Six ways Democrats need to start talking — and thinking — about crime

Yes, Democrats are the party of science and facts — advocates for vaccines and not dewormers — but it’s fruitless to try and convince people of something they don’t feel. It’s understandably frustrating that third-hand anecdotes, high-profile cases distorted by politics, viral videos and apps insidiously designed to make every neighborhood feel like it’s under siege, often have more impact than scientific and academic studies.

Advocates of progressive reforms can tweet till their fingers fall off about historically low crime rates and studies showing crime is worse in Republican-led “tough on crime” jurisdictions, but playing defense is of limited use.

With an election looming, there’s little room for nuance in today’s politics.

People fear crime and want better public safety. They always have and always will. And for a variety of reasons, fair and unfair, it’s a top concern these days. So, yes, Democrats need to state facts but not waste time arguing the numbers. Respect voters by meeting them where they are — acknowledge their feelings and offer solutions — because the solutions Democrats support are popular and effective.

In 2012, 2014, and 2016, ballot initiatives that reformed California’s “three strikes” sentencing, changed certain low-level crimes from felonies to misdemeanors and increased opportunities for nonviolent prisoners to be paroled, were all approved by at least 60% of voters. More recently, a 2020 initiative to eviscerate those initiatives failed by more than 20 points, and the governor who supported the reforms (and effectively banned the death penalty) twice won 24-point victories. I worked on each of those campaigns, and they all won by directly connecting reforms to improved public safety.

Here are six strategies that worked in California, where criminal justice reform has won overwhelming majorities again and again over the past decade:

Reform is public safety: There are many worthy reasons to reform the criminal justice system, from reducing racism to saving money, but the primary purpose of reforms is to improve public safety. Democrats can’t allow the choice to be framed as reform against public safety. The exact opposite is true: safety and reform are two sides of the same coin; one can’t exist without the other.

Attack root causes: Voters know we can dramatically improve public safety by addressing issues like mental health and substance abuse, poverty and homelessness, and the massive quantities of illegal guns in the wrong hands. Of course we have to keep prosecuting crime when it occurs, but everyone would rather prevent crime from occurring in the first place.

Make the contrast: Voters are making choices, so Democrats have to remind voters that the Republican crime agenda has proven to be a heavy-handed wasteful failure. Republicans want to take us backward, to the unsafe and unjust policies of the past. Democrats want action on guns, mental illness and homelessness. So stay on offense and explicitly make the contrast with Republicans who only support longer prison sentences and more guns.

Support good policing: Don’t take the bait on police — of course all cops aren’t bad. Nor are all cops good — just like doctors, lawyers, politicians, chefs and mechanics. Be strong and clear in support of good policing. Anyone who cares about safety wants cops to follow the laws, be well-trained and focus on serious crime. Too many voters feel that there are no consequences for committing crime. People must be held responsible and that starts with ensuring police follow the laws themselves, while rigorously investigating crimes and making arrests, because no one can be prosecuted if they’re not arrested.

Listen to victims: Too often crime victims have been ignored by policy makers who blithely and incorrectly assume all victims want nothing more than “revenge” in the form of longer sentences. Crime victims have more at stake and a more sophisticated understanding of what works and what doesn’t to improve public safety. Victims are clear — they want more trauma care, health services and financial support — listen to their strategies to support community-based organizations that prevent crime.

Break the cycle: We lock up a lot of people in this country, at levels higher than anywhere else in the world. Prisons serve multiple purposes — including punishing people for the harm they caused while simultaneously preventing those people from causing more harm. Eventually however, almost all those people are released, and when people receive rehabilitation and job training behind bars — and when they get help finding health care, housing and work after they get out — they’re much less likely to re-offend. Helping people re-enter society as tax-paying law-abiding citizens prevents crime and increases public safety.

The pendulum of public opinion and attention always swings. By November, voters could be focused on any number of issues other than crime. But spending the next few months in a paralytic defensive crouch risks grave losses for the Democratic party and the progress that’s been made to improve the criminal justice system.