0:00:28

e the committee on house administration will come to order I note that a quorum is present without objection the chair May declare recess at any time also without objection the meeting record will remain open for five legislative

0:00:47

days so members May submit any materials they wish to include therein thank you ranking member mlli members of the committee and our Witnesses for participating in today's hearing DC crime is out of control anyone who lives

0:01:00

visits or Works in DC has seen the impact that weak weak on crime policies have had on Public Safety in recent years the DC city council has taken a variety of steps that have weakened the city's crime laws requiring Congress to

0:01:17

step in in 2020 the DC city council cut $15 million to the Metropolitan Police Department budget simultaneously the council repeatedly passed temporary emergency policies that restricted police officers Authority and changed

0:01:35

the DC criminal code for the first time in 30 years Congress had to act and nullify a DC law because it was so ridiculous crime in DC is so bad that President Biden was shamed into reversing his veto threat months later

0:01:54

the House and Senate had to act again we passed another resolution to overturn the anti- police policies implemented by the DC city council unfortunately President Biden vetoed this bill this was a missed opportunity as today DC

0:02:11

crime continues to remain a problem my hometown Wisconsin I hear from countless families who are concerned with crime and policies we have in place last spring Wisconsin adopted a new amendment to our state constitution related to

0:02:25

bail reform this amendment came as concerns for Public Safety and crime continued to increase the same can be said for Capitol Hill today I hear from visitors and staff alike who share their concerns about crime in our nation's

0:02:38

capital capital Hill specifically Ward 6 which encompasses the capital complex has seen an increase in violent crime in the past few years I'd like to note for committee record that we invited Ward 6 councilman Charles Allen to our

0:02:54

discussion today the committee made several attempts but unfortunately Mr Allen did not answer our request to participate in today's hearing as chairman of the committee on house administration I'm committed to ensuring our nation's capital and surrounding

0:03:08

areas safe for every American family I think we can all agree whether you're here for a tour of the capital or to meet with your representative every visitor deserves to feel safe each year the capitol Visitor Center alone welcomes an estimated 2.5 million

0:03:27

visitors to our nation's capital however in the last year we've seen a dramatic increase in crime in Washington DC particularly near the capitol complex let's examine the numbers in 2023 violent crime was up 39% year-over-year in our nation's

0:03:46

capital there are over 6,800 motor vehicle thefts in DC there were 959 carjackings for context there were 15 52 carjackings in 2019 in ward 6 specifically which includes the United States capital there were over there were over

0:04:10

150 robberies in the past 6 months and 350 Vehicles were stolen last year two of my colleagues were victims of crime in September I hosted a security briefing where we heard from two staff members who were mugged at gunpoint just

0:04:28

down the street these individuals shared their stories about the dangers of violent crime and the need to remain Vigilant each of these statistics represents a staff member a visitor a member of Congress is the committee on

0:04:45

house administration were tasked with the oversight over the capital campus security Rising crime in our nation's capital particularly near the capital has constrained resources for us Capital police and the sergeant-at-arms

0:05:00

US capital police must devote more and more of their resources to increase threats against the hill Community these resources May otherwise be spent on the US capital police's actual obligation and their core mission is crime

0:05:15

continues to remain a serious threat and concerns for members staff and visitors I'm focusing on finding ways we can reduce violent crime in our nation's capital in particular near the capital campus today I'm looking forward to a

0:05:28

hearing from our Witnesses about how violent crime threatens us Capital Security we'll explore the impact of softon crime policies and we must discuss how we can ensure the capital is safe and secure for all visitors and staff as chairman

0:05:45

I'm committed to making Capitol Hill a safe place to visit and to work with that I'll now yield the ranking member five minutes for an opening statement thank you uh very much Mr chairman for uh convening us um let me uh begin first of all by offering

0:06:03

congratulation I know we have some new staff here a new parliamentarian assistant parliamentarian Deputy clerk so I want to congratulate uh these appointees and wish them uh the best as they take on these new responsibilities

0:06:14

I certainly want to welcome our panel first of all uh always good to see uh Chief manger thank you for uh your long service chairman pton uh and Mr manguel we're we're grateful for your uh service and for being here today I I don't think

0:06:29

there's a responsibility I take more seriously as the ranking member of this committee than the safety of Staff visitors and certainly members on and around the capol campus and I've said this before I'll say it in the future

0:06:42

the law enforcement has our back it's critical that we have your back as well that includes the United States capital police uh the Washington metropolitan uh police department as well as federal law enforcement uh agencies like the FBI and

0:06:56

uh and ATF it's no secret that in 2020 during the pandemic homicide and violent cre crime increased Across the Nation thankfully while there is so much more that needs to be done um in 2023 violent crime and homicide rates dropped

0:07:12

significantly last year saw one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the United States in more than half a century those aren't my uh uh you know observations those are the statistics unfortunately the District of Columbia

0:07:25

has been the exception to the rule and the Congressional Community has not been immune to this uptick and violence here members as the chair has um indicated have been assaulted in elevators and carjacked and staff have been brutally

