Alameda) estuary is littered with sunken wrecks and derelict, end-of-life vessels, and crime has risen to truly intolerable levels,” de Lappe said during a municipal meeting. 

Since the summer, burglars have been using small boat homes to raid yachts and houseboats in the Oakland-Alameda Estuary, which is populated by marinas with over 3,000 slips, to steal anything of value.  Then they either sink the ships or dump whatever is left of the boats miles away in the Oakland Harbor or along its shorelines. 

Mary Spicer, who founded a group of volunteers that has been cleaning the estuary since 2017, canceled their cleanup this year “because of safety concerns” from a particular homeless encampment, where she said there have been violent incidents. “Unfortunately, I don’t feel comfortable bringing children to the site until those are addressed by the city of Oakland,” Spicer said.”

Read the whole story here.

I sound like a broken record:

DCG

6 Comments

Posted in Crime, Democrats, drugs, failed city, failed state, illegal immigration, safety

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America in decline: CVS to close 900 stores due to rampant increase in shoplifting

Posted on September 26, 2023 by | 4 comments

America is in decline, particularly in democrat-run cities. As a result, our nation is facing the folowing:

  • Increased inflation and interest rates
  • Increased debt (both for the nation and many individual households)
  • Disasterous “Defund the Police” policies
  • Increased crime with soft-on-punishment policies
  • Open borders with thousands of illegal aliens arriving daily as well as drugs (particularly fentanyl) pouring into our cities

The disasterous policies of this administration and democrats (I’d also include The Swamp in the blame game) have led to this:

CVS says it will close NINE HUNDRED stores by the end of 2024 – 10% of all its shops – as it moves to online strategy amid rampant increase in shoplifting

From the Daily Mail:

“CVS is set to close hundreds of stores across the country as it undergoes a complete retail overhaul – as more outlets move towards online sellers amid rampant increases in crime.

The major drugstore chain is coming to the end of a policy launched in 2021 which will see 300 stores closed each year – meaning 900 will have shuttered by 2024. 

In the announcement, which has hit headlines again recently amid rampant shoplifting at the chain, bosses they said that they were undergoing a new ‘retail footprint strategy.’

CVS and other retailers across the US continue to adjust to post-pandemic footfall, with COVID helping turbocharge the popularity of online shopping. More shoppers are turning to buying online in the wake of the pandemic, as well as rocketing levels of shoplifting affecting sales in stores.

CVS claims that ‘local market dynamics, population shifts, and a community’s store density’ are some of the aspects it has looked into when deciding which stores to shutter.”

Read the whole story here.

Locked up goods: What many Americans now see when shopping at their local stores.

Things are so bad in democrat-run Oakland, California that over 200 businesses are staging a strike today to protest over crime that has “gotten out of hand” and are demanding better public safety.

San Francisco’s retail area is turning into a ghost town due to crime and homelessness. Stores are closing in Seattle due to crime. Philadelphia convenience stores are closing due to brazen thefts. This is pattern in many other democrat-run cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, Washington DC, New York, and Los Angeles.

Local and national elections matter. The health and prosperity of our American cities matter. Remember folks:

DCG

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Posted in Crime, Democrats, drugs, failed city, failed state, illegal immigration, Joe Biden, The Left

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Our nation needs some hope and healing…

Posted on September 18, 2023 by | 2 comments

Democrat-run cities are dangerous for their citizens and law enforcement. Between their “Defund the Police” movement which has resulted in increased crime, cashless bail policies and soft-on-punishment district attorneys, no one is safe. Just take a look at some recent headlines from our nation:

These stories break my heart. It’s so disheartening to see what is happening to some of our once-so-beautiful American cities.

Americans better wake up to the fact that elections have real life-and-death consequences. Politicians are failing their citizens while implementing their horrendous policies. We need strong leadership restored to our cities (and country) before they completely perish and rot before our very eyes.

