November 2022 Midterm Election Results Postmortem

Before I go into my analysis of the just-concluded midterm election, although concluded might not be the appropriate term since there are still many races that have not been decided, I have to bring people up to speed on a gruesome statistic. Last week, I saw the latest figure on police suicides for 2022. It stands at 121 according to a Salute the Blue Instagram post. To put this number in perspective, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention says that 13.93 per 100,000 people died by suicide in 2019. The Ruderman Foundation, a philanthropic organization that focuses on people with disabilities, reported that in 2017 the rate of suicide among police officers was 17 per 100,000 people. They have not released an updated report for 2019. That is staggering. I challenge you to name another profession that could have this kind of suicide rate per 100,000 that would escape calls for research to address the crisis or congressional hearings of federal mental health agencies on why they aren’t dedicating research to this phenomenon. Here is something else to ponder. According to a story on this crisis in the USA Today newspaper this is, “an issue that has plagued first responders for years, yet very little has been done to address it.” The story goes on to point out that, “Researchers say they have not seen sufficient efforts and programs aimed at promoting awareness of first responders mental health and preventing suicide.” I point this out because this problem will fade into people’s consciousness if it isn’t kept front and center in the public discourse, and I am going to do my part to keep it there.

Now let’s get into what happened with voters in the midterm elections. For the last six months, you could not escape media coverage of the midterm elections. All the polling about the surge in crime and violence that was occurring mainly in urban centers suggested that this was near the top of voters’ concerns. You couldn’t escape seeing media video of vulnerable human beings being violently attacked by predatory criminals who were left to freely roam subway systems, retail areas and neighborhood streets. These were career violent offenders who continued to evade punishment and even when arrested were quickly freed to continue to engage in their violent behavior. They were the benefactors of what has become over the last few years a lenient criminal justice system. Policies that favored the criminal over the law-abiding were put into place by elected officials, including prosecutors who were elected with the money of billionaire George Soros who financed and put into place an infrastructure designed to go soft on crime. Locking violent repeat offenders away was labeled the new Jim Crow system. What a crock of horse manure. A few of the criminal apologist prosecutors are Kim Fox in Chicago Cook County, former Baltimore County State Attorney Marilyn Mosby, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, Manhattan/New York City DA Alvin Bragg and Milwaukee County DA John Chisholm. Even after the surge in violent crime, elected officials in these states foolishly, carelessly and recklessly continued to enact criminal=friendly laws and policies. Let’s look.

The state of Illinois recently passed a law outlawing bail for most offenses, including some violent offenses, even after Chicago experienced increases in homicides, aggravated assaults and most misdemeanors like auto thefts and shoplifting. California recently passed what it called the Racial Justice Act. This bill was signed into law by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law provides for previously convicted criminals to petition to vacate judgments or reduce charges in cases in which a person’s race ethnicity or national origin played a part in if they were charged with more serious crimes or sentenced more severely than others who were similarly situated. Suffice it to say that just the filing by a convicted criminal, one who already received due process, will be considered prima facia evident of disparate treatment based on race under this act. This is another example of a career criminal escaping culpability.

So, with all of this as the backdrop, then why did that not seem to transfer into bigger Republican wins in the 2022 midterm elections? After all, the Democrats are the party of defund the police and traditionally the GOP has been supportive of police at the state, local and federal level. The answer is, no drum roll necessary, I simply do not know. I won’t sit here and act like I have the answer. I was both surprised, disappointed and disgusted. I can however offer some unscientific guesses. Maybe we have been in this crime surge for so long that it has become part of the urban landscape. People might be numb to it. Maybe voters feel that politicians haven’t figured it out up to now and they won’t. Call it apathy if you will. I call it a quiet resignation. If this is the case, then it is one of the tragic byproducts of the War on Cops.

So, what do we do, where do we go from here? Quitting and giving up is not an option. Not as far as I am concerned. That would be the ultimate insult to those who have given their lives protecting their communities. It would be a slap in the face as well to those who currently serve and protect. We have a saying in this profession that we utter at every line of duty death and during police week in May that, we will never forget. Now is the moment of truth. It’s time to prove it. Keep fighting.

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of AmericasSheriff LLC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com