Senate KILLS DC police reform law that would reduce sentences for carjacking

The Senate passed a resolution that would overturn a radical police law in DC, making it harder for law enforcement to enforce the law and put criminals behind bars, while DC Mayor Muriel Bowser continues to blame ‘more guns’ giving the increase in violent crime in the country’s capital under her leadership.

Democrats Joe Manchin, Maggie Hassan, Catherine Cortez Masto, Jacky Rosen, Jon Tester, Jeanne Shaheen and Krysten Sinema and Angus King, independents voting with the Democratic Caucus, crossed over to join Republicans in voting for the measure, which was adopted by 56 to 43. Tuesday evening.

DC has been experiencing a surge in violent crime recently, including a skyrocketing number of carjacking incidents in recent months. The rise includes a 13 percent increase in violent crime and a large increase in murders and rapes.

Despite safety challenges, the D.C. City Council voted in favor of a new law that would lower maximum penalties for carjackings, despite a 49 percent increase in carjackings in the nation’s capital alone in 2023.

The law also prohibits police from using chokeholds, makes public disciplinary records from law enforcement officers, and requires body camera footage to be released.

Republicans have said the provisions in the law would make it more difficult for police to do their jobs at a time when the DC force is severely understaffed.

Republican Senator JD Vance last week introduced the resolution that would block DC’s police bill.

“Today’s vote is a victory for the safety and security of every American visiting our nation’s capital,” Vance told DailyMail.com in a post-vote statement.

It’s also a strong statement in support of the hard-working men and women of DC’s Metropolitan Police Department. With this vote, Congress has sent President Biden a clear and bipartisan message: The American people have rejected the radical left and want law and order in Washington,” Vance continued.

In April, the House voted to successfully repeal the D.C. bill and put the ball to the Senate.

“America has a police shortage, but radical Democrats are pursuing even more anti-police policies. House Republicans voted to overturn the most anti-police policy ever rushed through the D.C. City Council,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a video posted to Twitter Tuesday.

“The Senate needs to vote now, and President Biden should sign it into law.”

However, Biden has already pledged to veto legislation reversing D.C.’s police reforms.

During a House Oversight Committee hearing Tuesday ahead of the Senate vote, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser apparently blamed the rise of guns for making the city more dangerous in recent years.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., asked the mayor directly, “Is Washington, D.C., more dangerous now that you’re in office?”

Bowser said the nation is “more dangerous with more guns” as crime skyrockets under her watch

Bowser testified on the Hill before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday

Bowser ignored the question and replied to Boebert that the nation is “more dangerous with more guns.”

The mayor continued to support her own record at the hearing, saying her top priority is to make sure DC is a safe place for children to “live up to their God-given potential.”

She also issued a statement regarding the Senate’s action, saying it is “nonsensical” for others to be so deeply involved in the capital’s local problems.

“It doesn’t make sense for someone from all over the US to claim to care more about our problems than we do.”

Police Chief Robert Contee said in October that crimes are being committed by “juveniles” in the district at a “rate I have not seen in my more than 30-year career here at the Metropolitan Police Department.”

The DC Police Department has lost more than 1,190 officers since the beginning of 2020, creating a massive police shortage.