Weird: Washington Post Editorial Board Kinda Agrees With Trump On D.C. Crime

Most other Democrats seem to be doing this

Yup, Jazz Hands thinks fighting crime is authoritarian

Is this the hill lots of Democrats want to die on? Protecting lawlessness?

Fighting crime in D.C. cannot end with Trump’s show of force

President Donald Trump is putting on quite the show to project strength on crime after the foiled carjacking of a staffer in his administration. On Monday, he took control of the D.C. police and deployed the National Guard.

It’s one thing to get tough, but it’s also essential to enact sustainable fixes. Crime is a serious problem, and fighting it requires a serious commitment — from this administration, as well as federal lawmakers, the mayor, the D.C. Council, prosecutors and local judges.

Trump is correct that crime remains a serious issue in the city (and nationally). Violent crime has fallen over the past few years, as city officials note, but many residents still do not feel safe. Carjackings, for instance, have dropped after a surge in 2023, but they remain above pre-pandemic levels. High-profile incidents of violence underscore the problem, which local leaders cannot wave away.

Nevertheless, Trump’s efforts to put more law enforcement and armed troops on the streets of D.C. will probably have limited value. A stepped-up security presence might deter crime and keep some troublemakers from going out after dark for the rest of the summer, but Trump will only control the police department for 30 days unless he finds a way to get both chambers of Congress to authorize an extension.

Yeah, it is a temporary fix. D.C. needs more cops

What D.C. needs is more permanent police officers. In 2023, then-Police Chief Robert J. Contee III warned that the city’s force had fallen to a half-century low of about 3,350 officers, forcing the city to spend millions of dollars on overtime. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and the D.C. Council have already dedicated millions in their recent budget to increase staffing, as part of a goal to reach 4,000 officers by 2031. Congress could restore the city’s budget, which it cut while averting a shutdown earlier this year.

D.C. is having trouble retaining and recruiting police officers, because they know the city officials like the mayor do not have their back. So lots of them half-ass their jobs. Why try hard when you’ll be called a racist if you bust someone, and lots of the people they do bust get let go without even a slap on the wrist.

D.C. can help itself by holding more juvenile offenders accountable. The city passed a law last year called Secure DC that made it easier to prosecute certain crimes, such as illegal gun possession and carjackings, and to detain dangerous defendants, including juveniles, while they await trial. This marked a political shift for the city, where left-wing lawmakers and the elected D.C. attorney general, Brian Schwalb, previously championed relative leniency for teens who committed serious crimes.

Yeah, well, they are going to work hard to try and get the kiddies to not be criminals, but, they’ve had a free ride for years and aren’t ready to give it up. Remember who created this situation: Democrats.

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