Category Archives: Crime

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

2 Comments

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

Tagged , , ,

Oakland, California, failed city

Posted on August 22, 2023 by | 5 comments

Oakland demorat mayor Sheng Thao (left).

Earlier this month the Oakland NAACP called for a “state of emergency” over soaring crime in their city. From my post:

“Oakland NAACP leaders have called for a state of emergency over soaring crime in the area, as they blame the defund the police movement and the George Soros- backed district attorney for the rising violence.

She wrote a letter alongside Bishop Bob Jackson of the Acts Full Gospel Church to ring the alarm about the shootings, robberies and murders that have become a common occurrence in the district. 

The NAACP letter comes as North Oakland has seen a a 22 percent increase in robberies and 18 percent increase in violent crime this year.

Murder levels abruptly spiked from the 78 seen in 2019 to 109 in 2020 – the same years calls for defunding the police, spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement, were introduced in earnest.

Read the whole depressing (and predictable) story here.

But democrats never learn, as Oakland hasn’t had a republican mayor since the 1960s.

So this is now what they get:

Outrage in Oakland as wild video shows woman being violently dragged on the ground during armed robbery

From The Daily Mail:

“Shocking video has emerged of a woman being pistol-whipped and dragged across gravel by two thugs in Democrat-led Oakland as the city grapples with a surging crime wave.

The attack happened last week Wednesdayat 6.15 pm on International Boulevard, and left the unidentified woman with severe injuries, police investigating in the East Bay city said.

Footage shows the woman being confronted by two men who try to grab several items from her, including her purse, before she’s violently struck with the weapon.

She is then seen falling to the ground before being pulled across the floor by her purse as both men rifle through her pockets.  The attackers are both on the run and the woman’s condition as of Tuesday is unknown.”

You can read the whole story here and watch the disturbing video at the link, if you so choose.

Under Biden’s America, democrat-run cities are absolutely failing their citizens. Just look at what’s occurring in Los Angeles, Portland, Chiraq, Philadelphia, Seattle, Baltimore, New York, etc. etc.  It may be too little, too late for democrats to realize the obvious point:

DCG

5 Comments

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

Tagged , , ,

Portland, Oregon, failed city

Posted on August 21, 2023 by | 6 comments

Homelessness runs rampant in Portland, Oregon.

Democrat-run Portland (for over four decades), Oregon is a failed city. Since defunding the police, crime is up.

Open-air drug use and fentanyl is rampant, so much so that there are open-air fentanyl markets. Measure 110, approved by voters in 2020, was suppose to be the magic cure-all by decriminalizing drugs and establishing a drug addiction treatment and recovery program (funded in part by the state’s marijuana tax revenue and state prison savings). That isn’t working as in Multnomah County, fatal opioid-related overdoses saw a fivefold increase between 2018 and 2022,

This year the mayor’s budget calls for spending over $43 million to address homelessness.  Yet between the decriminalizing of drugs, drug addiction treatment services and millions dedicated to the homeless, those afflicated with drug addiction do not seem to want the taxpayer assistance. Case in point (from The Daily Mail):

“Portland’s first sanctioned homless ‘park’ has just NINE residents despite having room for 55 a month after it opened – as shocking images show drug-addled people taking over the sidewalks”

Unused Portland homeless shelters.

Details from the article:

“Portland‘s first sanctioned homeless ‘park’ is less than 20 percent full a month after opening as shocking new images show drug abuse and illegal campsites continue to plague its streets.

Oregon‘s largest city is in the midst of a devastating humanitarian crisis, with its homeless population up almost 50 percent since 2019 to more than 5,000.

The uber-woke local government is pinning its hopes of reversing the trend on a raft of costly new shelters. (Which cost $27 million for three official homeless shelters.)

But when DailyMail.com visited earlier this month, two of its flagship sites sat largely empty, with the majority of its drug-addled homeless population preferring to remain in unsanctioned campsites across the city.”

Read the whole story here.

