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How can a nation be respected when its capital is ridden with crime?
As reported by the White House, Washington, D.C.’s murder rate last year was higher than that of Bogotá, Colombia, and double that of Mexico City. Both cities are known for exporting cocaine and for housing cartels, and yet our nation’s capital has a higher murder rate than either of them.
The chaos that has been allowed to brew on the streets of Washington, D.C., is disgraceful and humiliating to our nation. The loved ones of the capital homicide victims have demanded answers and accountability for years. The president has finally answered their pleas.
President Donald Trump began his “crime crackdown” Aug. 7, deploying the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Border Patrol into the crime-ridden streets of Washington, D.C. Through the Home Rule Act, Trump has legally exercised emergency control over the Metropolitan Police Department and can keep it for up to 30 days. If necessary, Congress can then pass a joint resolution extending his control, which would require a simple majority in the Republican-held House and Senate.
The president’s crackdown on crime has been intense and effective, with more than 1,000 arrests having been made as of Aug. 25. This swift enforcement of the law not only penalizes criminals, but also deters individuals from breaking the law in the future.
Although few critics attack the legality of his actions, many claim that Trump has distorted the capital’s crime statistics, saying that he made an inaccurate claim during a press conference Aug. 11. During the conference, the president said “murders in 2023 reached the highest rate probably ever. They say 25 years, but they don’t know what that means because it just goes back 25 years.”
In 1991, there were 509 murders in Washington, D.C., compared to the 274 of 2023, even though the population was far smaller in 1991 than it was in 2023. Though the president’s claim was not entirely correct, Washington, D.C., did have the highest murder rate in 20 years in 2023.
Critics of Trump’s actions say that his reaction to the capital crime is unwarranted and an overreaction, but they cannot claim it has been ineffective. Since his intervention, robbery has gone down 46%, carjacking has gone down 83%, and violent crime has gone down 22%. And of the 600 arrests made by Aug. 21, 251 were of illegal immigrants.
The president has since made comments of furthering the crime crackdown into other major Democrat-run cities such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. These cities are known for their high violent crime statistics, and if Trump pushes for crime reform in such cities as these, many more criminals will be prosecuted.
If Trump pushes for crime reform in the major cities, smaller American cities may follow suit, witnessing the good it has done for Washington, D.C. But for our nation to be one of peace and order, we must first lower our capital’s crime rate, bringing it below that of Bogotá and Mexico City.
Thanks to Trump, thousands of criminals have already been arrested, creating a safer and brighter future not only for all capital residents, but also for all Americans.
Sophia Douglass is a freshman studying the liberal arts.
