I’d
like to speak on the continuing rise in violent crime across the country.
We
have all heard about the unprecedented 30 percent spike in murders that began
in the summer of 2020. It continues to this day. Over a dozen cities set new
homicide records in 2021.
The
rise in violent crime coincides with the “defund the police” movement and
widespread depolicing.
Cutting
police budgets, combined with an anti-police sentiment fostered by some elected
officials, has led to violence against police officers.
Police
officers recorded the highest number of on-duty deaths in 2021.
They
also reported ambush-style attacks on law enforcement officers spiked 115
percent from 2020.
The
FBI has reported that unprovoked attacks against officers, in which they had no
official contact with the offender prior to the attack, “continued to outpace
all other circumstances of felonious officer deaths.”
Other
forms of violent crime are also up as police are forced to retreat from the
streets, including carjacking.
Chicago
saw 1,646 carjackings, compared to 603 incidents in 2019.
Minneapolis
police reported carjackings shot up 537 percent.
Carjackings
in New Orleans have doubled since 2019.
Oakland
police say carjackings increased by 85 percent.
Washington,
DC reports a 141 percent increase from last year.
In
Louisville, Kentucky, carjackings have increased 185 percent.
Similar
reports come out of cities across the country.
Criminals
are emboldened. Flash mobs have made large, organized smash and grab robberies
a way of life in many cities.
In
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Miami, Houston, Atlanta,
Sacramento, Baltimore, Las Vegas and Seattle, groups of dozens make off with
hundreds of thousands in merchandize.
I’ve
requested
a briefing from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland
Security on these organized retail crime groups.
This
rise in violent crime is unacceptable, and I’m stepping up to find solutions to
these issues.
This
past December, Chairman Durbin of the Judiciary Committee held a field hearing
in Chicago concerning gun trafficking and violent crime.
I
submitted questions for witnesses concerning the crisis level of carjackings,
terrible attacks on police like the murder of Chicago police officer Ella
French and failed policies in blue cities that allow violent crime to continue.
I
hope the Judiciary Committee will hold a full committee hearing here in
Washington on the spike in violence and the challenges that law enforcement is
facing, including: ineffective bail policies, cumbersome restraints on police
officers and the impact of the “progressive prosecutor” movement.
Every
minority member of the committee, led
by myself as the Ranking Member, has written to Chairman to request that we
do so.
I
look forward to working with him on that hearing.
I
hope my colleagues will join me in looking for ways we can do more to combat
violent crime, from carjackings to organized retail crime, to the unspeakable
rise in murders and murders of police officers.
Let’s
have a hearing where we can learn more about these trends and how we can
support police officers.
Let’s
look at ways we can strengthen federal criminal laws and agencies to fight this
violent crime.