People are making a big deal out of a study from the University of Riverside showing that there’s no difference in crime between sanctuary cities and non-sanctuary cities. But it’s not quite saying what they think it’s saying.
Basically it comes down to Phoenix, Arizona:
Here’s how Fox News wrote it up:
A six-year study published last year by the University of California, Riverside found “violent crime is slightly higher in sanctuary cities.” It concluded there was “no statistically discernible difference in violent crime rates, rape, or property crime across” 55 cities studied.
Now, that flies in the face of illegal alien advocates who say sanctuary cities are safer – they’re not. But it definitely does not support the contention that more illegal aliens means more crime. It’s just not conclusive in that way.
It could still be true, but people are pushing this study as something it’s not.
Phoenix did show what they want it to show:
In the eyes of Levi Bolton, executive director to the Arizona Police Association, that would be a mistake. In May 2008, Phoenix reversed itself, becoming a non-sanctuary state. Under the policy, police had full discretion to ask suspects about their immigration status and had the freedom to call ICE.
“We saw a decrease in crime,” said Bolton. “It had a deterrent effect on folks because the risk of discovery went up exponentially when we actually enforced the law.”
Bolton served with Mark Spencer, who spent 25 years patrolling in Phoenix.
“When we eliminated our sanctuary policy back in 2008, we saw crime, violent and stolen vehicles fall by 25 percent,” he recalled. “We saw a 20-year low crime rate. When we were allowed and had the discretion to contact our federal immigration partners, crime fell drastically.”
According to City-Data.com, which collects data from various government agencies, from 2008 to 2009 Phoenix’s murder rate fell 27 percent, robberies by 23 percent, assault by 13 percent, burglaries by 14 percent and theft by 19 percent. The numbers for each category fell the following year as well – albeit by smaller margins.
But that’s one city – the drop could be attributed to all sorts of causes. So again, it’s not terribly conclusive.
Let me say this though – although the evidence supports neither side, it doesn’t really matter. Even if illegals committed less crime than citizens, it’s still crime that should not be committed at all because they’re here illegally.
So there.
Now y’all have a good open thread. I might visit so you can yell at me that I’m an open borders Mexican trying to cause white genocide. Which I’m not of course.