The Washington, D.C., city council president testified to Congress on Wednesday that there is no crime crisis in the nation’s capital as House Republicans go on the offensive against the city’s reform bill.
“In terms of crime, there are indeed great concerns. But perception is important, but the reality is less worrying. Let me be clear: people need to feel safe and it is a problem that many residents of the neighborhood do not.” D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson told the House Committee on Oversight.
“I know this goes against common belief — and when it comes to crime is how people feel important — but there is no crime crisis in Washington, D.C.,” Mendelson said.
The hearing comes after months of battles between Congress and the D.C. council over crime proposals, and comes just days after a staff member of Republican Senator Rand Paul was hospitalized with serious injuries after being stabbed by a man who recently died. was released from prison.
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DC Council chairman Phil Mendelson says there is no crime crisis in Washington DC (House Oversight Committee)
Mendelson supported Washington DC’s police reform bill, which House Republicans have threatened to reverse through Congressional authority to strike down city laws.
According to Mendelson’s written testimony, the D.C. crime law—which was passed in response to the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis—”promotes police accountability by codifying our Use of Force Review Board, enhancing oversight capabilities, strengthen training requirements and the hiring of officers with a history of misconduct. It also enhances our police chief’s ability to strengthen the force by firing officers who commit serious misconduct or commit serious offenses. If Congress overrides these measures This will be a dramatic setback to the district’s efforts to address longstanding concerns about officer misconduct and make it more difficult to hold bad cops accountable.”
Passing the bill would hinder efforts to promote accountability in the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department, Mendelson said.
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The DC police union opposes the measure, saying it was part of a failed experiment to implement anti-police measures that has had disastrous consequences for public safety.
“The empirical data is in and we are confident that their efforts have been a disastrous failure, resulting in thousands more victims of crime in this city,” D.C. Police Union president Greggory Pemberton told the commission in written testimony. “The lasting effects of this terrible policy will not be fully realized for some time, and efforts to repair the damage done could take decades without swift and thoughtful action.”
Mendelson stated that crime in the district so far in 2023 is lower than at the same point in 2022, testifying that “the violent crime rate in 2022 was 45% lower than the violent crime rate in 2012.”
Phillip Todd, an aide to Senator Rand Paul, was stabbed Monday (Courtesy of the Todd family)
Senator Rand Paul’s staffer Phillip Todd was attacked on H Street in Washington, D.C. around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, reportedly by a man identified by police as Glynn Neal. The suspect was reportedly released from prison just a day before the stabbing.
“Our son is in a stable condition and has undergone trauma surgery to treat the wounds in his body. He also has a skull fracture, which will be treated with non-invasive neurosurgery. He is expected to make a full recovery due to his young age and good health. health,” the parents continued.
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Neal was arrested and booked on charges of assault with intent to kill. An earlier update from Phillip Todd’s uncle this week revealed that Todd had suffered a “deep knife wound to the head” from the attack, and doctors were concerned he could experience seizures for the next month.
President Biden earlier this month signed into law a bill passed by Congress in a bipartisan way that revised proposed changes to DC’s penal code — the first time since 1991 that Congress had overturned the state’s state laws through the censure process . The renewed actions call for a grant of state to DC.
Mayor Muriel Bowser opposed the move in January from the city council, which explained in a letter that it had “very serious concerns” about some of the bills. Bowser later proposed changes after the council overrode its veto.
Fox News’ Emma Colton and Julia Musto contributed to this report
Thomas Phippen is an editor at Fox News.
