Table of Contents

During the Clinton administration, fighting crime was a top priority. The president invested heavily in state and local crime- fighting efforts, like hiring more police officers and expanding community policing. Crime plummeted dramatically -- nearly 20 percent -- to its lowest level in a generation. Murders, which had skyrocketed to an all-time high, dropped by more than 30 percent. In short, a wave of crime and violence that had plagued our communities since the mid-1980s was reversed.

But the Bush administration has put the fight against crime on the back burner. Bush has cut funds for state and local law enforcement -- repeatedly zeroing out funds for the same police hiring programs that helped drive down crime during the 1990s. His policies have forced many police departments -- already hamstrung by the worst state and local budget crises since World War II -- to reduce the size of their police forces and pull back on their community crime fighting efforts.

Not surprisingly, crime has started to rise again. Between 2000 and 2002, serious crimes reported to police rose by 2.3 percent. Murders and motor vehicle thefts, which are almost always reported to the police and are among the most accurate measures of crime, have increased by even more (4 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively). Under President Bush and his policies, the era of falling crime rates, it seems, is finally over.

Jose Cerda III is a senior policy adviser to the Democratic Leadership Council.