DCG

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Posted in Crime, Democrats, failed city, failed state, safety

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Austin, Texas, failed city

Posted on September 7, 2023 by | 3 comments

Another democrat-run American city heading for chaos.

Austin, Texas hasn’t had a republican mayor for over two decades.

During 2020, during the height of the “St. George” BLM-led protests and the Defund the Police movement, the Austin City Council “cut or reallocated a higher percentage of money from the police budget than any of nearly two dozen other cities nationally that significantly altered law enforcement funding at the time.”

Austin cut $150 million from their police budget. How’d that work out for the citizens of Austin? From the NY Post: “Compared to 2020, Austin has had a 77% increase in auto thefts, an 18% increase in aggravated assaults, and a 30% increase in murders.”

The Austin Police Department has also lost 800+ officers since 2017.  Although the police budget has since been refunded, mass retirements and the slashing of cadet classes caused a police shortage where the department is hundreds of officers short.

Here’s the result of the elected bureaucrats actions (from the NY Post):

Short-staffed Austin police urge robbery victims not to call 911 as crime ravages city

From the story:

“The Austin Police Department posted a graphic in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, to urge residents to call 311 or make an online report if they’re robbed – 311 is a number usually used for non-emergency requests, as opposed to 911.

“Even if you are cautious & follow all the safety advice, you may still become the unfortunate victim of a robbery,” the Austin Police Department wrote on X.”

Read the whole story here.

Austin became a blue city that many attribute to the presence of a university and the influx of left-leaning high-tech workers from the two coasts. Their votes destroyed the likes of Seattle, San Francisco and New York. They didn’t learn an obvious lesson:

DCG

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Posted in Crime, Democrats, failed city, failed state, safety, The Left

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New York City, failed city

Posted on September 6, 2023 by | 3 comments

Another democrat-run American city going to the rats. Literally.

Professional virtue-signaling expert NYC Mayor Adams

New York City has many, many problems: An influx of illegal aliens sleeping on the streets (they are a sanctuary city), a dangerous subway system, open-air drug use and large numbers of drug overdose deaths, as well as other issues that affect our large, democrat-run American cities.

The city also has a major rat problem. So much so that in April of this year Mayor Adams appointed a “rat czar,” Kathleen Corradi (earning a salary of $155,000/year), to reduce the rat population and “help deliver an equitable quality of life experience for all New Yorkers. ”

NYC Rat Czar Kathleen Corradi

So seven months later how’s that lofty equitable goal working out?

Turns out it’s working very well for entrepeneurs who are finding a way to make a buck by offering tour guides of NYC’s rodent-infested areas. There are also tens of thousands ‘RatTok’ – TikTok channels taking viewers through the city showing how many rats are living alongside New Yorkers. Read about the rat tour guides (and see photos from “RatTok”) here. Or watch below:

New Yorkers must be so proud.

DCG

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Posted in Crime, Democrats, drugs, failed city, failed state, Health, illegal immigration, safety

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Philadelphia, failed city

Posted on September 1, 2023 by | 8 comments

Another story of a failed, democrat-run American city…

Philadelphia democrat mayor Jim Kenney

Philadelphia hasn’t had a republican mayor since 1952. The current mayor, Jim Kenney, has been in charge of Philadelphia sincee 2016 and was re-elected in 2019. Kenney was caught on video dancing and celebrating the city’s sanctuary city ruling in 2018. The drugs flowing across our open southern border have contributed mightily to Philadephia’s opioid addiction failure.

Crime is high in Philadelphia, of course. As of July 3, there was over 900 shootinngs in their city. Last year the mayor addressed citizens’ concerns over violence by saying, “We know residents are afraid, afraid to attend cookouts or go to basketball courts, afraid to let their kids play outside. I heard it on my corridor tours, I hear it at community meetings, I read your emails. I hear you and it truly breaks my heart.”

