If you're a self-styled "social advocate," the last thing you're going to do is blame the current crime surge on the criminals. Instead, appearing on Tiffany Cross's MSNBC show this morning, former LAPD cop Cheryl Dorsey blamed . . . the police, calling them "butt-hurt" and "cowardly."
Why, in Dorsey's view, are police "butt-hurt?" Because, she claimed, "they can't run willy-nilly through a police department and abuse with reckless abandon."
Dorsey then described police leaving specialized units as "cowardly." In doing so, she ignored the fact that police, as in the case of the Portland, Oregon rapid response unit, have resigned in protest over what they see as lack of support by city leaders and unjustified prosecutions of fellow cops doing their jobs in extreme conditions.
Host Cross tried to downplay the seriousness of the surge, framing it as a mere "uptick," and even doubting that it exists at all! She asked Dorsey whether "you really think there is an uptick in crime?" Dorsey was glad to agree: "I don't necessarily think that there is an uptick in crime."
Here's that exchange:
CROSS: What's your take on -- I mean, do you really think there is an uptick in crime, the way that Republicans are framing it?
DORSEY: I don't necessarily think that there's an uptick in crime. And I can tell you that I know firsthand, you know, statistics can be manipulated.
And so I think that this is, again, what officers, police departments, police chiefs, those who are savvy, try to do is pull back, make communities suffer just a little bit so you'll miss that heavy-handedness, those overzealous cops who are abusing their authority in your communities, and then when you cry uncle they come back times ten with more militarization, more heavy-handed elephant hunters who are now preying on an unsuspecting public.
Cross also dabbled in conspiracy-mongering. Without spelling out her accusation, she said, "it's interesting that this is happening at the time of de-fund the police." She seemed to imply that crime statistics are being inflated to ward off the defunding of police that her fellow left-wingers are advocating.
Dorsey again came forward to support Cross, spelling out the conspiracy theory: "I can tell you that I know firsthand, you know, statistics can be manipulated." Dorsey claimed that savvy police chiefs are intentionally pulling back to make communities "suffer a little bit," and that "when they cry uncle," the police will return with heavy-handed tactics "times ten," describing police as "heavy-handed elephant hunters who are now preying on an unsuspecting public."
An MSNBC guest blaming the crime surge on "butt-hurt, cowardly" police, and buying into the conspiracy theory that police departments are inflating crime statistics, was sponsored in part by CITI, OnStar, a subsidiary of General Motors, and Jeep.
Here's the transcript. Click "expand" to read more.
MSNBC
The Cross Connection
6/26/21
10:05 am EDTTIFFANY CROSS: We're talking about the uptick in crime. You just heard the rhetoric circa 1983 that's being repeated now. Cheryl, I am a little concerned because, look, I know there are people in neighborhoods who have concerns about the violence they've seen. It's interesting that this is happening at the time of de-fund the police. We have to get to the root of the problem. Why do you think we're seeing an uptick in crime happening right now?
CHERYL DORSEY: I think it's a combination of things, and we have to understand that police officers are the backbone, particularly are the backbone of any police department. And this reminds me of back in the day when I was on LAPD, when officers' feelings were hurt and they had the term "blue flu," where officers openly talked about slow response to radio calls. You can break a police chief if response time is low, if you're not clearing crimes, if you're not responding to high-priority calls: shootings in progress, murder, robbery.
And so officers, now we see across these 18,000 police departments, are butt-hurt because, you know, they can't run willy-nilly through a police department and abuse with reckless abandon. So they're stepping away from specialized units. Too cowardly to quit outright the department, but they're stepping away from units. On the Columbus police department, the rapid response team. An entire platoon of SWAT officers walked away in Miami. So I don't think it's a coincidence. And listen, bad guys know the cops aren't responding, that they're not coming out when they are capering. And so I think it's a combination of things.
. . .
CROSS: What's your take on -- I mean, do you really think there is an uptick in crime, the way that Republicans are framing it?
DORSEY: I don't necessarily think that there's an uptick in crime. And I can tell you that I know firsthand, you know, statistics can be manipulated.
And so I think that this is, again, what officers, police departments, police chiefs, those who are savvy, try to do is pull back, make communities suffer just a little bit so you'll miss that heavy-handedness, those overzealous cops who are abusing their authority in your communities, and then when you cry uncle they come back times ten with more militarization, more heavy-handed elephant hunters who are now preying on an unsuspecting public.
