Youngkin Announces Violent Crime Task Force

Governor Glenn Youngkin announced yesterday the creation of a task force to combat violent crime in Virginia. Said the Governor in making the announcement: “We will take a comprehensive look at how we can address the rise in violent crime by providing more law enforcement resources, creating alternative and after-school activities for children, and addressing the fear that results in witnesses failing to show up for a criminal hearing.”

The announcement could not have been more poignantly timed. In Hampton Roads, three men were killed and three others injured in a series of shootings on Sunday and Monday, reports The Virginian-Pilot. One incident occurred at a vigil attended by hundreds of people in Norfolk in commemoration of a previous shooting victim.

Hopefully, the task force will identify some useful tweaks to policing, justice, and schools to reverse the upsurge in violence over the past two years. But the problem runs deeper than a lack of resources or a failure of policy. What we’re seeing now is the result of a thorough de-legitimization of the criminal justice system by America’s political, media and cultural elites. Charges of “systemic racism” have inspired contempt for law enforcement in lower-income Black communities. To turn the tide, Youngkin needs to articulate a counter-narrative that restores legitimacy to the justice system, and then enact reforms to back it up.

— JAB