There has been a lot of talk over the last few days regarding crime rates in DC and whether Trump really needed to federalize the city to help.
Democrats keep pointing to lower crime rates, but that does not tell the full story. Now, some law enforcement insiders are pushing back.
I have been very honest that I disagreed with Trump pushing 2023 crime stats to make his case.
For instance, Trump had stated, “The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogotá, Colombia, Mexico City, some of the places that you hear about as being the worst places on Earth.”
He continued, “We have DC: 41 per 100,000. No.1 that we can find anywhere in the world. Other cities are pretty bad, but they’re not as bad as that.”
Trump’s stats were old and his ranking of DC as the #1 crime city is just wrong, as the city is in the Top 50, not the top city. Now, that is still a problem, and the truth would have been bad enough, so I just don’t know why he is pushing bogus numbers.
Trump’s crime stat gaffe aside, even though they have only been rolling for a few days, FBI Director Kash Patel says they are making headway.
He stated, "On the first big push of FBI supporting @POTUS @realDonaldTrump initiative to make DC safe again, FBI reported 10 arrests with partners.”
He continued, "These are just a few examples — we are just getting started. Federal partners joined local police and arrested 23 in total. When you let good cops be cops they can clean up our streets and do it fast. More to come. Your nation’s Capital WILL be safe again."
That right there is why I wanted Trump to do this as a partnership rather than a takeover. It’s pure optics for me, as I just think that would have played better, and it would not have allowed Democrats to push this narrative of authoritarianism.
While crime is down in DC, that does not tell the real story, as numbers are still high compared to about a decade ago. And the stories we have all seen in the media clearly show a city struggling to protect people.
John Jay adjunct lecturer Jillian Snider, a retired New York Police Department officer, explained, "You have less chance of being victimized, but if you are victimized, you have more of a chance of dying,"
Council on Criminal Justice senior researcher Ernesto Lopez explained, "We look back to 2012 lethality – again, that share of violence that ended a homicide – that increased by over 300% from 2012 to 2024, even though the homicide rate drops.
"So, the violent situations can be getting less frequent, but when those violent situations occur, they more likely end in a fatality than over a decade ago."
