美国首都的政治家们预计将于周二通过一项被称为紧急公共安全法案来解决这个城市不断上升的犯罪率.
根据警方的统计数据，截至周一，华盛顿的凶杀案比2022年增加了17%，而报告的抢劫案增加了52%，机动车盗窃案增加了117%。
“我们现在处于紧急状态。...就像在任何紧急情况下，我们必须像它一样行动，我们必须作为一个政府紧急行动，以解决我们看到的问题，”议员布鲁克·平托周一告诉记者。
委员会司法和公共安全委员会主席平托说当我们的社区成员被枪杀的比率是我们20年来从未见过的，这是一个紧急情况。句号。那是几个月前的紧急事件。这是今天的紧急情况。"
一些拟议的紧急状态法包括取消对因危险犯罪----如劫车、绑架、持刀或其他武器的重罪袭击----而被拘留的人的要求，以及对涉嫌犯有危险罪行的青少年无论是否持有武器都应被拘留的要求。
市长穆里尔·布瑟周一表示，她相信如果新法案通过，“我认为我们会变得更安全，因为实施暴力犯罪的人不会在街上实施更多暴力犯罪。”
2022年4月22日，在华盛顿州埃德蒙·伯克学校附近发生枪击事件造成多人受伤后，市长穆里尔·布瑟和大都会警察局助理局长斯图尔特·艾默曼走向新闻发布会。
Bryan Dozier/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
自1901年以来，该地区的公共安全法就没有全面更新过。最近的努力今年早些时候被国会否决这是对联邦政府凌驾于地方法规之上的权力的极不寻常的使用。
在周一的新闻发布会上，委员会主席菲尔·门德尔森推翻了他在证词中向国会做出的早期评估在三月份关于华盛顿公共安全的听证会上.
他在周一说，罪犯“在这个城市可以逍遥法外。”
在3月早些时候在国会山举行的听证会上，共和党众议员弗吉尼亚·福克斯(Virginia Foxx)指出，“平均而言，华盛顿特区的任何一名杀人嫌犯在实际杀人之前都已经被逮捕过11次，”包括前警察局长罗伯特·孔蒂(Robert Contee)在内的许多官员都分享了这一统计数据。
议员平托周一回应了这一点，他告诉记者，在2023年的前三个月里，该市“有100多起案件，人们被指控犯有暴力罪，审前释放并再次犯下暴力罪行。”
在3月份的听证会上，Mendelson说，“虽然感知很重要，但现实不那么重要。让我明确一点:人们应该感到安全，而这个地区的许多居民却没有这种安全感。”
周一，他解释说，他对国会的讲话是因为共和党人试图干涉当地事务，同时声称存在犯罪危机。
尽管门德尔松说他将投票赞成新的犯罪法案，他告诉记者，“人们正期待着委员会解决这个问题。我没有逮捕人的徽章。我没有徽章去调查。但能有所作为的是提高结案率，也能有所作为的是更积极的起诉。”
Facing 'emergency,' DC prepares to pass new crime bill
Politicians in the nation's capital are expected on Tuesday to pass what is being called an emergency public safety billto address rising crime rates in the city.
As of Monday, homicide in Washington was up 17% year-to-date compared to 2022, while reported robberies were up 52% and motor vehicle thefts were up 117%, according to police statistics.
"We are in a state of emergency right now. ... And like in any emergency, we have to act like it and we have to act urgently as a government to address the problem that we're seeing," Councilmember Brooke Pinto told reporters on Monday.
Pinto, who chairs the council's judiciary and public safety committee, said that "when we have members of our communitybeing shot and killed at rates that we haven't seen for 20 years, that's an emergency. Period. That was an emergency several months ago. That's an emergency today."
Some of the proposed emergency laws include removing requirements for a person to be held for a dangerous crime -- such as carjacking, kidnapping, felony assault with a knife or other weapons -- and for juveniles to be held whether or not they were armed if they are suspected of committing a dangerous crime.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Monday that she believes if the new bill passes, "I think we're going to be safer, because people who are committing violent crime won't be on the street to commit more violent crime."
The district's public safety laws have not been comprehensively updated since 1901. The most recent effortwas rejected by Congress earlier this year, in a highly unusual use of the federal government's authority over local regulations.
At a Monday press conference, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson reversed an earlier assessment he gave Congress during testimonyat a March hearing about D.C.'s public safety.
Criminals, he said on Monday, "can get away with murder in this city."
During the earlier March hearing on Capitol Hill, Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx noted that "on average, any given homicide suspect in D.C. has already been arrested 11 times before he or she actually commits homicide," a statistic many officials, including former Police Chief Robert Contee, have shared.
Councilmember Pinto echoed that on Monday, telling reporters that within the first three months of 2023, the city "had over 100 cases where people were charged with a crime of violence, released pretrial and recommitted another violent offense."
At the March hearing, Mendelson had said, "While perception is important, the reality is less concerning. Let me be clear: People should feel safe, and it is a problem that many residents of the district don't."
On Monday, he explained that his remarks to Congress were, he said, because Republicans had tried to interject themselves into local affairs while claiming there was a crime crisis.
Although Mendelson said he will vote in favor of the new crime bill, he told reporters, "Folks are looking at the council to solve this. I don't have a badge to make arrests. I don't have a badge to investigate. But what will make a difference is increasing the closure rate and what also will make a difference is more aggressive prosecutions."
