Katherine Doyle reports for the Washington Examiner on an interesting response to rising crime concerns.
As President Joe Biden struggles to contain a rise in crime and a wing of his party that wants to defund or reform the police, some state officials have started to take matters into their own hands.
In Georgia, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan is proposing a measure that would allow private citizens to write checks to underfunded police departments in exchange for a tax credit.
As a state representative, Duncan proposed something similar for rural hospitals.
“Nobody really had any solutions. I was able to create a tax credit program that empowered communities by letting citizens and corporations directly contribute to their problem,” Duncan told the Washington Examiner. …
… Criticism has fallen on Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as the city faces a sharp increase in homicides. Lance Bottoms has said she wouldn’t seek another term, a surprise move after she held a fundraising event featuring Biden.
She said the decision is unrelated to the scrutiny she faces over rising crime, but the issue is emerging as a totem among the hopefuls looking to replace her.
Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is seeking a political comeback in the city, pointing to how murders have nearly doubled in the city since the summer before he left office in 2018. And donors are flocking to him. …
… Crime has soared in Atlanta’s wealthy Buckhead neighborhood. As of June this year, homicides climbed by 133%, with shootings up 164%. Some residents are pushing to form their own city.
Duncan said he thinks Atlanta residents need immediate solutions.
“The problems are right here, right now. The calls I get are about crime that happened last night or the crime that happened last week, and they are expecting results immediately so they can get their businesses back open, their kids playing back on the streets, and feel safe when they leave their home,” he said.
