In the wake of a mass shooting in St. Paul over the weekend that left one person dead and 14 others injured, the city’s chief of police is asking social activists, prosecutors, and judges to get tough on criminals.
Saint Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell told KARE 11 that the revolving door for violent offenders needs to be shut down.
“We’re suffering from a bit of judicial apathy. And that needs to change,” he said.
“We need to be more accountable to the victims and future victims than we are to the needs of somebody who decides and chooses to continue to carry a gun, who shouldn’t be,” Axtell said.
Along with prosecutors who are using kid gloves and judges who are seemingly indifferent when it comes time to hand down sentences, Chief Axtell indicated that nonprofits, like the Minnesota Freedom Fund which provides bail to lawbreakers, need to be more discerning on whom they chose to help.
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Because the reality is that not every perp brought before a judge is a victim of what the woke crowd calls “social injustice” or “systemic racism” or “police brutality” or “the patriarchy.” Many of those arrested are indeed bad eggs that need to be locked up for a long time.
Axtell made clear that he supports second chances for those who’ve been rehabilitated and have demonstrated that they’re on the right path.
But for those who continue to offend, specifically convicted felons who continue to keep and bear arms in clear violation of the law, it’s time to crack down.
Working directly with the community to root out the bad elements is one way to reduce crime. Another is to ensure that police aren’t defunded.
As Axtell explained, “To prevent the next crime. That’s where crimes could be prevented in the future if we have the investigative support and the number of officers necessary to engage the community to learn who’s carrying the guns is equally important.”
Chief Axtell is the first blue state large city police chief in the last two years to actually point to the cause of street homicidal street crime: former and at large wanted felons. Blacks and white women police chiefs serving Democrat administrations in jurisdictions large and small always blame inanimate objects.
Capital punishment should be applied in cases where the individual is convicted of being a career criminal. Why waste resources on someone with no chance of redemption?