Dan Bishop at the Mallard Creek BBQ (10-24-2024--Hour1)

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_00]: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalinershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_00]: It's Congressman Dan Bishop. He's aiming to be Attorney General, North Carolina Attorney General Dan Bishop. So first off, how you doing? Good to see you.

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm great, Pete. It's good to spend a few minutes with you. Thank you for letting me know.

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: A few minutes? I was thinking three hours. You got the whole three hours there.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I imagine you got a lot more show prep to do than that.

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I do have some prep. I do bring some stuff.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_01]: It's a massive folder. I'm glad to see the show prep.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's legendary, right?

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a stack.

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it is a stack of stuff.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: A stack of stuff. And I will never read about 90% of that. Like, I will never use. I've read it all, but I will never use it.

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I got to say, you have this. It's a thing. It's a great talent. You get on the air and you got your show and you're reading this and you can read while you're doing it.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_01]: It's Trumpian.

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Because I equate Donald Trump to a talk show host because when he reads his speech, he reads a line or two and then he just starts riffing.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Totally.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And so when I identified, I was like, he's a talk show host.

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_01]: It's a great talent. I'm not sure that there's any mode of communication that's more effective if you've judged some of what he's done.

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. I mean, well, he runs a little long.

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_00]: His speech writers, if you know them, whoever the speech writers are, you need to get them to just cut about half hour out of the speech.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, there's a famous, there are famous stories about that. And in fact, just to keep it fresh, the event in Greenville this week that I was at, I was sitting next to, who was I sitting next to?

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_01]: It was one of his people. And he goes, looks at me, he goes, page two.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_01]: He was a half hour, 45 minutes into it. I knew exactly what he was saying.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right. Yeah. We are way behind.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, then make it only a one pager, right? Like, just keep cutting it down. Just keep cutting the text down until you get to a point where his speech is done in like an hour and 15 minutes.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, so how's your campaign going?

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's coming very well.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Would you tell me if it wasn't going well?

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_01]: No. Yeah. I mean, probably. You know me. I've never really, I've never really sort of couched.

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_01]: That's one striking contrast in this race is you have one guy who's a very skillful, shaping messenger who wants to make everything good.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_01]: He's big on TikTok.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I just say what I think.

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_01]: He's very big on TikTok.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_01]: He's big on TikTok.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if you're aware of that.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I am aware, and it's fine with me.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_01]: But look, seriously, how the campaign's going, I'm pleased.

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I thought leaving Congress and coming to this race, I could bring resources to bear so that the Republican nominee for attorney general would not be outspent 25 to 1 like the last time.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_01]: It was Jim O'Neill.

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_01]: It was Jim O'Neill.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Great guy, but he was destroyed in spending.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And barely lost.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And barely lost.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think there's something that's waiting to occur in that race.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_01]: And then I will tell you, so I would say coming in, the polling has been very close.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I've been down a point or two, generally speaking.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_01]: We're not polling internally because I think it's just going to tell me the same thing over and over again.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_01]: It's within the margin of error.

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_01]: But there are polls people who are tracking.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I hear about them.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_01]: But I will also tell you that the news of the day is the Republican turnout in early voting, and for somebody who digs into the stuff as you do, I'm sure you're watching this.

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_01]: It is.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I've never seen anything like it.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_01]: It's unbelievable.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And it is continuing.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_01]: So as of day seven, Republicans have actually taken the lead in early voting.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And you say, well, what's the big deal about that?

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_01]: But in 2016, 2020, Democrats had a two-to-one advantage at this stage.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And so that was like 325,000 ballots in 2020 that Republicans had to make up on Election Day.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And looking underneath the data at what is left, what is the residue, are we cannibalizing the early vote?

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_01]: No, the Democrats are more than we are on the Election Day vote.

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Something remarkable is occurring.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'll tell you from that, it has increased my cautious optimism about victory.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_01]: I think I'm going to win, but I'm prepared for the voters to decide whatever their verdict I will respect.

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_00]: So Trump is historically known for under-polling, over-performing on Election Day.

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Does that affect, filter down to other Republicans?

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: In other words, if you're not polling.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, okay.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: So you're not polling, but if you're within the margin of error and you're down, if the polling that you last saw puts you somewhere down one or two points,

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: then does that mean that you're actually probably ahead?

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I will say that that, now, all patterns are subject to disruption, right?

