Record drop in crime in the USA becomes a political dispute before the legislative elections

The historic reduction in crime in the United States has become a central topic of political dispute just weeks before the mid-term legislative elections. According to Fox Business, President Donald Trump stated that the country has achieved the largest drop in violent crime ever recorded, with the homicide rate at its lowest level in 125 years, since 1900.

The statement was highlighted on the program The Five, in which presenter Kellyanne Conway stated that Democrats now want to claim the fall for themselves. She cited a column in the New York Post, which summarizes the issue directly: crime has fallen a lot thanks to Trump, and Democrats will fight to reverse this situation.

Who gets the credit

Commenter Harold said he doesn't believe Democrats are trying to appropriate the result. He stated that he gives credit to both local and federal police forces for the declines and recalled that, a year earlier, some members of the panel had questioned the accuracy of the statistics that showed a reduction. In his opinion, Trump deserves credit for being in office, and so do mayors and governors of Republican and Democratic states, especially those who work on the front lines.

Presenter Dana said that security in Washington, D.C., has improved, according to reports from friends who still live in the city. She attributed the improvement in the fight against fentanyl to greater security at the border and suggested that the president's tougher stance discouraged part of the entry flow. Dana noted, however, that there are still criminals who are illegal immigrants in the United States.

When Conway asked Jesse Watters if he could name a Democrat who deserved credit for the crash, he replied that no one came to mind. Conway also stated, in a critical tone, that the party wants to cut police funding, abolish ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and empty prisons.

Which, according to the panel, explains the drop

Watters pointed out as factors the actions of ICE, which, according to him, removed hundreds of thousands of criminal aliens from the country and prevented hundreds of thousands of others from entering, and the presence of the National Guard in cities. He also said that the FBI and the Department of Justice began to focus on violent crimes, with operations against the Mexican Mafia and arms, fentanyl and human traffickers. According to him, a single summer operation resulted in 8,000 arrests. These numbers are the responsibility of the presenter and have not been independently verified.

The presenter also mentioned technological tools, such as DNA databases, license plate readers and home cameras, which, in his opinion, facilitated the resolution of cases. Watters also associated the reduction in recidivism with factors such as the presence of a father and faith in people's lives and staying away from drugs. According to him, 60% of prisoners test positive for drugs.

What does this mean for the investor

The debate shows that public security should occupy a relevant space in the mid-term election campaign, with each side trying to associate the drop in crime with their policies. For investors, the dispute is important because the results of the polls can change the balance of forces in Congress and, with that, the economic, tax and public spending agenda.

The panel did not deal directly with the stock market, interest rates, the dollar or public accounts. Still, safer cities tend to be a recurring theme in the debate about the business environment and the cost of operating in large urban centers. The interpretation is that of the newspaper, not of data presented in the broadcast.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.