0:07:39

stabbed and robbed at gunpoint so I'm pleased that the District Columbia has taken some steps to address these issues as I understand earlier this month the DC Council passed the secure DC Omnibus Amendment act which contains about 100

0:07:52

Provisions increasing gun violence penalties expanding the definition of carjacking addressing organized retail theft and more I must point out however that this is at least the fourth hearing convened by um my colleagues on the

0:08:07

other side of the aisle on crime in the nation's capital this Congress despite all the talk of armed robberies and shootings I've yet to hear my colleagues meaningfully address the issue of Common Sense gun safety measures to keep guns

0:08:19

out of the hands of criminals in the district of Colombia on the contrary the fiscal year 2024 financial services and general Government funding bill and includes a Policy rider Advanced by uh my Republican colleagues that would

0:08:34

permit concealed carry of firearms in the District of Columbia it's astonishing that you would do that at a time when we're concerned about violent crime guns and let's make this clear guns make violent crime more violent and

0:08:47

more deadly and I struggle to rec reconcile my colleagues concerns about violent crime with a complete disregard of the key driver of those crimes there are no commercial gun stores in the district of Columbia so the guns used

0:09:01

here are from out of state these guns are often acquired illegally through either straw purchasers or unlicensed sellers yet every single Republican on this committee who was here in last Congress voted against the bipartisan

0:09:14

safer communities act which created the First Federal Criminal statutes for firearms trafficking and straw purchasing just recently Capital police officers arrested a man uh just off Capitol grounds carrying a rifle he

0:09:28

brought to the District of Columbia from um the state of Georgia unless we take Common Sense steps supported by a majority of Americans people on um of the American people on the question of illegal Firearms will never fully

0:09:42

address or solve the violent crime issue here in Washington that's why I've introduced the state Firearms dealer licensing Enforcement Act and will soon reintroduce the gun theft prevention act these bills would crack down on gun

0:09:55

trafficking by ensuring oversight and licensing requirements for fire arm dealers and by granting ATF the tools to hold repeat offenders accountable we also need to support the efforts of federal law enforcement Partners like

0:10:08

the FBI and ATF who in the last few months have redoubled their efforts to track down and prosecute violent criminals in Washington DC what we should not be doing at this time is to call for the defunding of the FBI and

0:10:21

ATF finally I'd be remiss if I didn't knowe the role the federal government plays in the local Criminal Justice System here in the District of Columbia for example when the Metropolitan Police reports to the city government much of

0:10:33

the rest of the criminal justice infrastructure is federal which creates serious coordination issues in a tragic example of these issues according to the chairman of the DC Council the individual who stabbed Senator Rand Paul

0:10:45

staffer was released by the Federal Bureau of Prisons with no notice to the District of Columbia he was supposed to go into custody or supervision of another Federal agency the court services and offender supervision agency

0:10:57

which apparently did not happen so the coordination is an issue we must address um I want to thank again our Witnesses I'm looking forward to your testimony and to the questions and I look forward uh to the proceeding so with that Mr

0:11:10

chairman I yield back member yelds back today we have a one witness panel we welcome Chief manger uh Mr Gregory pton uh and Mr Raphael manguel we appreciate being with us today and look forward to your testimony pursuant to paragraph B

0:11:24

of rule uh six the witnesses will please stand and raise their right hand you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony they you're about to give is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God let the

0:11:38

record show that the witness all answered in the affirmative I'll now introduce our panel of witnesses our first witness is Chief Thomas manger who is the chief of the US capital police chief manger was appointed as chief of

0:11:50

police in July of 2021 Chief manger has served 45 years in the policing profession including more than two decades as chief of police for three of the largest police agencies in the national capital region our next witness

0:12:04

Mr Gregory pton is the chairman of the DC police Union Mr pton joined the Metropolitan Police Department in 2005 and worked in Patrol and vice in the Third District in 2020 Greg successfully ran for the position of chairman of the

0:12:19

DC police Union and was reelected in 2022 and again in 2024 he currently serves and represents the 3,000 members of mpd's rank and five our last witness Mr Raphael manguel is is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute he's authored and co-authored a number

0:12:38

of Manhattan Institute reports and op Eds on issues ranging from urban crime and jail violence to broader matters of criminal and Civil Justice Reform we appreciate all of you being here today and look forward to your testimony I'll

0:12:50

now recognize Chief manger for 5 minutes chairman style uh ranking member Meli and members of the committee thank you for the invitation to testify regarding crime and safety in and around Capitol Hill the department greatly appreciates

0:13:04

the committee's continued support of the men and women of the United States capital police congress's support has been invaluable as we continued our work in addressing law enforcement demands within our jurisdiction and the dramatic

0:13:15

workload increases in an ever expanding volatile threat environment throughout the country I want to start off with a very brief video um this is something that happened just two weeks ago um a lookout was broadcast uh for a robbery

