WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump announced his administration on Monday Take over police in the country’s capital What Republicans said is an effort to bring about a rise in crime rates in Washington, D.C.
But Trump exaggerated or mistaken many facts surrounding Washington’s public safety, where crime rates have fallen in recent years, but he has omitted many contexts.
This gives a closer look at the facts:
Statistics refute Trump’s claims about violent crime in Washington
Trump: “It’s getting worse, it’s not getting better. It’s getting worse.”
Fact: Statistics released by Washington’s metropolitan police contradict the president, indicating that violent crime has declined in Washington since the post-pandemic peak in 2023.
According to the datamurder, robbery and robbery have declined this year compared to this time in 2024. Overall, violent crime has fallen by 26% compared to a year ago.
Recent Ministry of Justice Report Violent crime has fallen 35% since 2023, returning to the previous trend of reducing crimes that lowest violent crime rates in the district in 30 years.
The report shows that murders have fallen by 32%, armed carjacks have fallen by 53%, and attacks with dangerous weapons have fallen by 27%, compared to 2023 figures.
But the city’s statistics are being raised in question after officials began investigating allegations that employees would change some of the data to make them look better. However, mayor Muriel Bowser He supported the data and said Trump’s lawless portrait was inaccurate.
“We have not experienced a surge in crime,” Bowser said on MSNBC Sunday. “In fact, we’re seeing the number of crimes drop.”
The 2023 murders in Washington were expensive, but not the best ever
Trump: “The murders in 2023 have probably reached the highest percentage ever. They say 25 years, but it goes back 25 years, so I don’t know what that means.”
Fact: In 2023, the District of Columbia recorded 274 murders in around 700,000 cities. This is the best in 20 years. However, city crime statistics for the 1970s, 80s and 90s The population was smallshows much more murders.
For example, in 1990, the city reported 498 murders. The following year there were 509 and 460 in 1992.
There are decades of statistics on crime in the city Available online.
Compared to Washington’s murder rate, compared to the international capital
Trump: “Murder rates in Washington today are higher than those in Mexico City, Colombia and Bogota.
Fact: That’s true, but Trump doesn’t speak the whole thing. Washington has a higher murder rate than many other world cities, including those historically considered unsafe by many Americans. But Trump excludes an important context: the United States Generally I’ll see Higher violent crime rates than many other countries.
Washington is like that One of America’s most dangerous citiesothers have Higher crime rates.
Trump blames cashless bail for crimes without evidence
Trump: “This tragic public safety crisis stems from the direct public safety crisis from the terrible mistakes of local city leaders. The radical left city council did not adopt cash bail.
Fact: Data does not determine the impact of Cashless bail for crime rates. Many studies focus on defendants’ recidivism rather than crime rates, showing mixed results.
a 2024 Report The Brennan Centre for Justice issued it deemed “no statistically significant” between bail reform and crime rates. The nonprofit looked at crime rate data for 33 U.S. cities from 2015 to 2021, 22 of which have enacted some type of bail reform. Researchers used statistical methods to determine whether crime rates diverged to those with or without reform.
Ames Grawart, a co-author of the report and a senior advisor to the Brennan Center’s Justice Program, said the conclusion “applies to the overall crime or specifically the trend of violent crime.”
Similarly, a 2023 Paper Included in the American Economic Journal, it found no evidence that cash bail could help ensure that it prevents crimes among those released while awaiting trial.
“I don’t know any valid research to support the president’s claims. I want to know what the administration offers support,” Kellen Funk, a professor at the Columbia School of Law, told The Associated Press on July 25th. Fact check. “In my professional judgment, I call this claim clearly false and inflammatory.”
The Trump administration quoted 2022 Report The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office in California looked into how a statewide temporary cashless bail system was implemented to prevent the outbreak of Covid-19 in courts and prisons. Of the 595 individuals released under the system between April 2020 and May 2021, 70.6% were found to have been arrested again after being released.
Contacted Monday, Funk noted that Washington, DC reformed its cash bail system in the 1990s.
“What the president declares is “urgent” is a system that has been far better than a cash-based bail system for nearly 30 years. Recent historical lows The district’s reported crimes added, “The DC bail system has served as a model for bipartisan bail reform efforts in New Jersey and New Mexico over the past decade.”
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New York Associated Press Writer Melissa Goldin provided the report.
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