Grand Canyon Times

Arizona has the 15th-highest crime rate in the country and the 9th-highest violent crime rate, an issue that could be relevant at the polls, with Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters accusing Democrat Mark Kelly of being soft on crime.

The number of murders in Arizona increased significantly increased in 2021, data from the FBI revealed. There were 20,900 murders last year, an increase of 4.3%. Violent crime dropped 1%, but it has risen "significantly" in the past five years, FOX News said. The FBI couldn't fully grasp the extent of the crime spike because police didn't properly report total numbers during the pandemic. 

"We’re seeing a disturbing violent crime surge across the country," Paul Abbate, deputy director of the FBI, said in the story. "I know you’re seeing it too."

Police departments are struggling to keep up with rising crime due to staffing shortages, the Associated Press said. George Spaulding of Portland, Ore., whose son Brian was shot and killed five years ago, is frustrated that his son's murder has never been solved, but he doesn't blame the police.

“We’re not dissatisfied with the Police Bureau because I think they’re doing the best they can,” he said. “They are just overwhelmed. It’s insane.” There were 89 homicides reported in 2021—with more expected in 2022—and the rate of the killings is three times higher than the historical average, the AP reported. Portland is dealing with more than 100 officer vacancies.

Staff shortages aren't just a problem in Portland, however. Many police officers across the country have retired early or quit in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and subsequent calls to reform police departments, AP claimed. 

“This isn’t just an issue in Philadelphia,” Philadelphia police spokesperson Eric Gripp said. “Departments all over are down and recruitment has been difficult.”

The surge of violent crimes in 2020 has been labeled “social disruption” due to the pandemic, and crime has since been higher in cities that chose to reform their police departments, some experts claim, although crime has risen in red and blue areas alike, AP reported.

Ibrahim Rabee of New Orleans owns an auto shop and says he no longer feels safe due to rising crime, the Wall Street Journal said. Seven people have been killed close to Rabee’s shop so far in 2022. On another occasion, someone threatened Rabee with a gun in his shop, and when Rabee called 911 an officer didn't show up until the next day. 

New Orleans has 41 homicides per 100,000 residents, an increase of 141%; the Journal reported. The Journal report cited criminologists and law enforcement officers who said the spike in violent crime was due to “stress from the pandemic, police pullbacks after racial-justice protests and a proliferation of guns." Gun sales also spiked during the pandemic, AP reported.

There were 448,783 violent-crime incidents and 520,209 offenses reported by 9,042 law enforcement agencies in 2019, FBI Crime Data Explorer showed. In 2021, that number increased to 694,050 violent-crime incidents and 817,020 offenses reported by 11,794 agencies. In Arizona, FBI data showed 1,016 violent crime incidents and 1,194 offenses reported by nine Arizona law enforcement agencies. In 2021, the numbers increased to 9,267 violent crime incidents and 11,085 offenses reported by 79 agencies.

The nationwide crime rate in 2020 was 6.52, a 28.64% increase from the previous year, Macrotrends said.

In March, Kelly's website published a release on a $4.4 million "Kelly-secured" funding bill to fund local police departments and public safety initiatives, and Kelly claimed the measure would reduce crime. But his opponent Masters disagrees.

Masters argues that Kelly has been soft on crime. In an interview on the Faulkner Focus, Masters said Kelly votes in “lockstep” with President Joe Biden on border security, against the wishes of Arizonans. 

“Crime is going through the roof… what happened?" Masters said. "Well, Joe Biden happened. Mark Kelly happened there. Joined at the hip.”

Kelly voted against a bill that would “establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to prioritizing taking into custody aliens charged with a crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury,” Senate records said. Masters' campaign also points out that Kelly voted for funding to hire an alleged 87,000 new IRS agents and voted against an amendment to delay those hires until more border patrol agents were added.