0:13:30

that occurred at the CVS on I Street Southeast and um you're what you're going to see is that catches a suspect as um as he runs um fleas the scene and um I'm going to show you what happens next so you'll see here in a moment

0:13:51

there's a a black SUV that comes down the street and stops uh there it is right there and it's going to stop on the corner these uh uh and you see two women jump out of the SUV and because they have seen the suspect fleeing down

0:14:07

the street and the one intercepts him the other one tackles him wow then you see the driver of the SUV a male help uh bring the suspect down and the fourth suspect or the fourth individual uh came out of the back passenger seat uh all

0:14:24

four of those individuals were um Capital police officers uh the first one who intercepted him uh the tall woman was deputy chief Janita Mitchell um and inspector uh carnisha Mendoza tackled him um Dave Mard and uh Sergeant Angela

0:14:42

single ter assisted with getting him into custody this is just an example of the almost daily interaction that the uscp has with our law enforcement Partners in the national capital region it's a mutually beneficial relationship that allows our depart

0:14:59

Department to fulfill its mission in securing the capital and the surrounding neighborhoods in order to keep members their families staff and visitors safe by necessity we're more and more a protection agency however at its core

0:15:12

the uscp still has traditional Police Department responsibilities the department has Patrol officers who enforce traffic laws we have criminal investigators crime scene technicians officers that handle prisoner processing motorcycle

0:15:26

units top top flight bomb squad team K9 units the department deals with the enforcement of the law as it applies on Capital grounds and the extended jurisdiction Zone in order to protect the campus and the members and staff who

0:15:40

work reside and travel through the neighboring communities like the for instance like the case last year where uscp officers spotted a stolen car tied to multiple carjackings in in the city the suspects in the vehicle were considered armed and

0:15:55

dangerous the vehicle sped away from our officers we check ched them and when they bailed out on foot air cops ran them down and took them into custody recovering a gun and a high capacity magazine right after that uh that case

0:16:09

one of our bicycle officers spotted a suspect wanted by the Secret Service our officer took multiple knives and a chainsaw blade off of the guy the Secret Service also found that the individual had fake police equipment in his car and

0:16:22

charged him with impersonating a police officer I'm sure that some of you may recall when the uscp officer officer U confiscated an M4 style uh rifle near the Senate Parks they stopped uh that they also uh that day they stopped the

0:16:39

assault rifer from getting on to Capitol Hill even more recently we made an arrest of an individual carrying a machete on Capital grounds and arrested another individual for carrying Molotov cocktails just off Capital grounds just

0:16:52

last week officers at the Capitol Visitor Center prevented a man with a hammer in his backpack from entering the C Capital over the course of the last two years we've had a member attacked in their apartment building a member and

0:17:04

staff carjacked and a staff member assaulted at the Congressional baseball game the fact is our community the members of Congress their staff their families our visitors don't just stay on Capital grounds many live here when when

0:17:18

they're in session for many this city is the home their home away from home The uscp Works hand inand with the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington DC and our other law enforcement Partners to keep people safe and we Patrol and respond to where our

0:17:33

community lives works and plays when they're in the nation's capital you each should have a map of our extended jurisdiction Zone we have full police Authority in that zone you should also know that the uscp has a roster of

0:17:47

locations where many members reside when they're in session and we regularly Patrol and respond to those buildings and areas 24/7 our partnership with MP PD is as strong as ever they never failed to assist us when when needed but

0:18:05

our cops are out there as well in conclusion earlier this week for example we responded to an assault in the 400 block of New Jersey Avenue we arrested the individual who struck a passer by with a with a tree branch and then just

0:18:20

a couple days ago we responded at 3:00 in the morning to a man who was throwing bricks at the front of a house of a home on Maryland Avenue we responded we stopped the guy and we took him into custody the home that was damaged was

0:18:35

adjacent to the home of a US senator US capital police understand that our priority has to be this Capitol campus but we also understand that our community doesn't just stay on this campus and so we are working hand inand

0:18:52

with the Metropol Police Department in the areas in and around Capitol Hill when we have events um outside in the city but outside the the capital or the Capitol Hill area um we send our folks there to ensure and and enhance

0:19:08

the safety uh in partnership with MPD we will continue to do that and I'm happy to answer any questions that the committee may have thank you Chief manger and if I can I think on behalf of all the members here uh we want to

0:19:19

extend our appreciation to all the men and women uh that serve in the US capital police uh I think the four individuals you highlighted in that video who are involved in taking down a suspect uh is a it's a reminder of how dangerous of a job all of our law

0:19:32

enforcement officers have and so we thank those for uh but it's the countless men and women that work at US Capitol Police and so if you can extend our appreciation thank appreciate it our our next uh witness is Mr Greg pton and

0:19:44

you are recognized for five minutes good morning members of the committee thank you for this opportunity to testify as the chairman of the DC police Union I speak on behalf of approximately 3,000 sworn police officers detectives and

