How do we get the D.C. government to care about crime?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:D.C. has the largest police force, on a per capita basis, in the country. And yet...

Thanks to the legacy of the Mayor for Life, much of DC government is a jobs program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll save everyone some time and just say crime prevention takes a backseat to progressive criminal justice policy in furtherance of equity goals.

Essentially, the arrest statistics are so bad, and there is such a focus on not tearing away fathers from families or arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating teens, even if they commit violent crimes over and over again, that nothing of substance will be done.

Sure we’ll have politicians paying for “violence interruptors” and other rackets which studies prove don’t work, we’ll have restorative justice, and we’ll have lenient DAs who will focus on “harm reduction”, but this is all in the face of rising crime. Everyone knows just cracking down, tough policing and prison are the best deterrents, and actually work, but we’re in a new era where everything needs to spiral note out of control than it already has, before any policies that seriously deter crime are enacted. And now now cue up the social justice warrior posters who can’t believe how incentive i am. You can read the studies. They all show prison is the best deterrent for violent crime. Stop and frisk worked. Everyone hands are tied now and we just have to watch more puppies get robbed from people at gun point, teens car jacking cars to go on intagram joy rides without punishment and all the other. I’m sure Charles Allen will retool the Youth Rehabilitation Act again to revise the age it covers up to 34.

Can you provide links to the studies you're referring to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have "Vision Zero" for bicyclists getting hit by cars (which is very rare). How about "Vision Zero" for murder?

Because a Vision Zero for violent crime would be deemed racist, as it would target only one group of people. It's why the Vision Zero for traffic deaths is so ineffective: Human traffic stops -- a provable way to make the roads safer for everyone -- have been deemed racist so we don't do them anymore. Instead, we have cameras issuing tickets that drivers from Maryland and Virginia can safely ignore.

Vision Zero isn't failing because of a lack of traffic stops. Vision Zero is failing because drivers whine incessantly and throw tantrums about having to navigate bike lanes, ceding the right of way to pedestrians, losing parking spots, and having to drive slower, and so none of the physical changes we need to make roads safer are implemented.

Yes, it is. Studies have shown that the best deterrence to unsafe drivers is punishment that is swift and certain, like the kind that comes from human traffic stops. Camera tickets might be swift, but if you don't have to pay the fine, it doesn't matter.

And the massive changes coming to 16th Street and Connecticut Avenue disprove your notion that drivers have the power to stymie any and all changes.

Enforcement of traffic laws isn't an element of a Vision Zero strategy. Read for yourself if you don't believe me: https://visionzeronetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/VZN_CoreElements_FINAL.pdf

I know you've got an axe to grind against some imaginary leftist boogeyman, but this isn't it, dude.

And the 16th Street bus lanes just prove my point. They've been in the works since 2013. It's taken nine years to get some lousy red paint on three miles of 16th street because of fussy drivers handwringing about having to give up a lane and some parking spaces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll save everyone some time and just say crime prevention takes a backseat to progressive criminal justice policy in furtherance of equity goals.

Essentially, the arrest statistics are so bad, and there is such a focus on not tearing away fathers from families or arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating teens, even if they commit violent crimes over and over again, that nothing of substance will be done.

Sure we’ll have politicians paying for “violence interruptors” and other rackets which studies prove don’t work, we’ll have restorative justice, and we’ll have lenient DAs who will focus on “harm reduction”, but this is all in the face of rising crime. Everyone knows just cracking down, tough policing and prison are the best deterrents, and actually work, but we’re in a new era where everything needs to spiral note out of control than it already has, before any policies that seriously deter crime are enacted. And now now cue up the social justice warrior posters who can’t believe how incentive i am. You can read the studies. They all show prison is the best deterrent for violent crime. Stop and frisk worked. Everyone hands are tied now and we just have to watch more puppies get robbed from people at gun point, teens car jacking cars to go on intagram joy rides without punishment and all the other. I’m sure Charles Allen will retool the Youth Rehabilitation Act again to revise the age it covers up to 34.

Can you provide links to the studies you're referring to?

https://time.com/6148886/cure-violence-st-louis-effectiveness/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll save everyone some time and just say crime prevention takes a backseat to progressive criminal justice policy in furtherance of equity goals.

Essentially, the arrest statistics are so bad, and there is such a focus on not tearing away fathers from families or arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating teens, even if they commit violent crimes over and over again, that nothing of substance will be done.

Sure we’ll have politicians paying for “violence interruptors” and other rackets which studies prove don’t work, we’ll have restorative justice, and we’ll have lenient DAs who will focus on “harm reduction”, but this is all in the face of rising crime. Everyone knows just cracking down, tough policing and prison are the best deterrents, and actually work, but we’re in a new era where everything needs to spiral note out of control than it already has, before any policies that seriously deter crime are enacted. And now now cue up the social justice warrior posters who can’t believe how incentive i am. You can read the studies. They all show prison is the best deterrent for violent crime. Stop and frisk worked. Everyone hands are tied now and we just have to watch more puppies get robbed from people at gun point, teens car jacking cars to go on intagram joy rides without punishment and all the other. I’m sure Charles Allen will retool the Youth Rehabilitation Act again to revise the age it covers up to 34.