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure, sure.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, that's been my experience over time.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_01]: And in tough races I had, the 2018 state Senate race, certainly the 2019 special election for Congress,

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_01]: that was precisely it, I was down the whole way, but it started closing pretty tight.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I generally look at polls, and when I'm down one and a half to maybe a little more, I think I'm in the lead.

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Have you been out Western North Carolina?

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I have.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_01]: To see, so first off, what did you see?

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Went with a great sergeant, highway patrol, a guy named Bobby, God, what's Bobby's last name?

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I want to say Davenport.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_01]: That's wrong.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_01]: It'll come to me in a minute.

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, great guy.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Took me up, and we saw Chimney Rock and Lake Lure and Marion and some other things.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_01]: So we saw a few things.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Going back, Homeland Security Committee, on which I serve in Washington, in the House,

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_01]: members are meeting up there late, I think, Friday for an on-site visit.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_01]: So going back, it's been, I think maybe the story of that, beside the devastation, which is biblical,

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_01]: is how remarkable a testament it is to the American people, private relief efforts,

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_01]: and the self-reliance of people in the mountains.

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_01]: By the way, they're turning out to vote.

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_01]: It's really amazing.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I was going to ask you, what's the word, are you getting any word about what that turnout looks like?

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Are they able to get to polling stations?

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Are there, because I've heard people express concerns that because of the disaster,

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_00]: the board of elections at the state level gave, and the General Assembly too, I believe,

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: gave some leeway for the locals to relax some stuff.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: That's got people weary.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think General Assembly went a little farther, I think, than some thought was wise in terms of opening,

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_01]: because you open that up, not because of anything people in the West would do,

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_01]: but whenever you open up a faucet or an inlet without any control over it,

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_01]: you get concerned about the possibility of somebody committing some kind of fraud.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_01]: And those things about returning ballots from anywhere you happen to be and all that,

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I've forgotten the details of it, but I think it's fine.

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And I do, and I don't have, I'm not in command of the numbers in particular.

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I've seen stuff kind of flow past me on that.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_01]: All I can say is impressionistically, it's the same phenomenon that I've described as nothing less than stunning

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_01]: is happening there as well.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And so Republicans are, and you think about that, people are, in fact,

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_01]: some think they're just doubling down because of it.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't make this up.

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I know Roy Cooper would get mad at me for my good friend Ray for saying what I'm going to say.

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_01]: See, I've been watching this, listening to this program a long time.

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Because they say any time you offer any criticism, they'll say you're causing harm.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: But I'm repeating what I've heard, and everybody, the highway patrol people I saw,

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_01]: the folks serving at the highway patrol kitchen that they had set up,

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_01]: and people at the airport in Hickory where they're operating this private airlift in,

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_01]: or the people who were operating a restaurant up in Lake Lure where people were being fed,

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_01]: to a person they either were critical of or dismissive of the significance of federal help

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_01]: or even state help.

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And there were some exceptions.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_01]: People were praising the North Carolina Department of Transportation

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_01]: that seemed to have very aggressively activated their contractor network.

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_01]: They're up there getting the job done.

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I've gotten some messaging from people, from guys that are doing that work,

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and they're like, we're all over the place up there.

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_01]: But you know about this far better than me by virtue of the time you spend in Asheville

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and everything there and the scope you have.

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_01]: But it's obviously, you know, then you figure, well, how does it all get done?

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_01]: What is the total cost?

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_01]: How do you get 50?

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Cooper's now talking about $50 billion.

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Bill Berger told me that it's going to cost a billion dollars just to fix I-40.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And they've got identified, I think, Bill told me, $12 billion in, you know, just road project issues.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's a lot of money.

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_01]: It does, I will say one thing, it certainly does vindicate Republican policy to build a rainy day fund.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I haven't yet heard, you know, I think in our politics, maybe it'd be good for me too to remember,

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_01]: but whenever something happens that totally, you know, vindicates your opponent's point of view,

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_01]: honor it by saying that's true.

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_01]: But $4.75 billion rainy day fund plus some other money on the bottom line of the state budget

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_01]: is going to be absolutely necessary.

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not even going to, that sounds like 10%, you know, roughly of what needs to be done.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully, you know, federal money comes in or IOUs, whatever, China money, whatever.

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_00]: So that'll come in.

