Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle is happy to criticize President Trump when she thinks he's wrong. But in her latest column, McArdle writes that Trump is correct in asserting that "crime and disorder is a major problem" in DC. Yes, violent crime is down in the district, as Trump's critics keep pointing out. But the bar is pretty low: DC had 187 homicides in 2024, which was indeed a big drop from the previous year, but that still works out to 27 per 100,000 residents. Compare that to cities such as Boston (3.7 per 100,000), New York (4.7), or Los Angeles (7.1). Vehicle thefts tell a similar tale. As with cancer, saying that crime is "somewhat less of a problem" doesn't quite cut it, she writes.
"This is the capital city of our country," writes McArdle. "We ought to be able to do at least as well as other major cities." To be clear, she views Trump's move to bring in the National Guard and federalize the police force as "harebrained." In other words, she writes, the president is correct about the problem but wrong about the solution. Her column digs into what she views as better remedies, including more police officers, better training, and more innovative policies—not to be read as soft policies—throughout the legal system. For example, DC's Department of Corrections "needs to pioneer new approaches that Republicans and Democrats can live with: sanctions focused on deterrence and incapacitation, not retribution or political showmanship." Read the full column.
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