I don’t claim to have the best solution(s) to end homelessness and open-air drug use. How about instead of decriminalizing drug use, maybe the City should arrest individuals and as part of their punishment they be mandated to attend drug addiction treatment as an alternative to fines/jail times?

I do know that decades of democrat solutions to end homelessness and drug addiction aren’t working. I also know that democrats are famous for their dedication to spending millions of taxpayer dollars that never achieve their stated goals. There’s a saying for that:

DCG

6 Comments

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

Tagged , , , , ,

Los Angeles, failed city

Posted on August 16, 2023 by | 1 comment

Los Angeles is run by democrats. It therefore has the pleasure of being one of the worst cities in America. In other words, another demorat-run failed city.

The streets of Los Angeles

It’s a combination we typically see in blue cities: high crime (some data suggests that Los Angeles is more dangerous than before the Wuhan virus outbreak and lockdowns), rampant homlessness (despite spending billions of dollars), and open drug use on the city streets (in particular, fentanyl pouring across our open southern border).

LA County DA George Gascon (demorat)

Throw into the mix a Soros-funded district attorney, George Gascón. There was a second effort to recall him last year, which failed due to 27% of the signatures being invalid. (Funny how demorats care about signature validation when it affects one of their own).

The final touch? Proposition 47, which basically allows shoplifting $950 worth of merchandise with no consequences. Also, Los Angeles has a zero cash bail policy now, too. You’ve got the perfect recipe for a failed city!

And there are plenty of criminals willing to take advantage of the democrat policies that plague Los Angeles. Case in point:

Gascon speaks at the 0:48 mark: “…and we will use every tool available under law when there is an arrest made.”

Quite the qualifier there. LAPD says that last year, only about one quarter of these “smash and grab” robberies led to an arrest. Again, they are very careful with their statements. How many of these arrests actually led to a prosecution and conviction?

I sound like a broken record here but when are voters going to realize the obvious?

DCG

 

1 Comment

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

Tagged , , , ,

California, failed state: Swarm of masked thieves rob L.A. Nordstrom of $100k

Posted on August 15, 2023 by | 8 comments

The (UK) Telegraph reports,

Dozens of masked thieves used bear spray to take down security guards before stealing around $100,000 (£78,800) worth of goods from a department store in California.

A gang of between 30 and 50 people descended on Nordstrom, a high-end clothing store, at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Woodland Hills, near Los Angeles.

They used bear spray to incapacitate security guards before they made off with handbags and designer clothing, according to the Los Angeles Police Department….

Footage of the incident circulating on social media shows intruders wearing hoods and masks darting between aisles while staff look on.

It follows a spate of similar raids in Los Angeles and other major US cities.

Republican politicians have blamed soft-on-crime policies in Democrat-controlled areas for a rise in crime….

The same Nordstrom store was hit two years ago by a group of five masked robbers who pepper-sprayed a member of staff and made off with about $25,000 worth of goods….

Just days earlier, another flash-mob style robbery took place at a Yves Saint Laurent store in Glendale, just north of Los Angeles.

The thieves stole around $300,000 worth of goods, according to the local NBC News network.

Starbucks has already closed six of its branches in Los Angeles amid safety fears. They include two spots near Hollywood Boulevard and another near Santa Monica Boulevard.

The coffee shop chain said issues with chronic homelessness, vandalism and theft were driving factors for the closures….

Karen Bass, the Democrat mayor of Los Angeles, called the robbery “absolutely unacceptable” and vowed the perpetrators would be “held accountable”…. [Blah, blah, blah]

See also:

~E

8 Comments

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

Tagged , , ,

Seattle, failed city (part 3)

Posted on August 10, 2023 by | 9 comments

Liberals ruin everything they touch.

One of the many homeless encampments throughout Seattle.

I grew up in a suburb of Seattle, which even though has been ruled by demorats since 1969, use to be a semi-safe place to visit. As kids, we lived across the lake and would bus it to downtown Seattle to visit the Center, food fairs and even concerts.

