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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – One of my best friends from college lived and worked in Washington DC after graduation. Back then, in the early 90s, Washington was the murder capital of the nation.
When I went to visit, my friend had a whole list of do’s and dont’s. I was arriving by train. Take a cab, don’t walk. Union Station, within site of Capital Hill, was an open air drug market after dark. It wasn’t safe four tourists. There was a whole list of ‘no go’ areas – places that had to be avoided. Back then Washington’s mayor was Marion Barry, a known drug user. He was caught in a hotel room on a police surveillance camera involved in a drug deal. D.C. voters reelected him after the story broke; an act of defiance to the rest of the nation.
Today the problem in Washington is youth crime. Gangs know that their youngest members will get light sentences, so they commit acts of mayhem as initiation rites. Even if found guilty, sentences for a youthful offender end at age 21. Low-bail no-bail laws make it more likely that they’ll reoffend while awaiting trial.
Donald Trump is right that this charade needs to end. Yesterday he announced a federal takeover of the District’s police department. FBI agents will act as detectives and national guardsmen and women will provide an additional presence on the street. What can be accomplished in the next 30 days? A crackdown on gang activity. Gang leaders, if they are in the country illegally, can be subject to federal deportation procedures. Once they’re rounded up, they won’t be back on the street anytime soon. Gang members who are recruiting youth to be their henchmen can be charged with corrupting a minor. They too can face federal charges. With new faces on the streets, and cooperation agreements or wink-and-nod deals between local cops and gang-bangers are off.
Washington apologists note that crime rates are down in the city. But that’s only after a surge during the COVID years three years ago. Anti-Trumpers note that Memphis and St. Louis have higher crime rates. Bragging that the DC is no longer the worst-of-the-worst is nonsensical. Donald Trump is right. The street crime status quo in Washington needed to change. He’s doing something. Local leaders weren’t.
Chris Conley
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