Unsurprisingly, a new study on violent crime in Washington, D.C., has found that going easy on repeat offenders leads to more criminals, more brazen infractions, and increased violence. The nation's capital, which watched as 2023 became its deadliest year in more than two decades, has failed to take steps that would crack down on violent criminals or prevent crime in the first place.
The report on homicides and nonfatal injury shootings in D.C. from January 2021 through December 2022 from the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) begins with the troubling topline data showing homicides rising "gradually since 2017" to a 180 percent increase by 2022 and "unlike most of the country," having "an even higher rate of homicides in 2023."
In the city led by Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser, a black woman who responded to violent riots by painting BLACK LIVES MATTER on the street leading up to the then-Trump White House adjacent to a historic church set ablaze by "mostly peaceful" individuals, it seems as though DC's leaders don't actually care much about black lives. If Bowser and the Democrat-run city council actually cared about protecting black lives and showing that they matter, they would have stopped the crime that is overwhelmingly impacting and ending Washington's black lives.
According to NICJR's analysis, "95% of victims and suspects in homicides and 94% of victims and suspects in nonfatal shootings were Black, despite Black residents comprising only 46% of the overall population in the District."
Also unsurprisingly, the violent criminals wreaking havoc in the nation's capital are being emboldened by soft-on-crime so-called "progressive" policies — most homicide suspects with a rap sheet had been arrested ten times before they took a life. A not-insignificant number were also under active "community supervision" — a program in which "a defendant or convicted offender in the local community rather than in physical custody within a jail or prison."
"Of those who were known to the criminal justice system prior to the homicide, most victims and suspects had been arrested for drug (avg. 2.7), disorder (avg. 2.0), and property (avg. 1.9) offenses," NICJR reported. "Overall, most victims and suspects with prior criminal offenses had been arrested about 10 times for about 12 different offenses by the time of the homicide."
10 TIMES.
— Shomari Stone (@shomaristone) January 31, 2024
The Gun Violence Problem Analysis Narrative Summary Report also reveals that most suspects who commit homicides in DC have been arrested about 10 TIMES beforehand: #DCCrime #CityUnderSiege @fox5dc news article👇🏽 https://t.co/wVRH8BERvv
As NICJR's report explains, some "78% of homicide victims and suspects were known to the criminal justice system prior to the incident" including "about 59%" with "a prior DC Department of Corrections (DOC) release" and "33%" who "had a prior federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) release."
Of the homicide victims and suspects in the NICJR analysis, 17 percent were actively being supervised by the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) which "supervises adults who are on probation, parole or supervised release after being convicted of a crime" and 54 percent were previously under CSOSA supervision before being involved in a homcide. Roughly 14 percent were under active supervision from the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) which "supervises adults who have a pending criminal case" and 67 percent had previously been under PSA supervision.
Will D.C.'s leaders take the findings from NICJR to heart? Probably not. To them, being soft on crime gives them a gold star among woke progressives because they've decided it's more important to care for perpetrators than victims of crimes. Ultimately, continuing the policies and programs in D.C. will see more, overwhelmingly black, lives taken from career criminals who don't see any deterrence from the criminal justice system.
That's injustice, but it's what passes as acceptable to those on the left. Once again, the problem is clear: D.C. continues to see homicides increase in a trend that's worse than other big cities. And once again, the solution is clear: cracking down on crimes and those who perpetrate them to ensure offenders are not immediately back out on the streets. Things could get better, but D.C. has shown itself uninterested in saving lives, black or otherwise, all while hiding behind the "Black Lives Matter" banner.