Police are directing the blame toward liberal political leadership and left-wing activists for the deteriorating condition of Asheville, North Carolina.
“I think what you’re seeing in Asheville right now is a culmination of the last several years of pulling police back and not letting them do their jobs like they’re able to do,” former Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan told Fox News.
According to spring statistics, Asheville experienced a 31% increase in violent crime per 100,000 people from 2016 to 2020, ranking the city among the highest in North Carolina.
Asheville, a city of around 90,000 people, has so far seen 11 homicides in 2022, while rates of homelessness have increased 21 percent since 2021. Police also claim that there has been an increase in Mexican drug cartel activity in the area.
Democrat-run tourist town in North Carolina sees violent crime spike as police dwindle: 'Perfect storm' https://t.co/zZOtVukSOx
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 13, 2022
Multiple local law enforcement sources told Fox News that Democrats and their resentment towards police are to blame for the town’s surge in crime.
Duncan, a longtime Democrat, retired as sheriff and became politically unaffiliated in 2018 over the party’s “anti-law enforcement sentiment.”
“If I had to get down to the crux of the issue, there’s just an anti-law enforcement sentiment in the Democratic Party right now,” Duncan said. “For somebody who works in the profession, I think a lot of it is based on a false narrative — not that there’s not wrongs to be righted and issues that happen that need to be corrected with law enforcement — but it’s almost like everybody gets painted with that same brush, even though they’re trying their best to do a good job for the community.”
Meanwhile, an officer currently with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department spoke to Fox News and noted that the left’s policy changes attributed to the exodus of officers.
“Crime will continue to rise when there is no accountability for subjects of a crime,” the officer said on condition of anonymity. “Officers overlook so many things because they know that it will go nowhere in court.”
A report from the Washington Examiner found recently that liberal law enforcement policies are the main contributors to the issue, as relatively few guns have historically been purchased in ways Congress wants to regulate with its latest gun control push.
