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Chesa Boudin is San Francisco’s recently-elected progressive district attorney who was voted out in a successful recall effort yesterday, thanks in large part to the efforts of the Asian American community in the city. SF is one of the most progressive cities in the U.S., yet even it recalled a progressive D.A. who was seen by many as not doing enough about a rise in crime in the wake of the pandemic (in particular, property crime and anti-Asian hate crimes). I often hear from the “defund” crowd that more policing is not a solution to an increase in crime, that we need to invest in other services instead (yet which services I'm unclear of, often the solutions are vague and the effort is on getting money out of the police department). Yet it seems pretty clear that the people, when confronted with a rise in crime and homelessness and an overall decrease in quality of life, turn toward strengthening the police force and the carceral system, no matter how progressive their sympathies may be otherwise.
A similar effort succeeded in L.A. in which a former Republican who promised to increase the number of police officers significantly as well as the number of sanitation workers to clean the streets of homeless encampments won the Democratic primary (Eric Adams’s recent victory in NYC could be seen as another parallel). Why are progressives losing to moderate “tough on crime” Democrats? Do progressive criminal justice reform policies lead to a temporary increase in crime that most people are not willing to put up with?
A similar effort succeeded in L.A. in which a former Republican who promised to increase the number of police officers significantly as well as the number of sanitation workers to clean the streets of homeless encampments won the Democratic primary (Eric Adams’s recent victory in NYC could be seen as another parallel). Why are progressives losing to moderate “tough on crime” Democrats? Do progressive criminal justice reform policies lead to a temporary increase in crime that most people are not willing to put up with?