Now, I’d never venture anywhere to downtown due to rampant crime, homelessness and open drug use on the streets. You can read more about the failures of demorat-run Seattle in my parts 1 and 2 that I’ve posted here.

Democrat Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell

The current demorat mayor, Bruce Harrell, had promised to address the city’s many issues, of course. Yet after a year and a half in office, absolutely nothing has improved in the city.

I was just in Seattle in May (for a funeral) and saw the disaster with my own eyes. But don’t just take my word for it.

Take the word of a 23-year veteran of the Seattle Police Department, Lieutenant Jessica Taylor, who says that “criminal are running this city.”

Jason Rantz from KTTH radio reports that Taylor resigned, sending the Seattle Police Chief a scathing 15-page letter. Take a look at what Taylor has to say:

“Chief Diaz, let me tell you, the state of the Seattle Police Department and this city is a disgrace,” she wrote in the letter she shared with the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “The toxic mix of the Seattle City Council’s absurdity, the spinelessness of the Mayor, the leniency of the prosecutor’s office, and your failed leadership has accelerated this city’s downhill slide straight to rock bottom. The problems were already brewing before you came on the scene, but since your arrival, it’s been a free fall into anarchy & chaos.”

Taylor also blames the Seattle City Council for playing politics and catering to the radicals in the region.

Read the brutal resignation letter here.

Seattle just had a primary election for Council members and, of course, all the incumbents appear to be safe and in strong positions heading into the November election. Nevermind the fact that the city they govern is a hot mess.

The cognitive dissonance in democrats is astounding. By committing even further to their beliefs, they will NEVER learn this important lesson:

DCG

9 Comments

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

Tagged , , , ,

Non-US citizens can become police officers in Illinois

Posted on August 5, 2023 by | 6 comments

Federal law prohibits non-U.S. citizens from serving as police officers and deputies.

But on July 28, 2023, Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker (D) signed into law House Bill 3751 that allows illegal immigrants, i.e., non-citizens, to apply to be a police officer. U.S. citizenship will no longer be a requirement to serve as a police officer in the state of Illinois starting January 1, 2024.

HB 3751 states, “An individual who is not a citizen but is legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law is authorized to apply for the position of police officer, subject to all requirements and limitations, other than citizenship, to which other applicants are subject.” The law also states that non-U.S. citizens can purchase, carry, and possess a firearm legally in order to apply to be a police officer.

The Fraternal Order of Police had spoken out against HB 3751 after Democrats passed it in the Illinois state House: “What message does this legislation send when it allows people who do not have legal status to become the enforcers of our laws? This is a potential crisis of confidence in law enforcement at a time when our officers need all the public confidence they can get.” (Source: Newsbreak)

Illinois is a one-party state:

  • Governor J.B. Pritzger (D)
  • Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton (D)
  • State Senate: 40D, 19R
  • House of Representatives: 77D, 40R

~E

6 Comments

Posted in Crime, Democrats, The Left

Tagged , , ,

Too little, too late: Oakland NAACP calls for state of emergency over soaring crime

Posted on August 3, 2023 by | 4 comments

Progressives never think through to the cosequences of their “brilliant” propositions. Any one with a brain could have told you that the Defund the Police movement which began in 2020 after the death of Saint George would have disasterous consequences. Proof: See here, here, here and here.

Now Oakland citizens are learning the hard way that actions have consequences. From The Daily Mail:

“Oakland NAACP leaders have called for a state of emergency over soaring crime in the area, as they blame the defund the police movement and the George Soros- backed district attorney for the rising violence.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch president Cynthia Adams called on local officials to come together with local and federal resources to tackle the mounting public safety issues in the district.

She wrote a letter alongside Bishop Bob Jackson of the Acts Full Gospel Church to ring the alarm about the shootings, robberies and murders that have become a common occurrence in the district. 

