Cal Thomas: A capital in crisis

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, August 14th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Here’s WORLD commentator Cal Thomas on crime in D.C. and what to do about it.

CAL THOMAS: I was born in Washington, D.C., at the end of 1942. Growing up in the suburbs there was so little crime that when it happened, it made the front page in the city’s three newspapers. Today, unless someone who works on Capitol Hill is murdered, 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 may be taking your life in your hands.

President Trump has ordered National Guard troops into the city to help D.C. police control violent crime.

As U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro noted at a White House news conference Tuesday, many teen criminals are assigned to family court where they are not being rehabilitated:

PIRRO: What you get is yoga and you get ice cream socials in family court. Well, I'm done with yoga and ice cream socials. We've got to change the law to bring them into the justice system.

Video of store lootings are so common they have lost their shock value.

As the saying goes: “there are facts, lies, and statistics.” Democrats claim statistics show violent crime is down in D.C.

At the same time, a D.C. police commander is under investigation for allegedly making changes to crime statistics in his district. The police union claims supervisors in the department manipulate crime data to make it appear violent crime has fallen considerably compared to last year.

The White House has issued a list comparing actual D.C. crime statistics with other cities and countries:

– In 2024, Washington, D.C., saw a homicide rate that was the fourth-highest in the country — nearly six times higher than New York City and also higher than Atlanta, Chicago, and Compton.

– D.C. is currently on pace to surpass last year’s crime numbers.

– Washington, D.C.’s murder rate is roughly three times higher than that of Islamabad, Pakistan, and 18 times higher than that of communist-run Havana, Cuba.

– In 2012, the homicide rate in Washington, D.C. was less than half the current numbers per 100,000 residents.

– The number of juveniles arrested in Washington, D.C., has gone up each year since 2020 — many of whom have had prior arrests for violent crimes.

– Vehicle theft in Washington, D.C. is more than three times the national average — ranking it among the most dangerous cities in the world.

– Carjackings increased 547% between 2018 and 2023.

– Last year, there were triple the number of carjackings compared to 2018.

These statistics are not only troubling on their own, but they also likely understate the level of crime in Washington, D.C. as many residents don’t feel safe reporting crime. Nationwide, more than half of all violent crime goes unreported.

One recent WUSA9 newscast led with this story:

WUSA9: DC Police say the numbers show crime is down, but many people living and working in the district say those numbers don't reflect what they see and feel every day. So the question we're hearing from our neighbors is, what's being done to make our communities feel safer?

CNN online 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 kids from failing public schools that give them nothing on which to build a life. Without these the National Guard will only be a temporary fix.

I’m Cal Thomas.

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