Photo by Arianna Grainey
Many of us Arizonans have looked at the chaos, lawlessness and crime that has at times enveloped cities like San Francisco, Portland and Seattle over the last few years with a degree of derision, and for good reason. While instances of those issues are certainly trumped up by conservative media, there is certainly a strong degree of truth to them.
Outside of the truly unfortunate looting of Scottsdale Fashion Square in 2020, Scottsdale has essentially entirely avoided these issues? Why is that? This story offers one solid reason.
The Scottsdale Police Department recently announced a significant pay bump for its officers. Salary bumps, when annualized and not counting overtime, will calculate out to around $3,500 per year. As inflation has been an ever-present problem throughout the country, this is obviously welcome relief, and it is even more welcome that it did not turn into a point of contention in our city council.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, their council actively defunded the police before reversing course as their city became plagued by crime and drug addiction. A very similar situation played out in Portland as the city encountered similar issues. And wouldn’t you know, Seattle did the same thing.
If you’re sensing a pattern, it’s not just you: while one should be cautious extrapolating too far with three data points, it is hard not to draw the conclusion that defunding and disrespecting law enforcement directly leads to an increase in crime and societal issues. It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, yet many on the political left still seem to view police as an enemy as opposed to the apparatus that prevents society from descending into chaos, which is what has happened at times in these “left coast” cities.
So to a degree, those cities have earned the derision that many Arizonans, and more specifically Scottsdalians, give to them. While those cities have plenty of positives, the negatives are enough to make sober-thinking non-idealogues realize that they’re going down the incorrect route. Scottsdale is a paradise in comparison, partly because of our collective respect of law enforcement.
Will blue America learn? Considering that these “defund the police” actions have largely been reversed, it’s probably safe to say that they already are learning. But it’s unfortunate that it took unforced errors and chaotic streets to learn this. It’s an unforced error that we should be thankful that Scottsdale never had to learn first-hand.