Anyone who reads or watches the local media would think that violent crime is out of control and rising in Jacksonville.
But that may not be the case.
State Attorney Melissa Nelson is getting ink in the national press for her stance on prosecuting criminals.
The Daily Mail published a story recently crediting Nelson with a reduction in the number of shootings and murders in Jacksonville last year.
The experience in Jacksonville was compared to the spikes in violence in large cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
The Daily Mail highlighted the critical difference. In most large cities, chief prosecutors are Democrats who are pro-criminal and soft on crime. Many of their election campaigns were bankrolled by George Soros, the international social financier who hates capitalism and America and has vowed to crush both. Interfering in our elections is one method he uses to achieve his goals.
Nelson, a Republican, has sought stiff sentences for those convicted of gun crimes, cracked down hard on gang members and made it easier for prosecutors to obtain warrants, the paper said.
Someone from the National Police Association was quoted as saying the focus on criminals who use guns has reaped dividends.
There was a 30 percent drop in murders and a 17 percent decrease in shootings in Jacksonville last year, the Daily Mail said.
That compares to Los Angeles, where a Soros-backed district attorney named George Gascon has legalized many crimes by not prosecuting them. That city had a 53 percent increase in murders and a 54 percent increase in shootings in two years under his pro-criminal policies. Fox News personality Tucker Carlson calls Gascon a “lunatic.”
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, there were 107 murders in 2021 following increases in each of the two previous years. To date this year there had been 38 as of a few days ago.
There are many causes of violence and murder, and few solutions. Those solutions that work best are driven by parents, along with civic and religious leaders. The police have few tools for prevention and expensive “programs” generally accomplish little.
Arresting and sternly prosecuting offenders, and keeping them in prison for extended periods, are among the best solutions, and also are just common sense – something often lacking in politics.
