ArcaMax

I was born in Washington, D.C., at the end of 1942. Growing up in the suburbs there was so little crime it made the front page in the city’s three newspapers. Today, unless someone who works on Capitol Hill is murdered, or associated with a prominent business, stories are usually buried in the Metro section. Then, you could walk the streets at night, and feel safe. Now, you take your life in your hands.

President Trump has ordered National Guard troops into the city to help DC police control violent crime.

As U.S. Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro noted at a White House news conference Monday, many teen criminals are assigned to family court where “they are sent to yoga and art classes. That changes today.” Video of store lootings are so common they have lost their shock value.

There are facts, lies and statistics, as the saying goes, and Democrats are claiming statistics show violent crime is down in D.C.

A D.C. police commander is under investigation for allegedly making changes to crime statistics in his district. The police union claims supervisors in the department manipulate crime data to make it appear violent crime has fallen considerably compared to last year.

The White House has issued a list comparing actual DC crime statistics with other cities and countries:

– I n 2024, Washington, D.C., saw a homicide rate of 27.3 per 100,000 residents. That was the fourth-highest homicide rate in the country — nearly six times higher than New York City and also higher than Atlanta, Chicago, and Compton.

– If Washington, D.C., was a state, it would have the highest homicide rate of any state in the nation.

– In 2012, the homicide rate in Washington, D.C. was just 13.9 per 100,000 residents.

– Washington, D.C.’s murder rate is roughly three times higher than that of Islamabad, Pakistan, and 18 times higher than that of communist-run Havana, Cuba.

– The number of juveniles arrested in Washington, D.C., has gone up each year since 2020 — many of whom have had prior arrests for violent crimes.

– There were 29,348 crimes reported in Washington, D.C. last year, including 3,469 violent offenses, 1,026 assaults with a dangerous weapon, 2,113 robberies, and 5,139 motor vehicle thefts.

– So far in 2025, there have already been nearly 1,600 violent crimes and nearly 16,000 total crimes reported in Washington, D.C.

– There have been nearly 100 homicides, including the fatal shootings of innocent civilians like three-year-old Honesty Cheadle and 21-year-old Capitol Hill intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym.

– Vehicle theft in Washington, D.C. is more than three times the national average— ranking it among the most dangerous cities in the world.

– Carjackings increased 547% between 2018 and 2023.

– In 2024, there were triple the number of carjackings compared to 2018.

These statistics are not only troubling on their own, but they also likely significantly understate the level of crime in Washington, D.C.

– Many residents don’t feel safe reporting crime.

– More than half of all violent crime in the U.S. goes unreported.

– WUSA-TV: “D.C. residents voice frustration over rising violence, questioning police stats and demanding real action to make neighborhoods feel safe again.”

CNN notes: “Extending the takeover for a longer period requires Trump to formally notify the chairs and ranking members of congressional committees handling DC affairs. Any control lasting more than 30 days would need congressional approval and must be passed into law, a highly improbable scenario given the current gridlock in a closely divided Congress.”

Area residents know what needs to happen in addition to swift punishment of the perpetrators. They include employed fathers in the home and school choice to free especially poor kids from failing public schools that give them nothing on which to build a life. Without these the National Guard will only be a temporary fix.

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Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I've Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America" (HumanixBooks).

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