0:19:55

sergeants who served the District of Columbia as members of the Metropol police Department I'm a detective grade 1 and I've worked for the MPD for 19 years I take great pride in serving the city my testimony here today will be an

0:20:06

effort to inform the committee on issues related to crime in the District of Columbia I will try to answer three questions that I hear most often here in the district why is crime so bad how did it get like this and what can we do to

0:20:18

fix it my testimony will focus on how numerous actions by the DC Council to include their rhetoric has resulted in a mass Exodus of sworn law enforcement officers and an exponential increase in violent crime beginning in June of 2020

0:20:31

the DC Council began introducing anti-p police legislation designed in their own words to quote act accordingly to bend the Ark of Justice end quote I'd like to provide a list of just some of the legislation that the DC Council would

0:20:45

introduce over the course of the next two years the comprehensive policing and Justice Reform Amendment act the strengthening oversight and accountability of police Amendment act the revised criminal code Amendment act reducing law enforcement presence in

0:20:57

schools Act law enforcement qualified immunity cessation act law enforcement pres sense impression act law enforcement vehicular Pursuit Reform Act the school police incident oversight and accountability Amendment Act and the

0:21:10

white supremacy and policing prevention act the rhetoric to council members used when speaking publicly about law enforcement amounts to nothing short of virulent attacks on all police officers in the district one council member stated in a

0:21:23

public hearing quote I know for a fact there are police in the district who are Bad actors and who have been going on without the proper penance end quote he felt the need for metropolitan police officers to receive quote some kind of

0:21:33

Retribution other council members bragged about defunding the department or making quote the biggest reduction to MPD he had ever seen in a hearing that took place just two weeks ago many council members became apoplectic when

0:21:46

there were proposals to roll back just some of the legislation that I mentioned earlier without delving into the granular details of how terrible these bills are or how blatantly awful the council's rhetoric is I can assure the

0:21:57

members of this committee that the direct result has been a mass Exodus of police officers from the department since the beginning of 2020 the MPD has lost 1,426 officers more than onethird of the department 540 of those separations

0:22:11

nearly 40% were resignations employees who just walked away from a career with the MPD the MPD currently has over 500 vacancies for the position of sworn officer and our chief of police has testified that it will take over a

0:22:25

decade to fill them these dangerously low police officer Staffing levels take away valuable resources from our ability to respond to and investigate crime losing Patrol officers and detectives impedes the Department's ability to

0:22:37

close cases and to engage and speak with victims in a timely manner crime stats in the district closing out 2023 are absolutely staggering homicides have reached 274 a 35% increase carjackings reached 958 a 105% increase robberies were up

0:22:56

67% and violent crime overall went up 39% and all crimes went up 26% these statistics I have mentioned are Citywide if one parses out the data to the neighborhood level some of these communities have grown to look like War

0:23:10

zones the district's Ward six which encompasses the capital downtown Navy Yard Eastern Market Barracks row and Capitol Hill experienced a 188% increase in homicides a 66% increase in robberies a 42% increase in sex assaults a 57% increase in car

0:23:28

jackings and a 44% increase in violent crime over the past 3 and a half years our Union has been sounding the alarm about this problem to anyone with an earshot including the DC Council we tried to inform our elected leaders of

0:23:40

the unintended consequences of these policies unfortunately we've been ignored DC residents and businesses and excuse me and business owners are under siege members of Congress are being assaulted in Car Act your Congressional

0:23:53

staff members are being robbed and stabbed tourists and visitors your constituents are being targeted in and attacked yet the DC Council fails to admit that their policies have played a significant role in this outcome now

0:24:04

almost four years later we' have all seen the results of DC council's experiment the empirical data is in and we know for a fact that their efforts have been an abject failure resulting in thousands and more victims of crime for

0:24:15

the city the lasting impacts of these horrible policies will not be fully realized for some time and the efforts to repair the Damage Done could take decades without Swift and thoughtful actions if we do not undo the failing

0:24:27

policies put in place by DC Council that are pushing our police officers to leave MPD crime will continue to rise and thousands more victims will be subjected to crime and violence the purpose of my testimony here today is to inform the

0:24:38

committee on this ongoing crisis that exists in the district and to publicly state that we are prepared to assist in any way we can again I thank you for the opportunity to testify and I welcome any questions the committee may have thank

0:24:49

you Mr pton U Mr manguel you're now recognized for 5 minutes there we go chairman style ranking member melli and other members of this distinguished body I'd like to begin by thanking you for the opportunity to offer remarks on an

0:25:04

important topic to put it bluntly our nation's capital was very much in the midst of a crime and disorder crisis in 2023 a year in which the latest FBI estimates suggest the nation saw homicides decline by 133% and violent

0:25:17

crime declin by nearly 6% Washington DC saw homicide Spike 35% and violent crime increase 39% for historical context DC's 2023 homicide total was the the highest it's been in 26 years robberies and car thefts in the district were up whopping