The NAACP letter comes as North Oakland has seen a a 22 percent increase in robberies and 18 percent increase in violent crime this year.

Murder levels abruptly spiked from the 78 seen in 2019 to 109 in 2020 – the same years calls for defunding the police, spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement, were introduced in earnest. 

Last month, Oakland cops urged residents to secure their homes – including by trimming hedges and shrubs so thieves have nowhere to hide – amid a rise in brazen burglaries while residents are inside their homes.”

Read the whole Daily Mail article here.

Soros-backed Alameda County DA Pamela Price

The Alameda County DA is Pamela Price, who was elected in January 2023. George Soros heavily funded her races through his California PAC.

Less than two months after the citizens elected Price, they’d already had regrets. Back in March prosecutors were quitting over her radical agenda. And the families of crime victims were calling for the ousting of Price following the her failed bid to slash a sentence in a triple murder case.

I suppose I can’t blame the voters for electing Price when her vision as a district attorney sounded plausible. She promised to “end gun violence,” “restore trust in our criminal justice system,” and “establish prosecutorial accountability.”

Yet if voters had done their homework, they would have seen the first red flag that was backing from George Soros. Also, several red flags on her platform such as:

  • “…support a Conviction Integrity Unity to evaluate unfair prosecutions and excessive sentencing practices with a special focus on racially-biased prosecutions.”
  • “Stop over-criminalizing our youth.”
  • “…pursing comprehensive alternatives to incarceration for those who come in contact with the criminal justice system.”

But I don’t expect the majority of democrat voters to be well informed. Between them voting (D) for decades and the intentional misinformation of the media, democrate-run cities are now facing the consequences of their actions.

As they deserve. One day, maybe, just maybe, voters will realize the cold hard truth:

DCG

4 Comments

Posted in Crime, Democrats, failed city, safety

Tagged , , , , , ,

Career criminal shot & killed after hospital standoff in failed Portland, Oregon

Posted on July 24, 2023 by | 7 comments

Liberal cities and states are disintegrating before our very eyes. Portland, Oregon is an example of the consequences of elections.

In May 2020, Portland city commissioners voted to cut nearly $16 million from the police budget in response to complaints about police force and racial injustice. As a result: Portland had a 300% increase in murders from July 2020 to February 2021. In the first two months of 2021, 17 people were  murdered — a 1,600% increase from the one murder reported during the same time period in 2020.

In 2022, Portland’s homicide number was higher than the city’s 20-year average.

It doesn’t help these demorat-run cities are electing Soros-backed prosecutors who refuse to properly punish the criminals.

Case in point: A career-criminal, PoniaX Kane Calles, shot and killed a security guard at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Portland on Saturday. He was subsequently shot and killed by police in the neighboring city of Gresham. Calles had made threats to staff at the hospital in the days leading up to the shooting.

Calles (formerly Reginald Kane Jackson) had a lenghtly criminal record (which began in demorat-run California) that included:

  • Attempted second-degree assault (for stabbing a man in the face with a knife; he was placed on probation for three years)
  • Reckless driving
  • Driving with a suspended license
  •  Third-degree criminal mischief (prosecutors dropped the charge)
  • Attempted murder
  • Robbery
  • Battery
  • Disorderly conduct
  • Vandalism

Calles also had mental health issues (obviously).

Read the whole sordid story of this criminal’s background here at The Oregonian.

No amount of new gun laws would have stopped this guy. He was also ordered to undergo drug treatment and have a mental health evaluation. Obviously that didn’t happen or change his behaviors.

The only solution is to punish the criminals. Or try electing bureaucrats and politicians who care about punishing criminals and preserving law and order in their cities. Yet I’m not going to hold my breath that liberals will learn to do that in the near future. They never learn:

DCG

7 Comments

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

Tagged

This works for me: Woman drags climate activist by the hair to stop her from blocking traffic

Posted on July 20, 2023 by | 5 comments

DCG

5 Comments

Posted in Crime, safety, terrorism, The Left

Tagged ,