Can you provide links to the studies you're referring to?

https://time.com/6148886/cure-violence-st-louis-effectiveness/

https://harvardpolitics.com/tough-on-crime-a-liberals-admission-that-increased-law-enforcement-works/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Makes you wonder what all these cops do all day, if they're not enforcing laws.

They make the arrests, but there is no appetite in this jurisdiction for meaningful consequences. And the criminals know it.

This. The police department has no control over what prosecutors do after the arrests are made. If Karl Racine is playing catch and release with violent juvenile offenders, MPD cannot stop it. Both Chief Contee and Mayor Bowser have made pointed statements about this issue, but Racine is not held to account for it. DC residents voting for the new AG should pay attention to what the candidates are proposing as it relates to juvenile crime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move. They will only care when their tax base leaves. Even then, they might not care unless it gets so bad Congress takes over their budget again.

Yes, this.

Listing next week. Arlington or Alexandria here we come.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Makes you wonder what all these cops do all day, if they're not enforcing laws.

They make the arrests, but there is no appetite in this jurisdiction for meaningful consequences. And the criminals know it.

This. The police department has no control over what prosecutors do after the arrests are made. If Karl Racine is playing catch and release with violent juvenile offenders, MPD cannot stop it. Both Chief Contee and Mayor Bowser have made pointed statements about this issue, but Racine is not held to account for it. DC residents voting for the new AG should pay attention to what the candidates are proposing as it relates to juvenile crime.

I know you are talking about juveniles here, but it's also important to note that the AG's office does not have control over felony prosecutions of adults. Too many cases end up being handled by junior US attorneys who have their eye on their next career move rather than career DC employees who are more invested in and accountable to their community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Makes you wonder what all these cops do all day, if they're not enforcing laws.

They make the arrests, but there is no appetite in this jurisdiction for meaningful consequences. And the criminals know it.

This. The police department has no control over what prosecutors do after the arrests are made. If Karl Racine is playing catch and release with violent juvenile offenders, MPD cannot stop it. Both Chief Contee and Mayor Bowser have made pointed statements about this issue, but Racine is not held to account for it. DC residents voting for the new AG should pay attention to what the candidates are proposing as it relates to juvenile crime.

I know you are talking about juveniles here, but it's also important to note that the AG's office does not have control over felony prosecutions of adults. Too many cases end up being handled by junior US attorneys who have their eye on their next career move rather than career DC employees who are more invested in and accountable to their community.

While there is an element of truth to this, DCs larger crime problem is being driven by people who are either still juveniles or very young adults who often were recently in the juvenile system. How DC is currently handling juvenile crime has a much bigger influence on the current crime spike than the fact that there are baby prosecutors at USAO.

[Anonymous]

Being accountable for behavior these days is unnecessary, when the crime itself isn’t the fault of the perpetrator, but because of forces beyond their control. That’s to blame for everything. Then the solution is not to arrest and prosecute, at least in liberal cities these days, and so the cycle repeats itself and all the people with yard signs and who keep getting their $4,000 electric cargo bikes stolen off their porch sit around and vote for it all again. Peak urbanism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move. They will only care when their tax base leaves. Even then, they might not care unless it gets so bad Congress takes over their budget again.

Yes, this.

Listing next week. Arlington or Alexandria here we come.

Please don’t bring your Democratic politics to Virginia so we don’t end up in the same situation in 10-20 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move. They will only care when their tax base leaves. Even then, they might not care unless it gets so bad Congress takes over their budget again.

Yes, this.

Listing next week. Arlington or Alexandria here we come.

Please don’t bring your Democratic politics to Virginia so we don’t end up in the same situation in 10-20 years.

Arlington and Alexandria are barely less Democratic than DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being accountable for behavior these days is unnecessary, when the crime itself isn’t the fault of the perpetrator, but because of forces beyond their control. That’s to blame for everything. Then the solution is not to arrest and prosecute, at least in liberal cities these days, and so the cycle repeats itself and all the people with yard signs and who keep getting their $4,000 electric cargo bikes stolen off their porch sit around and vote for it all again. Peak urbanism.

Yes, all those Republican cities like Tulsa are doing great /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move. They will only care when their tax base leaves. Even then, they might not care unless it gets so bad Congress takes over their budget again.

Yes, this.

Listing next week. Arlington or Alexandria here we come.

Please don’t bring your Democratic politics to Virginia so we don’t end up in the same situation in 10-20 years.

Arlington and Alexandria are barely less Democratic than DC.

True, but those votes still matter in statewide and national elections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move. They will only care when their tax base leaves. Even then, they might not care unless it gets so bad Congress takes over their budget again.

Yes, this.

Listing next week. Arlington or Alexandria here we come.

Please don’t bring your Democratic politics to Virginia so we don’t end up in the same situation in 10-20 years.

Arlington and Alexandria are barely less Democratic than DC.

True, but those votes still matter in statewide and national elections.

I'm pretty sure Virginia Dems are largely moderate, not progressive or leftist. Like "let's stop the police from shooting and killing innocent minorities and instead just taze them" types.