‘Patience is growing thin’: Activists fear Biden’s anti-crime strategy could overshadow police reform efforts – By Courtney Subramanian (USA Today) / June 29 2021
- Activists say they want Biden to be as vocal about police reform as he has been on crime prevention.
- In more than 30 cities the homicide rate has increased by 24% during the first three months of 2021.
- A crime spike has revived a GOP attack on Democrats over the far-left ‘defund the police’ slogan.
- Strategists say Biden needs to strike a balance between public safety and police reform ahead of the midterm elections.
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s push to combat a rise in violent crime is stirring concerns among activists over whether it could sap momentum for police reform after a year of protests over the police killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans.
Biden was elected amid a nationwide reckoning over race and policing, an issue he vowed to tackle on the campaign trail. The political reality has been harsher for the president, who’s tried to strike a balance on passing big-ticket items such as coronavirus pandemic relief and infrastructure while promoting work on campaign pledges on overhauling policing and gun control. A sweeping police bill stalled on Capitol Hill, where negotiations stretched beyond Biden’s deadline to pass it by the anniversary of Floyd’s death in May.
Udi Ofer, director of the justice division for the American Civil Liberties Union, said that although crime prevention and criminal justice reform are interlocked, “patience is growing thin” among advocates who say the president hasn’t shown the same commitment to police reform as he has to combating crime and other issues.
