READOUT: Mayor Bowser, Police Chief Smith Provide Bipartisan Briefing on Rising Crime in Nation’s Capital
WASHINGTON – Today, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Oversight Committee Members received a bipartisan briefing from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Pamela Smith on the rising, unchecked crime impacting the nation’s capital city. The substantive and meaningful discussion included steps Congress can take to assist efforts to combat rising crime and what actions local officials are currently implementing to ensure the safety of Washington, D.C. residents and visitors.
“Today’s briefing with D.C. Mayor Bowser and Police Chief Smith was a productive and bipartisan discussion about rising crime in the nation’s capital,” said Chairman Comer. “The crime statistics alone are shocking. Homicides, property crime, carjackings are all historically high and soft-on-crime measures have only made the situation worse. It’s clear that the local D.C. Council and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves have failed their basic responsibility to keep Americans safe and criminals off the streets. The House Oversight Committee remains committed to fulfilling its constitutional duty to conduct oversight of Washington, D.C. and will continue to explore meaningful steps that Congress can take to help ensure a capital that is safe and prosperous for all.”
The nation’s capital has deteriorated and become one of the least safe cities in America due to soft-on-crime policies and law enforcement budget cuts pushed by radical D.C. Council members. The U.S. Attorney for District of Columbia, Matthew Graves, and his office have exacerbated the crime crisis by declining to prosecute 67% of criminal cases in Fiscal Year 2022.
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