I've been the only one following the 2006-2007 crime wave, and the only one who warned that we needed to give police officers the tools to compete in this new age.

The latest reports are coming in, and sadly, once again I am thoroughly vindicated. I wish that the policies promoted by Delegates Bronrott, Goldwater, and Lee; Senator Frosh; and Governor O'Malley had not resulted in a continued crime wave. But examine the reports, and ask yourself: who do you trust? Certainly not Bronrott, Lee, Frosh, O'Malley, and their allies in Annapolis.

Here are the headlines:

Time magazine: A Surge in Cop Killings

"[T]he nation's police officers...are being targeted and killed in greater numbers than at any time in recent years."

"Police officers killed in the line of duty surged to the highest midyear count in nearly three decades...up nearly 60% over last year."

"You have to come to the conclusion that some of these heinous criminals just don't care. Earlier in our history there was a code of some sense of respect, even among the most heinous criminals, that you would never harm a police officer, certainly never kill a police officer." - National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund President Craig Floyd

"Miami Police Chief John Timoney's answer to the emboldened attacks on his colleagues is to give them matching firepower...AR 15s, a military-grade assault weapon. "Cops understandably feel they are outgunned," Timoney says. "Nine, ten months ago we looked at what can we do to give the officers a fair chance." "

Hmm... "Nine, ten months ago," I was running for office and advocating "matching firepower." My opponents had no comment on our crime wave.

What crime wave, you say? You haven't been reading the papers.

From The Gazette's latest edition:

"[H]ome invasions...have been concentrated mostly in the Bethesda and Potomac areas, according to police."

‘‘'It seems like every time we have a home invasion — except one time in the Fourth District,” said Cpl. Jimmy Robinson, a police spokesman, ‘‘it is usually in the Bethesda or Potomac area.'”

"There were 22 residential burglaries in the Second District between Aug. 14 and Sept. 12, police records showed."

Failed leadership on crime, in the wealthiest state in America.

Photo: Carl Juste/AP