UK Official Hits Out at 'Crime, Drug Taking and Squalor' in US Cities

A top British politician has warned U.K. cities could see the same explosion of crime, drug taking, and squalor she says has occurred in "places in the U.S. like San Francisco and Los Angeles," unless action is taken.

The comments were made by U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman, one of the most-powerful members of the Conservative government that has responsibility for crime, policing and national security.

The United States recorded a surge in violent crime during the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 21,000 homicides recorded in 2020, according to the FBI. It was the highest figure since 1995 and a dramatic increase on 2019 when 16,669 murders were registered. Data from the 2021 National Crime Victimization Survey showed reports of violent crime rose sharply in urban areas, but not in their suburban or rural counterparts.

Homelessness has also been increasing sharply, according to data from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The NAEH estimates this has risen in the U.S. by about 6 percent each year since 2017 and the total reached 421,400 homeless people in 2022. Some have been living in informal encampments in cities such as San Francisco, New York and Portland, causing tensions with the settled community.

On Saturday, Braverman responded to a report by U.K. newspaper The Financial Times. She said she plans to introduce new legislation that would fine charities giving tents to the homeless if they cause a public nuisance.

On X, formerly Twitter, Braverman didn't deny the report, commenting: "The British people are compassionate. We will always support those who are genuinely homeless. But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice."

Braverman then criticized major American cities, writing: "Unless we step in now to stop this, British cities will go the way of places in the US like San Francisco and Los Angeles, where weak policies have led to an explosion of crime, drug taking, and squalor."

Homelessness has become particularly politically controversial in California, estimated to hold between a third and nearly half of America's unhoused population. In September, Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho sued the city, alongside local residents and business owners, saying that the failure to enforce local laws had seen the homeless population "collaps[ing] into chaos."

He added: "We have an erosion of everyday life. We forget what it feels like to be safe and that brings us to this lawsuit... We need to get people off the streets."

On the same day, the California State Association of Counties and League of California Cities filed a brief with the Supreme Court. They asked it to overturn a 2018 ruling from a federal appeals court that made it much harder to remove homeless encampments from public parks.

The court ruled the city of Boise, Idaho, couldn't enforce a ban on camping in public parks because "the 8th Amendment prohibits the imposition of criminal penalties for sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property for homeless individuals who cannot obtain shelter."