WASHINGTON (TND) — Sometimes perception can be more powerful than reality.
A newly published poll from Gallup shows Americans feel safest to live in Dallas and Boston top the list. They feel the least safe in Chicago and Detroit.
Views shifted notably since the last time Gallup asked the same question in 2006.
The cities with the biggest negative changes in safety sentiment were Chicago, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Seattle.
Conservative critics point out a common thread between the four, all elected what critics call "soft-on-crime" progressive prosecutors in recent years.
“Progressive district attorneys think they know better than their citizens how the law ought to be handled,” said Parker Thayer, an investigative researcher at the Capitol Research Center.
Voters fed up with rising crime in overwhelmingly Democratic San Francisco recalled their progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin last year.
Boston though, complicates this argument. Even with a progressive prosecutor in office, it’s seen as one the country’s safest cities.
Perception of crime is, at the end of the day, a polling statistic," said Thayer. "So it can vary based on a lot of factors. But the fact that progressive prosecutors are the uniform across the cities that performed poorly in the poll I think says a lot.According to Gallup, Republicans are driving the shifts in perception by viewing cities as increasingly unsafe. Democrats views on safety in big cities remains stable.
However calls from the Left to crack down on crime are increasing as certain crimes like shoplifting skyrocket.
In Los Angeles, a gang of 50 shoplifters recently stole an estimated $100,000 worth of merchandise from a Nordstrom.Democrats increasing calls for law and order.
In Washington D.C, violent crime is up 38% from this time last year. Democratic councilman Trayon White is now calling for the national guard to step in because many big cities like D.C. struggle to keep enough law enforcement on the job.
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