Progressive public safety needed to heal democracy

Across the country and throughout history, Democrats lose elections wherever and whenever people think we are soft on crime. It's time we Democrats fully embrace public safety as a progressive cause.

Last week's election results in deepblue California should be a wake-up call for us.

In Los Angeles, Rick Caruso, the Republican-turned-democrat real estate developer who campaigned on public safety, fared well in the mayoral primary that included the better-known veteran politician Karen Bass, who has since pulled ahead because of last-minute mail-in votes. The two are now headed for a run-off. In San Francisco, perhaps the most progressive big city in the United States, District Attorney Chesa Boudin was recalled for being perceived as soft on crime.

Today inflation looms large. All Americans feel it. Likewise, public safety is a looming and intensely personal issue for many Americans, including Democrats. A recent Siena College Research Institute poll reveals that 61% of

Democratic voters in New York state called crime a “very serious” concern for them. Crime stokes fear, and more than anything else, fear motivates voters.

Rising levels of crime impact urban and suburban blue communities more than rural, red communities. For those of us in cities and suburbs, fear of crime is more than a paranoia; it is a tangible issue that stalks us every day. In New York City, people who are progressive on every political issue are afraid to ride the subways. They feel unsafe, and want to see more police and fewer homeless people in the stations and on the trains. The desire to feel safe is not a political position; it's a basic, human instinct. Voters with varied political ideologies might agree with Democrats on some progressive issues, but will abandon us in droves if they feel we are failing at government's core responsibility to protect them.

When I was secretary of Homeland Security, the question I was asked most often by family and friends was not a political one; it was whether it was safe to go to public events or send a child to a particular part of the world during spring break.

Last year's election for mayor of New York City should have been a watershed moment for understanding Democratic voters. In New York City – which typically votes almost 80% Democratic – voters chose Eric Adams, the former police officer, over an array of more progressive candidates. Notably, in the first round of the Democratic primary, Adams ran third in the so-called “liberal elite” Manhattan, but first among rank-and-file working class Democrats, including people of color, in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Fail to understand this election result dynamic, and we Democrats will be consigned to lose elections at the federal, state and local level.

Thoughtful public safety is not inconsistent with Democratic values. People like former police commissioners Bill Bratton and Chuck Ramsey will tell you that thoughtful public safety does not mean excessive force, chokeholds or Stop and Frisk. A robust police force that engages and understands the community it serves should be a progressive priority, as urban and suburban communities are the principal beneficiaries of such a police force. Gun safety and housing for the homeless have been progressive issues for years. These are matters of public safety too.

It's the same situation for Democrats on border security. Numbers of illegal crossings on our southern border are at the highest levels in years. A secure border promotes order and stability in communities within states that are trending blue. While the overwhelming majority of migrants who cross our southern border illegally are harmless men, women and children desperate for a better life in the United States, an out-of-control border lends itself to the view that our government cannot perform even the basic function of securing our own perimeter – stirring anxiety among Americans in both border and interior communities of the U.S.

Embracing a political platform that includes public safety is not just a matter of good Democratic Party politics. It will help heal our democracy. If Democrats allow ourselves to be painted as soft on crime, Republican candidates like Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump fill the rhetorical void by pandering to voters' worst fears and prejudices for political gain, further fostering a nation bitterly divided along racial, cultural and economic lines.

We've seen the tragic irony that results: on Jan. 20, 2017, Trump stood on the western steps of the U.S. Capitol and in his inaugural address deplored an “American carnage.” At the time, many of us wondered what he was talking about. Almost four years later, on Jan. 6, 2021, at exactly the same place, we saw American carnage come to life, stoked by years of Trump's own overheated rhetoric.

Jeh Johnson is the former U.S. secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama.