Then-Sen. Joe Biden (right) speaks at a Capitol Hill news conference in 1994 after the Senate voted on a major crime bill.
For four nights, speakers at the Republican National Convention pilloried Democrat Joe Biden over his alleged weakness on crime and painted a dystopian future if he were to be elected in November.
Biden and Democrats were "completely silent about the rioters and criminals spreading mayhem in Democrat-run cities," during their convention, President Trump charged on Thursday. The previous evening, Vice President Pence warned, "The hard truth is you will not be safe in Joe Biden's America."
The speeches came as residents of Kenosha, Wis., were reeling from the shooting by police of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, and the resulting protests — during which two people were fatally shot. The unrest follows turmoil in other cities after police killed George Floyd, also a Black man, in Minneapolis in May.
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Pence claimed that Biden would "double down in the very policies that are leading to violence in American cites," to which Biden responded with a reminder that "right now . we're in Donald Trump's America."
The current crime rate
Statistics show that some crime has been increasing in big cities, with mayors who are Democrats and Republicans. According to figures compiled by data analyst and consultant Jeff Asher, the murder rate this year has increased by 26% through July, compared with a year ago. Other violent crimes are up slightly, while property crimes are down by 7.7%.
YTD change in murder, violent crime and property crime for 25 American cities with data publicly available through July.
Murder remains up big (+26%) while violent crime is roughly even and property crime remains solidly down relative to each city's YTD 2019 total. pic.twitter.com/yh8xhAwWFC
— Jeff Asher (@Crimealytics) August 24, 2020This is a reversal of longer-term trends, in which violent crimes have been generally declining since the 1990s.
In an email, Asher says determining the cause for the increase this year is complicated.
"We barely have the data to recognize that a new trend is occurring, much less to be able to properly evaluate and diagnose its cause," he says. But the "intense stresses being placed on numerous aspects of society by the pandemic is as persuasive as any."
