Washington, D.C.’s police chief spoke bluntly at a press conference on Monday, suggesting that his city’s criminal justice system is doing a poor job of keeping violent offenders off the streets.
A reporter asked Briefing about how police could get murders under control in D.C., noting that criminal homicides were up 30% year-to-date compared to 2022.
Contee responded:
“What we got to do, if we really want to see homicides go down, is keep bad guys with guns in jail. Because when they’re in jail, they can’t be in communities shooting people. So when people talk about … what we need to do different, that’s the thing that we need to do different … keep violent people in jail.”
Contee went on to claim that the average murder suspect in D.C. has been arrested 11 times before killing someone.
“Now, on the other end of the spectrum … the average homicide victim … also has been arrested 10 or 11 times prior to them being a homicide victim. That is a problem,” claimed Contee.
The police chief’s comments come amidst a crime wave in the city, with homicides, motor vehicle thefts, and arson cases spiking by 33%, 108%, and 300% year-to-date as of Wednesday, respectively.
His remarks were also delivered against the political backdrop of congressional moves to nullify updates made by the Council of the District of Columbia to the city’s criminal code, which did away with most mandatory minimum sentences and reduced maximum penalties for a number of crimes, as reported by The Dallas Express. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser attempted to veto the change but was unsuccessful.
Dallas is also currently experiencing significant increases in crime, albeit not as drastic.
According to a Dallas Police Department Daily Crime Briefing, overall violent crime is up 5.82% year-to-date as of Tuesday. The uptick is mostly driven by increases in aggravated assaults, murders, and family violence sexual assaults.
Crime is also on the rise in other big cities, like Seattle, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.