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_00]: But, yeah, like the, it's the same thing that when Republicans took over in 2011 at the General Assembly,

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I believe you may have a recollection of that, and there were all of this, you know,

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_00]: the doomsayers that claimed that the budgets were going to bankrupt the state

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_00]: and people would be out of work and it was going to be catastrophic.

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And then what happened?

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_00]: No, you had surpluses every single year.

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_01]: By 2015, you had eliminated the, you'd created a surplus,

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_01]: you'd paid back the federal government the several billion dollars that were owed,

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_01]: and they've done it all along.

[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And here's something.

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_00]: And they never came back and said, we were wrong in our predictions.

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Not only that, but they've doubled down all along.

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_01]: They still condemn as if, you know, they're worse people on the face of the earth,

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_01]: the fact that Republicans have maintained fiscal caution in the growth of the government

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and have not spent every dollar they could get their hands on a million times over.

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, that's maybe the toughest thing about our politics is there doesn't seem to be any capacity

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: to acknowledge that the other side was right when that's turned out to be true.

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_00]: So do you got to run or do you want, can you stick around for one more?

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I got to cut.

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I figured I'd ask you about the race.

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm good.

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I've got to travel somewhere later, but I'm good for the moment.

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[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Congressman Dan Bishop, he is running for North Carolina Attorney General.

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_00]: He's out here shaking babies, kissing hands.

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And no, he's...

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_00]: But this is the place to go if you're campaigning, right?

[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_00]: You want to meet a lot of people in a very short period of time.

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_00]: That's been one of the great benefits of this venue.

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_00]: So let me ask you about your campaign, because I don't think we actually even talked about it.

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Um, so crime stats.

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_00]: They're up.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, why?

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And tell us how to fix it in 90 seconds.

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Go.

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm the law and order candidate.

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_01]: No, it's easy.

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm the law and order candidate.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_01]: And I am the candidate supported by law enforcement.

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_01]: More than 75 district attorneys and attorneys and, uh, and sheriffs across North Carolina.

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Every major police organization in the states endorsed my campaign.

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think my opponents advertised any police or law enforcement endorsement.

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's a pretty big deal.

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_01]: But you made reference to crime stats.

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Crime is at 10-year highs.

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Um, media and Democrats, but I...

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_01]: But I repeat myself.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_01]: There you go.

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_01]: He is a listener.

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Want to, uh, want to say that, oh, it's passed.

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Crime's dropping like a stone.

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not true.

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, SBI just came out with the new stats that are based on the FBI data for North Carolina.

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_01]: And crime remains, you know, homicides are 72% higher than they were a decade ago.

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I know you could adjust it for population and everything.

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_01]: But that's a big increase.

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, all the major cities show additional increases.

[00:13:40] [SPEAKER_01]: If you follow the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police data, uh, you know, you've seen about, I think,

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_01]: the latest third quarter data shows about it.

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Almost a 30% increase in homicides this year.

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Juvenile homicides are something that's quite common.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Juveniles with multiple offenses.

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Juvenile crime generally is out of control.

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_01]: It's time to reestablish.

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_01]: We need strong, assertive, uh, leadership for the criminal justice enterprise in North Carolina.

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's been missing from the Attorney General's office.

[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_01]: My opponent will continue it exactly like it is.

[00:14:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to change the direction.

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I wonder if he couldn't get, for his commercials, those, uh, those three sheriffs that Josh Stein got for his ad.

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_00]: That's about all you're going to get.

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_01]: That's about all you're going to get.

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: But that's overwhelmingly, by the way, these are not partisan people.

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Some of them are elected under partisan labels, but they're not partisan folks.

[00:14:30] [SPEAKER_01]: They're just, they want to get the job done.

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And they know that this continuing trend toward demonizing, delegitimizing law enforcement is not a path to success.

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_01]: The evidence is in.

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_01]: It will not improve that way.

[00:14:43] [SPEAKER_01]: So they call me an extremist.

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_01]: But you listen to Elon Musk.

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_01]: My platform is a centrist platform.

[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_01]: What do you mean by that?

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Law enforcement.

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Traditional law enforcement.

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to punish criminals.

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to hold them to account for doing things that hurt people.

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_01]: And we're going to always prefer and take care of and be solicitous of, not criminals, but the law abiding and the victims of criminals.

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Have you met Elon Musk?