0:25:33

67 and 82% respectively in 20123 while carjackings nearly doubled even after half a decade of year-over-year increases and those numbers are even more concerning than they might seem at first glance because robberies carjackings and assaults are occurring

0:25:47

at such high numbers despite the fact that DC has like other cities seen a market shift in what criminologists call routine activities in short foot traffic in office work and public public transit ridership in DC are all down

0:26:00

significantly which has reduced the number of opportunities for offenses to take place because there are fewer Targets in public spaces in other words what the official crime statistics don't fully capture is the increase in the

0:26:10

rate at which opportunities for Crime are actually converted into victimizations according to an analysis of cell phone data by the University of Toronto foot traffic in downtown Washington as of last spring was just 70% of what it was pre pandemic data

0:26:24

published by the Washington metropolitan area transit authority shows that on weekdays rail Riders ship in November of 2023 was just 55% of what it was in November of 2019 and just last week The Washington Post reported that office

0:26:36

attendance is at quote 48% of pre-pandemic levels as a preponderance of federal workers still work from home and quote more than 20% of downtown storefronts and offices are vacant all of this means that the crime increases

0:26:49

seen in the district reflect an even larger increase in the risk of victimization and this phenomenon was recently illustrated by research published last fall in the proceedings of the National Academy of Science es which found that activity adjusted crime

0:27:01

rates I.E crime rates that accounted for the amount of time the potential victims actually spent outside showed that in New York Los Angeles and Chicago people in public spaces were quote 15 to 30% more likely to be robbed or assaulted in

0:27:14

2020 even though the number of robbery and assault defenses recorded in those cities that year decreased the increase in victimization risk is on its own sufficient cause for urgency when it comes to combating Crime here in

0:27:26

Washington but it's worth noting that the economic and broader societal impacts of rising crime and disorder are unlikely to be positive research establishes that violent crime can impact housing prices economic mobility

0:27:37

and even standardized test performance then there's the potential effect of crime and perceptions of Public Safety on tourism which should be particularly concerning for Washington and all of this raises two questions What might

0:27:48

explain the recent crime Spike and what can be done about it the answer to the first suggests the answer to the second like so many other American cities that have seen crime spike in recent years DC has fallen short in in two important

0:27:58

ways first is the dwindling number of experienced police officers on the street last spring the now former DC Metro Police Chief Robert J Conti reported to the DC Council that the department was down some 450 officers compared to 2020 bringing it to its

0:28:12

lowest Staffing level in half a century this is not unrelated to the sharp decline in arrests throughout the city a measure that has remained low after falling off a cliff Midway through 2020 strong causal analyses show that the

0:28:24

addition of new officers will likely reduce homicides particularly in the city City's most troubled enclaves and DC knows firsthand just how effective police surges can be on crime as it was home to one of the well most well-known

0:28:35

studies on the effect of additional police presences on crime second is the fact that serious violent crime in Washington is driven disproportionately by chronic offenders with extensive criminal histories suggesting that not

0:28:47

enough is being done to incapacitate those who repeatedly offend a 2021 report published by the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform reported that quote approximately 86% of HDE victims and suspects were known to

0:28:59

the criminal justice system prior to the incident and that quote most victims and suspects with prior criminal offenses had been arrested about 11 times for about 13 different offenses by the time of the homicide and that measure was in

0:29:11

line with what Chief kti related to reporters in March of last year uh when he said that homicide offenders in DC had 11 prior arrests which is in line with measures from other cities the repeat offender problem certainly hasn't

0:29:23

helped by uh by the decline in the share of felony and misdemeanor arrest charged uh by the us attorney's office total cases charged by that office hadit a 20year low in 2022 though recent reporting for the Washington Post shows

0:29:36

shows that more cases were filed by us attorney graves in 2023 still there is much ground to make up on that front the reality is that DC has not been immune from the general National Trend toward de policing and decarceration I don't

0:29:49

think it's a coincidence that the city has also seen Public Safety deteriorate since more dramatically moving in that direction now is the time to pause and recalibrate the recent passage of the new Omnibus crime bill by the DC Council

0:30:02

last week is a good first step but the city is far from out of the woods even if recent year-to-date crime numbers show declines on on some crime measures if the city is to achieve a true turnaround on the public safety front it

0:30:14

is going to have to address the gaps in policing and prosecution that have allowed too many chronic offenders to walk the streets of our nation's capital with too few officers to respond and prevent the sorts of offenses that have

0:30:25

been plaguing DC residents and visitors for far too long thank you very much and I look forward to answering any of your questions thank you very much Mr manguel um we'll now begin our questions follow starting with me followed by the ranking

0:30:37

member will then alternate between the parties I'll now recognize myself for five minutes um start with you Mr pton countless Congressional staffers have been robbed within a mile of the capital last year uh a staffer for Senator ran

0:30:52

Paul uh he was stabbed repeatedly puncturing his lungs and skull member of Congress was assaulted uh in an elevator and a and a representative was carjacked just down the road all these crimes happened within a mile of here largely

