Prepared Floor Remarks by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Violent Crime Soared in 2021
Wednesday, January 5, 2022

 
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.
 
According to the Fraternal Order of Police, 63 officers were murdered and 346 officers were shot.
 
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.