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I have not met him.

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, okay.

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_01]: He's been, I've been retweeted a couple times.

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, all right.

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_01]: There you go.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: You know me, I'm not a fan boy.

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't really try to gravitate into, oh, I want to meet you.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Which a lot of people in Congress do that kind of thing.

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not that, it's not my style.

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a little more plain, plain old shoe kind of Dan.

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Not a throne sniffer.

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Not at all.

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_01]: That's a good phrase.

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_00]: There's another phrase I'll tell you off air.

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_00]: That's Congressman Dan Bishop.

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_00]: He's running for Attorney General.

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_00]: We are at the Mallard Creek Barbecue.

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_00]: There's enough seating for like 400 people here.

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And they've got like thousands of pounds of pork.

[00:15:39] [SPEAKER_00]: That's not a connection to Dan Bishop and in Congress.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I promise.

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_00]: By the way, I have it on good authority that the people back in the studio had some barbecue.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what I've heard.

[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if it's true.

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Uh-huh.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_00]: See that?

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to hear any more about people being deprived of the barbecue back in studio.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It was delicious.

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_00]: See?

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, Bo.

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I mean, I was going to claim that I was responsible for that.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_00]: So thanks a lot for that.

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_00]: You can bring some too, by the way.

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_00]: No.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I was going to, but now I don't need to.

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_00]: So talking to Dan Bishop there moments ago.

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And we hit on just ever so briefly about the crime data.

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And this has been sitting in the stack of stuff, which you heard from Dan Bishop.

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_00]: He personally witnessed.

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_00]: He bore witness to the fact that there is, in fact, a stack of show prep that I do actually do.

[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, that I prep.

[00:16:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't actually cover it all.

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_00]: But I do the prep work.

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_00]: So the crime stats came out.

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I actually have the, I read through it.

[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I printed it out and everything.

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_00]: So I've got the crime data from North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation.

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_00]: This was the numbers that they put out.

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_00]: This is the October 2024 report.

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's, the crime rates are based on 100,000 people.

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_00]: So whatever the, when you hear the rate, it's, so that's, you know, crimes per 100,000 people.

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And then they measure that.

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And then they track the changes in the numbers per 100,000.

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And that gives you your increase or decrease your percentage changes.

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So the crime index offenses reported to law enforcement agencies throughout North Carolina increased 2.3% during 2023.

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_00]: So these are last year's crime numbers.

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And you're comparing that data set from 2023 to the year prior, 2022.

[00:17:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, keep in mind, COVID, pandemic.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_00]: We had a lot of, we saw a reduction in crime during the pandemic because businesses were closed.

[00:18:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Much harder to rob people at businesses and burglarize the businesses when no one's around.

[00:18:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It's, you know, harder to carjack people when no one's driving on the roads, that kind of thing.

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_00]: So we did see the decline 20 and 21, but it has now begun its increase again.

[00:18:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And so it's been going up each year.

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_00]: The rate of violent crime decreased 0.1% statewide.

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Individually, when you break out the individual crimes inside the violent crime category, you see some went up like murder.

[00:18:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Murder went up by 0.3%.

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_00]: But rape went down by 8%.

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_00]: The robbery rate went down 1.9%.

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_00]: But the aggravated assault rate went up 1.1%.

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_00]: So a decrease of 0.1% in violent crime statewide, I consider to be basically the same.

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_00]: 0.1%.

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I say that's basically the same.

[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_00]: It's unchanged.

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_00]: The rate of property crime, well, that went up.

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_00]: That went up 2.8% across the state.

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_00]: This category includes burglaries, larcenies, motor vehicle theft.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Burglary went down 4.3%.

[00:19:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Larceny went up 0.4%.

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Motor vehicle theft rate, well, that went up quite a bit.

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_00]: 38.4%.

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_00]: 38.4%.

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_00]: That is the driver of a lot of the crime increases, no pun intended.

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Motor vehicle thefts.

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_00]: The number of juveniles under the age of 18, number of juveniles arrested rose 35%.

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_00]: While adults arrested for crime index offenses went down 5%.

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[00:20:01] [SPEAKER_00]: So you're starting to see this shift in more juveniles being arrested and charged versus over the age of 18 adults.

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_00]: For violent crime, juveniles under the age of 18 arrested went down 3%.

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Adult arrests went down 10%.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_00]: But property crime, that's where we saw the massive increase among juveniles.

