SW News: Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York has decried the uptick in violence in his city and elsewhere across the United States. Speaking to Vatican News, the top prelate said that while addressing the issue of crime, one has to “realistically look at raw, blatant evil.” The cardinal said that some aspects of prudent law enforcement have tapered leading to the unfortunate state of affairs.

He said that the malaise of crime and violence intensified during the pandemic period that featured isolation, and lockdowns, leading people to desperation. Cardinal Dolan cautioned that the balance should not be upset when dealing with social injustice as it could lead to crime, homelessness, tensions within families and “raw evil and sin”. He added that “If you stress either one too much, you’re going to have problems.

“There are people who thrive on violence,” said Cardinal Dolan, adding that “There are people who just want to wreck and destroy and steal and take lives. We have to conclude this. We're not naive. We believe in good law.” He said police have to be supported and strict laws are to be in place. He also said that law enforcement should also take into consideration other factors that fuel violence.

The cardinal was replying to a question about the reason behind the uptick in crime. The interviewer also made a reference to the Brooklyn subway car shooting earlier this month that left 23 commuters hurt, including 10 with bullet injuries. The incident took place on April 12 morning during rush hour when a man lobbed two smoke grenades into the subway car and then released a barrage of bullets from a semi-automatic handgun at passengers, unleashing mayhem. The suspect was later apprehended by police.

According to the latest statistics of the New York Police Department, the overall crime index in the city registered a rise of 36.5 per cent by March 2022 when compared with the same period a year ago. There were 115 incidents of shooting, marking a spurt of 16.2 per cent last month compared to 99 March last year. Police officers made as many as 410 gun arrests last month. In the first quarter of this year, there were 1,207 arrests for possession of illegal firearms. This is the highest number of quarterly gun arrests since 2021 when there were 1,385 such arrests.