0:31:08

in w six represented by council member Charles Allen we invited Allen to speak today but he rejected that invitation Mr pton you mentioned some of the bills that the DC Council passed in the last two years that have had a negative

0:31:21

impact on policing I want to focus in on the youth Rehabilitation Act that passed in 2018 that reduced sentences for firsttime offenders is it true that the bill raised the age of what is considered a youth to 24 years of age uh that's

0:31:38

correct so if a 24 year-old was to commit a carjacking with a gun in our nation's capital they would be eligible for a reduced sentence under that law that's correct if you encountered people who've used this program more than once

0:31:54

contrary to how the program was sold absolutely so you know individuals who are over the a well over the age of 18 up to the age of 24 who could commit a carjacking with a gun be eligible for a reduced sentence and that can happen

0:32:09

multiple times yes absolutely and what would be the impact of an individual uh who does this is that what what's your analysis of that law uh there's no consequence for the actions of their behavior and they they understand that

0:32:23

so when they get back out on the street uh they're free to recommit these crimes as often as they like what does do that do to the morale of police officers serving in the Metropolitan Police Department it's it's horrible because

0:32:34

you're arresting people for violent crimes and then they're back out on the street the next day and then they're they're never held accountable for their actions and um it it really had takes an impact on morale so an officer would

0:32:47

risk their life to try to apprehend a dangerous criminal in in this case maybe a 24 year-old who carjacked someone with a gun only to find out that this individual is treated as a youth in our nation's capital with limited

0:33:01

consequences and can find themselves back out on the street in short order to commit another crime this this is what happens more often than not yeah this is regular so if we look at the numbers in DC violent crime increased last year by

0:33:14

39% homicides increased 35% robberies increased 67% and carjackings increased 82% and so for the reasons for those reasons we created a house security research guide uh after a briefing with you last September would you agree that

0:33:32

the DC's increase in crime is a direct result of the policies pushed by the DC city council and anti- policing and soft on crime policies absolutely in to go to you Mr manguel is it safe to say that the Nationwide research shows a

0:33:48

correlation between increased crime in anti-p policing soft on crime policies absolutely let me come back to you Mr pton if I can in 2023 DC had the fifth highest homicide rate of any city in the country that's saying something and it's

0:34:06

not saying anything good meanwhile the average homicide suspect in our nation's capital had already been arrested 11 times is that accurate that is correct yes and so we're looking at these Trends where officers are arresting time and

0:34:23

again it's having a detrimental impact on morale correct absolutely and so Mr pton in your testimony you mentioned the comprehensive policing and Justice Reform Act uh was negatively impacting police there was a number of policies

0:34:38

that are in there can I ask you what the impact of negative rhetoric by the DC city council towards police uh has had on officers uh yes so the discussions that came out around all these pieces of legislation and then the regular

0:34:52

conversations that the council has about policing generally are incredibly negative and and the the messages loud and clear from the council and the rank and file members are receiving that the council does not like police officers

0:35:03

they do not want them doing police work they don't want them making arrests and they certainly don't want them getting out and stopping and investigating people uh that message is loud and it drives people away from the department

0:35:13

and people who those that don't leave the department are apprehensive about doing their job thank you and then is is noted because of the dramatic increase in crime in particular in the area surrounding the capital this has an

0:35:26

overflow effect on you Chief manger uh in your officers is it accurate that last year Capitol Police made 234 arrests related to DUI assaults drugs motor vehicle thefts uh and weapon law violations that's correct and so have

0:35:42

you seen a dramatic uptick in those types of arrests uh in the Capitol Hill area over the last four years yes we have and is it made your job harder and the job of the US capital police harder to deliver on your Chief Mission which

0:35:56

is securing and protecting the cap Capital complex um it it yes but we we look at uh our crime fighting responsibilities as integral to uh our mission so it's just it just like so many other areas of our mission it has just increased volume

0:36:13

of work has increased understood you we appreciate the work that you and the men and women under your command do every day I think DC uh in 2023 is a stark example of what happens when anti-pol soft on crime polic policies are

0:36:28

implemented the data is clear when you make a police officer's job harder and more difficult when you denigrate the service of police officers when you defund police there's negative consequences in contrast we are going to continue to

0:36:44

support the law enforcement officers and in particular the law enforcement officers of Capitol Police who are in who are doing their job to protect visitors staff members and members here and we'll ensure that they have the resources to do their job

0:36:58

I'm committed to making sure the US capital and the surrounding area are safe I'll yield back and I now recognize the ranking member for five minutes uh thanks so much uh Mr chairman um I appreciate all the comments made by

0:37:15

the witnesses and obviously this is a uh a challenging challenging issue I do note that since there's been extensive use made of Statistics I just thought I'd read some of the more current ones and um uh for the year 2024 which

0:37:30

admittedly we're only about a quarter of the year in so I want to be um uh mindful of that but uh as I understand according to the Metropolitan Police Department statistics a homicide in 2024 for the same period in 2023 is down

