DC Police Chief Says City Needs To ‘Keep Violent People in Jail’

Comments as Democrats in the city push for a reduction of penalties for violent criminals

Washington, D.C.’s Chief of Police Monday stated that the city must address a record-breaking spike in homicides. “keep violent people in jail.”

“What we got to do, if we really want to see homicides go down, is keep bad guys with guns in jail,” Robert Contee was the police chief during a press conferment with Muriel Bowser (D.). “Because when they’re in jail, they can’t be in communities shooting people.”

Contee’s comment comes as left-leaning Democratic city council backtracks on proposed criminal code reform. This would decrease penalties and, in some cases, eliminate the minimum penalty for violent crimes. After President Joe Biden declared that he wouldn’t veto the Republican-backed resolution blocking the bill from being blocked by the D.C. Council, Phil Mendelson (D.C. Council Chairman) revoked it Monday. Mendelson tried to retract it The Senate had to hold a vote before it could do so. However, Senator Bill Hagerty from Tennessee said it was too late for a Senate vote to be avoided.

“No matter how hard they try, the Council cannot avoid accountability for passing this disastrous, dangerous D.C. soft-on-crime bill that will make residents and visitors less safe,” Hagerty stated.

Many House Democrats are frustrated by Biden’s decision to veto reforms in the criminal code of New York City.

“People are rip roarin’ pissed,” One House Democrat told Axios.

In recent years, shootings and murders in D.C. have increased: There were 135 and 557 fatalities in 2019 and they rose to 174, 710 respectively in 2022.