Less Policing = More Crime

Authors: Madeline Alfonso, Digital Assistant; Julia Jensen, Communications Assistant

TOPLINE: The DSA's proposed soft-on-crime policies would handcuff the institutions responsible for protecting American families from dangerous criminals, leaving Americans less safe.

BACKGROUND: The DSA advocates for defunding the police and transforming the American criminal-justice system with unspecified “alternatives to policing and incarceration.” Replacing core public-safety institutions with weakened “alternatives” would create chaos and dysfunction across all American communities and put innocent Americans in danger.

Less Law Enforcement = Less Safety

• Fewer police resources mean fewer officers available to respond to 911 calls, investigate crimes, and patrol communities, particularly in neighborhoods already experiencing high crime.
• Reducing incarceration would allow violent and repeat offenders to reenter communities more quickly and victimize even more law-abiding citizens.
• The “community programs” suggested by the DSA cannot replace any level of law enforcement officer responding to an armed robbery or domestic violence calls.

Defunding the Police = No Consequences for Criminals

• A functioning society requires a credible deterrent against criminal behavior.
• If potential offenders believe they’re unlikely to be caught or arrested, they will be commit more crimes.

BOTTOMLINE: The DSA’s attempt to move away from enforcement, accountability, and incarceration would put people’s lives and property at risk. Public safety cannot be sacrificed to satisfy a warped ideological commitment to undermining the police and the rest of the criminal justice system.