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_00]: It went up 52% while adult arrests decreased 3%.

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_00]: So as I said, the main driver of this is juveniles basically stealing cars.

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I will also say, this is fun with data.

[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_00]: You hear a lot about mass shootings or assault weapons and all that sort of stuff.

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Murders committed with a handgun.

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_00]: 340.

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER_00]: 340 handguns.

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_00]: You know how many rifles were used?

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Not including shotguns.

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_00]: There were only 9 shotgun murders in 2023.

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Rifles were used 37 times versus 340 handguns.

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_00]: You know it had more than rifles?

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Than the assault weapons of war?

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Undetermined firearms at 261.

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Knives or cutting instruments.

[00:21:29] [SPEAKER_00]: That at 55.

[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And other weapon.

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Blunt objects with and along with hands, fists and feet.

[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_00]: That accounted for like 60.

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_00]: So rifles are not used in a lot of murders.

[00:21:43] [SPEAKER_00]: 37 out of 826 murders in 2023.

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's important, right?

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like that's an important stat.

[00:21:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Now we got the wind coming in here.

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_00]: So I've got to pin everything down.

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Hang on a second.

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully I don't lose my stuff.

[00:21:59] [SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_00]: So we're here at the Mallard Creek Barbecue.

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_00]: The 93rd Annual Mallard Creek Barbecue.

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_00]: You should come on down.

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Get you some barbecue.

[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Some Brunswick stew.

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Some coleslaw.

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever.

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, come on by.

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Hang out.

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00]: That's fine.

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00]: There are a bunch of elected officials and hopefuls that are pressing the flesh.

[00:22:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And I would love to be able to talk with you about why you should vote for them.

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to talk to them.

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_00]: It's totally fine to.

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to talk to them.

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_00]: But they would really love it if you do.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So, oh, I should give out the numbers too.

[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_00]: 704-570-1110.

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And the email is Pete at the PeteCalendarShow.com.

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Internet is a little spotty.

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_00]: So I may not get your messages immediately.

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_00]: But hopefully I will see.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, you can also tweet at Pete Calendar.

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's K-A-L-I-N-E-R.

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_00]: So some of the big takeaways from the crime stats from the state show that Charlotte-Mecklenburg, darn near leading the list, just behind Cary and Wilmington, as seeing the largest increase in crime from 2022 to 2023.

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So the total index number.

[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_00]: So this is the gross number of crimes that were reported for the index, according to the cities and the sheriff's offices and such.

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Consolidated Department.

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_00]: 39,390 crimes last year.

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Sorry.

[00:23:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Year before.

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_00]: 2022.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_00]: 39,390.

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, 44,619.

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_00]: So an increase of 5,000 crimes from 2022 to 2023.

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_00]: That's not good.

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_00]: That's a 13% increase in the total crime index.

[00:23:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Violent crime, total numbers, right?

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Murders went from 104 down to 89.

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Rapes went from 272 to 247.

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So down.

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Robberies went down 1375 to 1246.

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_00]: But aggravated assaults went up by over 100.

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_00]: About 160.

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_00]: 60.

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_00]: As I mentioned, listen to this.

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_00]: The motor vehicle crimes.

[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Motor vehicle theft crimes.

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_00]: In 2022, there were 3,202 motor vehicle thefts.

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_00]: 3,202.

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_00]: That number in the last year was over 7,100.

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_00]: It went from 32 to 7,100.

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Almost 72.

[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And like that is, that's nuts.

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And you're seeing those same kinds of increases in other cities.

[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_00]: These mainly urban counties.

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Durham saw a massive spike also in motor vehicle thefts.

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Went from 800 plus to over 1,900.

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Same thing in Raleigh.

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_00]: They had more than 600 new ones as well.

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Or additional motor vehicle thefts.

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Wilmington.

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_00]: They saw about 100 increase over there.

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I would suspect that's the largest driver.

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Again, no pun intended.

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Of the increases in crime.

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_00]: That'll do it for this episode.

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening.

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I could not do the show without your support.

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast.

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So if you'd like, please support them too.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And tell them you heard it here.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_00]: You can also become a patron at my Patreon page.

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Or go to thepetecalendershow.com.

[00:25:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Again, thank you so much for listening.

[00:25:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And don't break anything while I'm gone.