Here’s what the good mayor’s city looks like these days:

Not only should residents be afraid to attend cookouts or let their kids play outside, they should be afraid to walk their dogs. Case in point: Navy veteran brutally beaten while walkinng his dog in Philadelphia. Read the story at the link or watch this:

The victim, Scott Harris, has served multiple years on deployment overseas, but his tours were uneventful compared to his walk last weekend. “I did a year in a war zone in Iraq, did two years in Ukraine, and would not have expected this to happen in my own neighborhood,” he said.

No surprise that Philadelphia is ranked as one of the worst cities in America.

American voters in these blue cities better wake up. Our towns are crumbling before our very eyes. It truly breaks my heart that so many voters have yet to learn the most important factor when voting:

DCG

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Posted in Crime, Democrats, drugs, failed city, failed state, safety

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Crime and punishment in King County, Washington

Posted on August 31, 2023 by | 5 comments

Between the Defund the Police movement, Soros-backed candidates, and  “racial justice” platforms of many democrats, it’s not very safe to live in blue cities/counties/states these days.

But it’s definitely a positive for the criminals. Take this guy for example:

Screenshot of man attempting to abduct a barista through a drive-in window.

In January of this year Matthew Darnell tried to zip-tie and kidnap a bikini-clad barista at a drive-up window at an Aburn coffee shop.  The barista was able to fight off the attacker and he was later arrested and charged on a kidnapping charge.

Flash forward seven months later and Darnell is already out of jail. From the NY Post:

“A Washington state man who tried to zip-tie and kidnap a bikini-clad barista at a drive-up window in a shocking caught-on-video attack is now back behind the wheel — to the dismay of victims’ rights advocates.

Matthew Darnell, 39, was busted after trying to yank the victim through the window at Beankini Espresso in Auburn on Jan. 16, but was freed Saturday after prosecutors cut a plea deal that called for a mere 50-day sentence.

Darnell lives just two blocks from the coffee shop.

“It raises the question of why should people bother to report [assaults],” Mary Ellen Stone, CEO of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, told the outlet.

“We see that all the time,” she continued. “There are a variety of reasons why that happens, but the message it sends to victims is what happens to you wasn’t important. The other thing it does is that it says people that are behaving in this way, not that big a deal. You’re not going to be held accountable.”

Read the whole story here.

King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion

King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion (who was sworn in 1/9/23 and is the first woman and person of color to hold the job) sure made it sound like public safety was a priority saying, “I am committed to protecting public safety and increasing community health.”

She also stated on her priorities page, “Supporting victims and survivors of crime is a critical responsibility. The racial and ethnic diversity of King County has changed, and victim advocates face new and complex challenges in providing effective and culturally sensitive services.”

Manion’s promises were endorsed by all sorts of democrats, labor unions, and the REAL Justice WA PAC. REAL Justice has helped elect (with Soros money) the likes of George Gascon (LA), Kim Gardner (St. Louis), Kim Foxx (Cook County), and Chesa Boudin (SF, recalled last year).

King County voters had a choice last year between Manion and Jim Ferrell. Ferrell was a republican and switched to the democrat party in 2012 so I guess the voters didn’t have much to choose from. At least Ferrell did have the support of many police associations as he claimed one of his priorities was this: “Let me be clear: I will hold offenders accountable. We need justice for the victims of crime.”

But I guess King County voters got the prosecutor they deserve: The first woman, mother and person of color to hold that position who will “craft innovative solutions to fight and reduce crime through broad coalitions, and create positive change.”

Positive change for perps but not so much for baristas.

DCG

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Posted in Crime, Democrats, failed state, safety

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Biden sells border wall parts to prevent GOP from using them

Posted on August 25, 2023 by | 6 comments

Joe Biden really is a piece of sh*t.

From the New York Post, August 19, 2023:

Former president Donald Trump pledged to build “an impenetrable, physical, tall, power, beautiful southern border wall” as a cornerstone of his victorious 2016 campaign for the White House.

