Fair Observer’s Video Producer Rohan Khattar Singh speaks with Ed Tarnowski, a Young Voices contributor and policy advocate, about why many Americans no longer feel safe in their own cities. Their discussion traces how repeat offenders, mental health failures and ideological divisions have converged to make urban life increasingly precarious — and what it would take to reverse the decline.

Unlivable cities

Khattar Singh opens by asking why so many Americans describe their cities as unlivable. Tarnowski, who has lived in major cities himself, loves their culture, energy and public spaces but believes safety has greatly eroded. The issue, he argues, is not widespread lawlessness but a small number of repeat offenders who account for a disproportionate share of crime.

He cites data showing that in 2022, 30% of New York’s 22,000 shoplifting arrests involved just 327 individuals who together accumulated more than 6,600 charges. Similar patterns appear across the country: Two-thirds of those released from prison in Washington, DC, reoffend; 1,000 offenders caused 40% of Atlanta’s crimes in 2022 and more than three-quarters of Philadelphia’s shooting suspects between 2015 and 2021 had prior arrests. Tarnowski calls this the “revolving door” of justice — an endless cycle that catches and releases offenders to reoffend with little consequence.

One case, he says, captured the nation’s attention: the murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina. The accused, one Decarlos Brown Jr., had been jailed 14 times and diagnosed with schizophrenia, yet remained on the streets. Tarnowski considers that tragedy emblematic of a failed philosophy masquerading as compassion: allowing dangerous or unstable individuals to roam free harms both them and the public.

The revolving door of policy

Khattar Singh presses on the causes of this breakdown. Tarnowski says it stems from both misguided policy and flawed philosophy. Criminal justice reforms designed to reduce incarceration have too often ignored their unintended consequences. “We have to judge policies by the results, not by their intentions,” he remarks.

According to Tarnowski, leniency sends the wrong signal not just to habitual offenders, but to young people watching them evade punishment. He points to Washington, DC, which has seen a surge in carjackings by teens as young as 14. In his view, such patterns arise when offenders expect minimal penalties. When deterrence disappears, so does accountability, and with it public confidence in the system.

The host notes that supporters of reform often argue from empathy, citing poverty, addiction and racial inequities. Tarnowski doesn’t dismiss those concerns but contends that empathy detached from enforcement becomes destructive. True compassion, he says, must protect both the vulnerable individual and the wider community.

Ideology and public safety

The conversation turns to the growing ideological divide between state and city governments. Some jurisdictions have pursued aggressive prosecution, while others have limited police budgets or relaxed bail laws. Khattar Singh references the capital’s recent experience under US President Donald Trump’s administration, when National Guard patrols in Washington, DC, briefly coincided with a drop in carjackings and assaults.

Tarnowski sees this as evidence that accountability works. “When people started being held accountable again, particularly in DC,” he says, “we did see a sharp reduction in crime.” He insists that the debate should be guided by data rather than politics, arguing that “a battle of public safety versus disproven ideology” has become the real fault line. He recognizes that the use of the National Guard raises democratic concerns, but he emphasizes that consequences deter crime. Cities ignoring this fact pay a price in fear and disorder.

Restoring accountability and care

Asked what he would do as a policymaker, Tarnowski offers two broad reforms. First, he argues for restoring accountability — enforcing laws firmly yet fairly, and signaling that crime carries real consequences. Letting people get away with criminal behavior ultimately leads them down a worse path.

Second, he calls for a more serious response to mental illness and chronic homelessness. Tarnowski insists that leaving people to languish on the streets is not compassion, but neglect. Cities must strengthen treatment systems and, when necessary, allow for court-ordered care that respects due process and human dignity. For him, protecting the public and rehabilitating individuals are inseparable goals.

Khattar Singh closes by noting how Tarnowski’s analysis connects policy, philosophy and politics into a single question: Can America still govern its cities well enough to make them livable again? Tarnowski believes it can if reformers replace good intentions with clear results, and restore both accountability and compassion to the center of urban life.

[Lee Thompson-Kolar edited this piece.]

The views expressed in this article/video are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.