Category Archives: failed city

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

4 Comments

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

Tagged , , , , ,

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

Tagged , , ,

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

4 Comments

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

Tagged

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

2 Comments

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

Tagged , , , ,

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

3 Comments

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

Tagged , ,

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

3 Comments

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

Tagged , , , , , ,

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

8 Comments

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

Tagged , ,

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 , , , , ,