Violent crimes in the United States against Connecticut, according to the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer. The FBI began collecting data in 1985. The chart shows that violent crime in Connecticut peaked in 1990 and has been on a downward trend since then. Credit: Screenshot/FBI Crime Data Explorer
SUSAN CAMPBELL
The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Alex Jones, is in trouble serious court time, and the bankruptcy of his business. He is what fear would be like, if fear were made of flesh.
I wish the Connecticut GOP would take note, because some of their candidates’ campaigns look like blatant attempts to scare their supporters into voting booths by creating a Connecticut dystopia that doesn’t exist.
Of course, fear can motivate, but at what cost?
A recent social media ad for Republican gubernatorial candidate, Bob Stefanowski, shows a series of headlines about crime in the state, and says this: “A single week of headlines tells the story; our state is less secure every day. CT needs better leadership to support our law enforcement, to enforce our current laws, and to foster an environment that empowers people.”
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski tweeted an animation of crime-related headlines on July 29. Credit: Twitter screenshot / @bobforgovernor
What this ad fails to say is that, unfortunately, in most media outlets, crime stories outnumber other types of news by a wide margin. A 2020 Marquette University study analyzed news coverage in Milwaukee, Wis., over a year and found that homicides, for example, represented 61% of the news coverage of an exit The study also found that news sources generally do not report on the context of crimes, choosing instead to act as representatives of the “if it bleeds, it leads” school of journalism. Perhaps Republicans are suffering from a rash they picked up from New York, where the data counters the perception that the city is a hotbed of violent crime. Is not. Bloomberg has just launched an interactive report on New Yorkers’ fear of violent crime, where, too, slavish media coverage has created a false dystopia.
Shame on the journalists, and shame on the politicians who exploit it.
It would be helpful to ask the fear-mongering GOP candidates what they mean by “safe,” because in one important way, the blue state of Connecticut is uniquely safe. In a recent post-Roe New York Times analysis of states that ban abortion, Connecticut, which is one of the least likely states to ban the medical procedure, occupies a prominent place in social security programs such as expanded Medicaid and paid leave.
But then, when most Republicans say “safe,” they don’t mean “safety net.” They mean “crime”.
Even there, the complaints are misplaced. The US News and World Report ranks Connecticut as the fifth safest state in the country. A World Population Review report ranked Connecticut ninth overall and fourth for personal and residential safety. Other credible sources on the web consistently rank Connecticut in the top 10 safest states.
In last year’s FBI annual uniform crime report, Connecticut’s violent crime decreased from the previous year, while the nation saw an increase. The state’s homicide rate (3.9 per 100,000 people) increased in 2020, but is still lower than the national rate. Aggravated assault decreased and the incidence of rape decreased by just over 25%. Motor vehicle thefts increased, although still below the national average.
Ah, but there are lies, damn lies and statistics. It would be helpful if Connecticut Republicans would share what metrics they use to declare Connecticut “unsafe” and then share what they intend to do about it. Unfortunately, the party website doesn’t shed much light on why Republicans are afraid, although I did ask on social media if they could direct me to that part of the site (and got nothing). Forgive me if I can’t get excited about sweeping statements based on someone’s sentiments expressed on Twitter.
(Vote your heart, but the Connecticut Democratic Party 2022 Platform it’s easy to find.)
Connecticut is far from perfect. We don’t have enough affordable housing, especially in the rental market. We are such a segregated state as you can find There is one legitimate cry for safer streets, as in better protection for pedestrians and cyclists. These are not small things.
For Connecticut Republicans, the challenge of using fear as a motivator is that they can mount the gunpowder, light the match, and then pray that damage is the target, but that rarely happens. A barrage of years of fear-mongering by the national GOP (led by a bloviator-in-chief) brought us a horde of citizens storming the US Capitol in 2021. That horde included the aforementioned Jones, one of the organizers of the insurrection which also indescribably haunted the grieving families of Sandy Hook.
Meanwhile, the national party leadership ignored or downplayed the very real wolf at the door, the COVID virus. The sad fact is that we have had a lot of fear in the last 2 years. Better to focus on the real wolves and leave the fake ones to the fairy tales.
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