0:37:47

31% assault with a dangerous weapon is down 32% robbery down 8% violent crime overall down 16% as it relates to property crimes burglary is down 19% motor vehicle theft down 30% theft from Autos down 23% arson is down 40% property crime uh down 11% I

0:38:09

just make an all crime down 12% I assume if these Trends continue some of the remarks that have been made would be withdrawn by people who have made them um since we're relying so heavily on statistics and I certainly hope that the

0:38:21

trend lines continue but I also uh just want to note uh for the record that while um number of statements have been made about continuing to support law enforcement I do uh note that the uh Republican house bill on uh uh CJs which is uh Commerce Justice

0:38:41

and science um that the Republican bill had it passed unfortunately it did not uh would have cut funding for the FBI by $45.39 would have reduced atfs funding by one $1 49.9 million and would have reduced uh funding for United States

0:39:03

attorneys who prosecute these federal crimes by $320 million so for for folks who continue to talk about supporting law enforcement some of my colleagues either have amnesia or uh don't Rec recognize the importance of supporting

0:39:17

law enforcement at the federal state and local levels um I want to uh ask you uh Chief manger particularly since you have responsibility for the Capital complex and this this hearing is really about Capitol Hill in fact it's titled safety

0:39:33

on Capitol Hill um and you have responsibility that you mentioned in your testimony that the Capitol Police uh confiscated an M4 style ghost gun near the Senate Parks stopped an assault rifle from getting to Capitol Hill and

0:39:46

arrested an individual with a high capacity magazine I also know you have experience as a police chief in both Maryland and uh Virginia how are these guns making their way into Washington DC um typically they're they're coming from

0:40:01

uh other states and I can tell you having been a a police officer in Virginia for um 27 years um Virginia's got plenty of guns and many of those guns are making their way into Washington DC they make their way to a lot of places and would

0:40:17

your in your opinion your professional opinion would the capital campus in the area immediately around to be safer without M4 style ghost guns assault rifles and high capacity magazines on the streets certainly in the wrong hands

0:40:30

yes yeah do you believe your officers would be safer if it was more difficult to obtain M4 style guns assault rifles and high-capacity magazines so as as um any police officer safe when there's fewer guns around um in in my view

0:40:47

um I want to ask you um you you you've talked about and others have mentioned the attacks that uh have U occurred on members of Congress as well as staff um and what are the safety resources available to members and staff when

0:41:04

they're off Capital grounds DC you mentioned a little bit in your testimony I wonder if you could just expand on that so we um do uh as as when we have Congressional events that are off campus um we certainly uh want to provide

0:41:19

escorts or um resources and and one of the initiatives that we're um looking to do is to uh uh reach a memorandum of agreement with MPD so that when we have a congressional event I'll give you an example like the Congressional football

0:41:36

game or the Congressional softball game um that we have authority to take action should something happen um in we we have that in the extended jurisdiction Zone if we can have that at any Congressional event no matter where it might be in the

0:41:50

city that would be of great benefit to us because again um we're not trying to replace MPD MPD is the best partner we have um but um we can supplement and and focus more resources when uh our community is is uh in and around the

0:42:05

city very good um I I want to join with you Mr chairman and certainly thanking the officers of the capital Police Department MPD who uh put their lives in the line every day we're entire completely grateful for your service and

0:42:19

for your sacrifice and we'll continue to support your efforts and with that I yield back gentleman yields back Dr Murphy's recognized for five minutes thank you Mr chairman just a point of inquiry can we subpoena the DC city

0:42:32

council do you know if we're able to sub of the DC city council uh we we do have that Authority we invited uh Mr Charles Allen Mr Charles Allen rejected the invitation to attend we did not I don't know why this uh crime and the safety of

0:42:46

individuals within this community is a partisan issue I don't get it I don't get it bullets can kill Democrats just as well as they can kill Republicans and innocent individuals um there is a reason that criminals should be prosecuted I'll remind um our

0:43:03

uh our colleagues that uh money for prosecutors doesn't matter if the laws don't allow them to be prosecuted period so you know I'm just going to remind everybody here the Michael Brown incident in St Louis was a tragic one

0:43:17

but the bullet show the bullet holes were in the top of his head showing that he did not have his hands up he was charging the police officer period That's when so much of this started and Truth matters when we're dealing with these

0:43:30

things this is infuriating it's it's absolutely infuriating we're allowing a city council to let Havoc be reaped in this town because they don't like law enforcement it's time for the adults to come back in the room and make this

0:43:45

country and this city safe uh questions to um excuse me to our uh Mr pimberton um can you tell me what when we're dealing with police chases what the policies are in this city um the Metropol police offic department has

0:44:05

very strict policies on vehicle Pursuits uh we're the only Vehicles we're allowed to pursue uh would be when a violent felony is committed and um if we believe there's an imminent threat uh of serious bodily injury or death if we don't

0:44:20

pursue that tell me about carjacking what happens with those uh in certain circumstances officers would be able to pursue the vehicles uh in reality uh most of those Pursuits are called off by management officials because of what

