Washington, D.C.: Lawlessness at Record High “City sends clear message: Crime will be tolerated.”
“To the average
person these small crimes like turnstile jumping may not seem important, but police will tell you that the enforce- ment of these kinds of crimes can lead to the prevention of much larger crimes,” said Smith. Further, follow-
ing the death of Floyd, the city coun- cil revised the crimi- nal code to lower the penalties for most crimes, with officials
T
he nation’s capital has been under assault, as a surge in violent
crime has led many residents fearing a return of 1990s-era lawlessness. Data over the past two years dem-
onstrates the tragic arc of how the past few years have seen the city descend into war zone-like conditions. In 2023, 274 homicides were reported in D.C., the most in two decades, along with 959 carjackings and 3,470 reported robberies. Overall, violent crime in the
nation’s capital was up a shocking 39%.
The wave of violence has even enveloped many of the city’s power brokers. In February, former Trump administration official Mike Gill was shot and killed during an attempted carjacking. In October, Texas Demo- crat Rep. Henry Cuellar was also car- jacked at gunpoint, but left unharmed. Crime has gotten so bad that not
even the first family is immune. In November, police arrested two sus- pects after they allegedly attempted to steal the Secret Service vehicle of President Joe Biden’s granddaughter. In a social media post, former Pres-
ident Donald Trump said that crime in the city has spiraled so far out of control that it was time for the federal government to intervene, writing in a Truth Social post that he was “calling
for a federal takeover of this filthy and crime ridden embarrassment to our nation.”
Heritage’s Smith asserted that
the demise of law and order in the nation’s capital can be attributed to the defunding of the police, the pro- gressive prosecutor movement that followed the death of George Floyd in 2020, and problematic messaging from city leaders. “Criminals aren’t stupid,” said
Overall, violent crime in the nation’s capital was up a shocking 39%.
Smith. “They realize that the leader- ship has sent the message that there is a certain amount of crime that they will tolerate, and as a result, that is exactly what they are getting, and then some.” D.C.’s top law enforcement official
has repeatedly refused to put crimi- nals behind bars. In 2022, Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney nominated by Biden to uphold the laws in the nation’s capital, declined to prose- cute 67% of criminal arrests. The city’s failure to enforce minor quality-of-life crimes has also had very large consequences.
hesitant to prosecute juveniles as adults, even in cases of extreme vio- lence — a policy shift that was soon used to the advantage of the city’s organized criminal elements, accord- ing to Smith. “The policy that has been adopt-
ed in D.C. appears to be that kids should never be treated as adults,” said Graves. “As a result, a reverse incentive has been created that has resulted in gangs actively recruiting young teenagers to commit the most violent acts because they know that if caught, the penalty won’t be severe.” Another contributing factor to the
decline in public safety has been the nationwide movement to defund the police, which found firm footing in D.C., where law enforcement suffered cuts. The city faces its largest police shortage in roughly 50 years after being unable to meet its recruitment targets or keep pace with attrition. Further, long-standing hostili-
ties by officials towards the Second Amendment have made it nearly impossible for residents to defend themselves against those determined to engage in criminal activity, accord- ing to Smith. “The city has sent a clear and unmistakable message to the crimi- nals that in many cases, crime will be tolerated,” he said.
JUNE 2024 | NEWSMAX 23
D.C./SERGEY NOVIKOV SHUTTERSTOCK / CRIME SCENE/KALI©ISTOCK
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