Devon Kurtz

NHLC and other radicals would rather let people break the law, suffer untreated addictions and mental illness, and be victimized by each other than present people with a basic choice: accept help or face the consequences for your crimes. Cruel? Sounds reasonable and compassionate to me!

Iryna Zarutska was a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee building a new life in Charlotte. In August 2025, she was stabbed to death on a light rail train in an unprovoked attack. Last week, her killer was found incompetent to stand trial – meaning the charges against him could be dismissed. He might never serve a prison sentence, even though he murdered an innocent woman on video. This case exposes serious cracks in how states handle mentally ill violent offenders. [1/10]

In 1990s NYC, murders dropped by 70%. And poverty? It increased 20%. I'd love for sociologists who insist we need to reduce poverty to reduce crime to explain this. How did crime plummet while the number of people living in poverty increased?

San Francisco is now a model for how to fight crime. A few years ago it averaged 86 car break-ins per day. Today: 15. SF did two things: 1. Got a DA that prosecutes criminals: Following the successful recall of Chesa Boudin, DA Brooke Jenkins started prosecuting prolific offenders and said so loudly. Crime dropped every year since she took office. 2. Put tech to use: In 2024, SF activated 400 license plate readers and deployed 80 drones citywide. This tech feeds officers live intelligence on suspects in motion. Drones alone have assisted in 1,000+ arrests since then. The technology lets authorities solve crimes as they happen rather than depend on much more intensive, legally perilous post hoc investigations (which ironically are often more intrusive than using tech). The results: - Car break-ins down 85% - Robbery down 30% - Burglary down 33%. - Homicides hit their lowest level since 1954. Plate readers, drones, a prosecutor who prosecutes. That's the whole formula! Austin has the opposite approach. License plate cameras are effectively banned. Jail bookings are down despite repeat offenders victimizing innocent people regularly. Bond violations went from 37 in 2020 to 250 last year. SF proved crime is a choice. Austin, so far, keeps making a different one.

🚨 do you understand what New York City just accidentally admitted.. NYC spent $81,705 per homeless person last year.. the median American household earned $81,228.. the government spent MORE to keep someone homeless than most families earned to keep themselves housed.. that $81,705 isn't going to the homeless person.. it's going to the system around them.. shelters, administrators, case managers, contracts, overhead.. the industry that manages homelessness.. not the end of it.. if NYC gave every homeless person that money directly.. they could afford nearly 2 years of rent.. most of them wouldn't be homeless anymore.. instead the money goes to the system.. the system keeps running.. the homelessness stays.. and every year they ask for more funding to manage the problem that the funding was supposed to solve.. the homeless are worth $81,705 a year to the system.. they're worth nothing to it solved..

Today, the Utah Office of Homeless Services is launching Project BRIDGE, a targeted, 100-day effort to strengthen our homeless services system and connect Utahns to lasting solutions.

I’m proud to announce my priority legislation has passed the Senate unanimously. HB 205 creates more tools to protect our public spaces from disorder & help people heal from addiction. Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen!