OPINION:
I was born in the District of Columbia at the end of 1942. Growing up in the suburbs, there was so little crime that when it did happen, it made the front page in the city’s three newspapers. Today, unless someone who works on Capitol Hill is killed or associated with a prominent business, stories are usually buried in the Metro section.
Then, you could walk the streets at night and feel safe. Now, you take your life in your hands.
President Trump has ordered National Guard troops into the city to help police control violent crime.
As U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro noted at a White House news conference Monday that many teen criminals are assigned to family court, where “they are sent to yoga and art classes. That changes today.” Videos of store lootings are so common that they have lost their shock value.
There are facts, lies and statistics, as the saying goes, and Democrats are claiming statistics show violent crime is down in the District.
A D.C. Metropolitan Police Department commander is under investigation for allegedly changing crime statistics in his district. The police union claims supervisors in the department manipulate crime data to make it appear that violent crime has fallen considerably from last year.
The White House has issued a list comparing actual D.C. crime statistics with those of other cities and countries:
• In 2024, the District had a homicide rate of 27.3 per 100,000 residents. That was the fourth-highest homicide rate in the country, nearly six times higher than New York City and higher than Atlanta, Chicago and Compton, California.
• If the District were a state, it would have the highest homicide rate of any state in the nation.
• In 2012, the homicide rate in the District was just 13.9 per 100,000 residents.
• The District’s homicide rate is roughly three times higher than that of Islamabad, Pakistan, and 18 times higher than that of communist-run Havana, Cuba.
• The number of juveniles arrested in the District has increased yearly since 2020. Many of them have had prior arrests for violent crimes.
• Last year, 29,348 crimes were reported in the District, including 3,469 violent offenses, 1,026 assaults with a dangerous weapon, 2,113 robberies and 5,139 motor vehicle thefts.
• So far in 2025, nearly 1,600 violent crimes and nearly 16,000 total crimes have been reported in the District.
• Nearly 100 homicides have been reported this year, including the fatal shootings of innocent civilians such as 3-year-old Honesty Cheadle and 21-year-old Capitol Hill intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym.
• Vehicle theft in the District is more than three times the national average, ranking it among the most dangerous cities in the world.
• Carjackings increased 547% from 2018 to 2023.
• In 2024, the number of carjackings was triple that of 2018.
These statistics are troubling on their own but also likely significantly understate the level of crime in the District.
• Many residents don’t feel safe reporting crime.
• More than half of all violent crime in the U.S. goes unreported.
• According to WUSA-TV: “D.C. residents voice frustration over rising violence, questioning police stats and demanding real action to make neighborhoods feel safe again.”
CNN notes: “Extending the takeover for a longer period requires Trump to formally notify the chairs and ranking members of congressional committees handling D.C. affairs. Any control lasting more than 30 days would need congressional approval and must be passed into law, a highly improbable scenario given the current gridlock in a closely divided Congress.”
Area residents know what needs to happen in addition to swift punishment of the perpetrators. They include employed fathers in the home and school choice to free especially poor children from failing public schools that give them nothing on which to build a life. Without these, the National Guard will be only a temporary fix.
• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (Humanix Books).
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