Simon Blames Davis for Rise in Crime Rate

Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon Jr. blamed Gov. Gray Davis on Monday for the state’s rise in crime--attempting to turn one of the incumbent’s showcase issues against him.

Simon, a former federal prosecutor, said the increase in crime was a sign of his Democratic rival’s “complete neglect of his responsibilities as governor.”

“Gov. Davis views public safety purely and simply as a political issue,” Simon said. “For him, being tough on crime is a poll-tested, calculated position taken to benefit his campaign.”

Simon cited state statistics showing that crime in California rose 3.5% in 2000 and 5.8% in 2001.

Simon’s remarks at a Burbank hotel were part of a statewide tour by the nominee to trumpet his first law enforcement endorsement: the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs, known as COPS. It had previously endorsed Davis.

Davis’ law enforcement supporters include 12 police chiefs, nine district attorneys, six county sheriffs, and 21 unions and other public safety groups.

“This is not an issue on which you’re going to take down Gray Davis,” said Garry South, chief strategist of the governor’s reelection campaign. “If he wants to try to make this campaign about how Gray Davis let down the state on crime, that’s a non-starter.” South also challenged the strength of Simon’s own record as an assistant U.S. attorney in New York during the 1980s. “Gray Davis has kept a hell of a lot more people behind bars than Bill Simon ever put there,” South said.

Although public safety is traditionally a strong issue for GOP candidates, Davis has fought hard to inoculate himself against any charge that he is soft on crime. He supports the death penalty, and has blocked the parole release of all but two of the convicted killers whose cases he has reviewed.

In one of the first television ads of his general-election campaign, Davis says he “cracked down on gangs and fought against the early release of criminals.” The ad is running in the Central Valley, an area where Davis has emphasized his record on crime to appeal to socially conservative voters.

GOP pollster Dick Dresner said it seemed “farfetched” to try to gain ground by depicting Davis as soft on crime, all the more so when polls show it is not one of the public’s top concerns.

“It’s very tough against Davis, because Davis is very conservative on crime, and he’s got all of the law enforcement endorsements,” Dresner said. “I just don’t see it as a weakness” for Davis.

Still, Simon tried to make the most of his endorsement by COPS with announcements in Sacramento, Bakersfield, Burbank and San Diego.

Simon said the crime trend was “one more sign of Gray Davis’ failed leadership,” along with energy, education, the economy and state budget.

“Across America, crime continues to drop towards historic lows,” Simon said in Burbank. “Yet here in California crime is rising for two years running on the Gray Davis watch.”

An aide, Jeff Flint, cited federal statistics showing a drop in crime nationwide in 2000 and the first six months of 2001, but said the campaign had no figures for the second half of 2001. The U.S. Department of Justice has not released its annual report on crime for 2001.

At each stop on his statewide tour, Simon also ran through figures showing crime rising locally. He said in Burbank that murder, rape and auto theft had all gone up in Los Angeles since Davis took office in 1999. Simon also pointed to an increase in gang-related violence in the San Fernando Valley.

During the Republican primary, Davis used some of those same Los Angeles statistics to show that crime had risen when GOP gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan was mayor. Davis also used the Los Angeles figures in a television ad aired mainly in the Central Valley.