Democrat cities have become impoverished crime zones where little thrives except government waste. Jason Rantz lives in Seattle and tells the story.

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Rantz: Democrats vowed to reimagine public safety in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the results of their experiment are in: we’re less safe.

It’s easy to see why they failed. They believe that criminals are the true victims, not the individuals who were robbed, assaulted, raped or even murdered.

In lieu of jail time, progressive prosecutors and judges have favored diversion programs framed through a “restorative justice” concept. They provide alternatives to incarceration, usually run by community nonprofits, that focus on treating the underlying cause of the criminal behavior. Instead of a judge or jury determining the fate of a criminal, community voices come together and decide what accountability might look like. The criminal can meet the person they wronged and help heal together.

Progressive prosecutors from Democrat-run cities, like Philadelphia, New York and Chicago, have adopted this approach, particularly with offenders under 26 years old. It’s meant fewer prosecutions and seemingly endless chances for juveniles to get on the right side of the law.

But when there are no consequences, offenders tend to commit more crimes. Combine these programs with low to no bail and the defunding of police, and you have a recipe for a crime surge.

Seattle/King County, where I live and work, is a good case study on how restoration justice fails. We’ve adopted all the left-wing solutions to the crisis, giving power to fringe nonprofits that promote police and prison abolition. It’s no wonder the crime crisis continues to worsen.

Jakwaun Shannon, 16, was placed into a restorative justice program after committing a series of dangerous crimes two years earlier. They included drive-by shooting, second-degree assault, attempted first-degree robbery, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

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Shannon pled guilty in December 2020 to robbery and assault. In lieu of juvenile detention, he was tasked with finishing two restorative justice programs put on by Community Passageways and Creative Justice, which he started while court proceedings marched on.

One month later, Shannon was arrested again – while wearing a T-shirt that read, “No Youth Jail.” Prosecutors charged him in connection with firing a gun at a woman in a car as he and friends tried to steal it.

As police investigated this crime, they tied him to another serious crime – one that allegedly occurred the night before. Police say he committed an armed robbery during which Shannon shot two victims. According to prosecutors, one lost a portion of her intestines and a kidney due to the gunshot wounds. Should Shannon be given a chance at restorative justice when his original crimes were so violent?

…The progressive wing of the Democrat party is now in charge, and they view the police and the courts as systemically racist beyond repair. They promised to dismantle these so-called “systems of oppression” and install a new, left-wing approach to crime.

They’re succeeding in their efforts to reshape the system. They’re creating more victims and making our cities unlivable in the process.