He spent $15 billion during his presidency to install about 450 miles of barriers, with 250 additional miles in progress at the end of his term.

But Biden, in one of his first acts in office, halted all border wall construction in an Inauguration Day presidential proclamation, dismissing Trump’s program as “a waste of money” that was “not a serious policy solution.”

Almost immediately, asylum seekers surged to the US-Mexico border to take advantage of Biden’s lax enforcement policies….

[L]ast month, as part of its annual defense appropriations package, the Democrat-led Senate passed a Republican-sponsored bill aimed at forcing Biden to stem the worsening migrant crisis at the US-Mexico border by extending the wall….

Up to $300 million worth of taxpayer-funded wall components have been left to rust since Biden came to office, Republicans have said.

The Finish It Act will make the feds use those materials on new wall construction — or hand the remaining stock over to states like Texas for use in their own border defense projects.

This is what Biden is doing to thwart Republicans from extending the border wall:

The Biden administration is quietly auctioning off millions of dollars’ worth of unused parts from former President Trump’s border wall for peanuts – in an apparent end-run around pending legislation in Congress.

Since April, GovPlanet, an online auction house specializing in military surplus, has sold 81 lots of steel “square structural tubes” — intended for use as vertical bollards in the border barrier’s 30-foot-tall panels — hauling in about $2 million.

On Tuesday, GovPlanet netted $154,200 for 729 of the 28-foot-tall hollow beams, sold in five separate lots for an average $212 apiece.

Thirteen more lots are set to be auctioned on Aug. 23 and Aug. 30….

Now, the Biden administration is rushing to get rid of the wall leftovers before the GOP-led House can pass a matching version of the bill and make it law….

“The pennies made from selling the border wall will not be enough to pay the families who suffer from a criminal act committed by someone who crossed our open borders during the Biden administration,” railed Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford….

“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers … has already transferred approximately $154 million worth of the roughly $260 million of bollard panels and other materials,” according to Lt. Col. Devin T. Robinson, who used Defense Department lingo for the process of consigning military surplus items to commercial resellers or the trash heap.

Profits from the sale flow back to the Pentagon’s budget.

~E

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Posted in border wall, Crime, Democrats, illegal immigration, Joe Biden, military, President Donald Trump, The Left

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Los Angeles, failed city (part 2)

Posted on August 24, 2023 by | 2 comments

Hollywood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, is another democrat-run area that is failing its citizens.

We all know that Los Angeles is a mess: Homelessness, increased crime and open-air drug use are the norms in that city. It flows into the city’s neighborhoods as well. Check out the streets of Hollywood:

The Daily Mail shared more  information about what is happening on the streets of Hollywood:

“As rampant homelessness continues to plague the streets and neighborhoods of Los Angeles, a new video sheds light on the issue as it impacts LA‘s iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The video, taken earlier this summer, shows dozens and dozens of homeless people collapsed and prostrated on the streets of Hollywood, laying on public benches, and lining the streets with makeshift tents. 

‘Hidden between the glitz and glamour, homelessness has cast a shadow over the streets,’ says the video’s narrator, as he walks around the neighborhood.”

Read the whole story here.

These problems in Los Angeles (which hasn’t had a republican mayor since 2001) have plagued them for years. So what have the voters done about it? Last December they elected democrat Karen Bass, the first woman to serve as mayor and the second black person to serve in that capacity.

Less than eight months later, the citizens are booing the new mayor they elected:

Maybe that’s because despite allocating a $609.7 million budget for the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative, there was a 9 percent rise in homelessness in Los Angeles County between 2022 and 2023.

Before the mayor was booed at the August meeting, she said this in June: Bass announced a lofty goal of ending street homelessness in LA by 2026.

Don’t. Hold. Your. Breath.

DCG

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Posted in Crime, Democrats, drugs, failed city, failed state, Hollywood, safety, The Left

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