0:44:33

reason uh the danger that the perceived danger that there could be or possible bad uh public relations uh for a vehicle Pursuit you know I I had a condo here in town uh there were five shootings in three months my wife would take our dog

0:44:49

out just in the median to um relieve itself and I felt no longer safe for my wife and I'll be damned if I'm going to risk My Life coming up here to serve the people of North Carolina and serve the country and get shot doing it just

0:45:02

because a city council here is absolutely derel in their duty to protect the citizens in which they are charged um just a following up with that as far as jurisdictional grounds um what happens if the uh police chase an

0:45:19

individual outside DC into Maryland or any of the surrounding communities what happens with that chase uh in certain circumstances Metropol police officers would be permitted uh to pursue a vehicle into other jurisdictions uh but

0:45:32

most often in reality those Pursuits are called off when when you have discussions with the city council what's the tenor of those are you immediately because of the role in which you which you are placed are they immediately

0:45:46

adversarial uh yes uh many of the meetings that we've made with city council members uh that we thought would be productive they would send low ranking staff members and not show up themselves and then we would try to have

0:45:59

conversations with those individuals which I would imagine were not even rela you it's interesting DC wants statehood and this is the type of uh legislative body that they uh that they demonstrate themselves to be how in Hell

0:46:13

could people want that anything other than reasons than being political that they want two more votes in the Senate they do they have not shown the ability to protect their citizens and you know our Capital police do a Fant fantastic job um but if our

0:46:29

our DC police are handled what am I supposed to think if God forbid my wife gets carjacked and the criminal who does that is literally slapped on the wrist to go out and do it again we're in our nation's capital for God's

0:46:45

sake I just don't get it what is the purpose of allowing criminals back on the street to to repeat their offenses um can you give some examples I'd love to hear this you know the carjacking thing absolutely destroys me we had a member of our own body

0:47:03

carjacked by three individuals at gunpoint person got slapped on the wrist what am I what are we supposed to do this what kind of pursuit policies actually will allow our officers to actually do something about it and God

0:47:16

forbid we do it we turn them into the attorney to the prosecuting attorneys and they just push him right back on the street what does that do to the morale uh officers do not want to work in an environment where their work is

0:47:30

meaningless people join the policing profession because they want to help their Community uh this isn't a job where you get rich this is a municipal government position and people typically take this job because they like what

0:47:41

they're doing and they put their lives on the line for the safety of the citizens that they protect yet they're not it's just a circular fire firing squad you know I'm not allowed to carry a gun unless I go through a hoops and

0:47:55

hoops and Hoops but then I'm only in a a specific area and I'll be damned if I'll let a criminal hurt my wife God forbid he tries to do something to me I feel sorry for him to be truth be told um that this should happen this is

0:48:09

absolutely against what the laws of the United States dictate and here we are allowing our own individuals to reak Crime across this nation and damn it it's a damn partisan issue and I just don't get it thank you Mr chairman I'll

0:48:22

yield back jenan yields back Mr lerm is recognized for five minutes well thank Mr chairman um thank you for having this hearing very timely and very important thank you all for being here thank you uh for your service um you know it's it's essential that

0:48:38

we have the resources here to protect the members of Congress the staff even the visitors that that come to Capitol Hill here and the crime that's in the city has an impact on that um and let me say this I have the greatest admiration

0:48:57

for uh those that wear the uniform of law enforcement both in the city Capitol Police I'm uh here today because of the bravery and heroism of one of the Capitol police officers on the baseball field in 2017 who uh on his own Drew fire to

0:49:16

allow me to try to get to one of the players who had been already shot um and uh David Bailey will remain a hero uh not only to me but to my family and I appreciate their dedication um Chief good to see you again it's been almost 16 hours um I I

0:49:37

appreciate um I mean you were at the gerswin award last night I think it's important uh not only you be there you were in uniform and to show one thing is that even though the jurisdiction may be Capitol Hill it really follows anywhere that we go as

0:49:57

members whether it's somewhere else on Capitol Hill or whether it's um we're traveling in a A codell or we're traveling somewhere else and so it's not just what happens on Capitol Hill but it's the crime in the area because I was

0:50:10

even thinking of this last night as we spoke about this hearing here we are not on Capitol Hill but we're in DC with a significant number of members of Congress that are there um I know that uh the police budget request for fiscal

0:50:24

year 24 was 841 million and that has increased substantially over the past five years Chief can you speak to the challenges that the department is facing that led to that increase the request so it it really comes down to um our our

0:50:43

mission and our workload uh our mission has expanded and our workload has gone up dramatically and and you've heard me talk uh many times about uh the number of threats against members of Congress and you you've heard me talk talk about

0:50:57

um the uh uh number of demonstrations that we handle and and the tactics that these demonstrators you know seem to that seem to escalate and uh which requires a a commensurate response from from Capitol Police um so uh and with

0:51:15

one of the things that that I have done since I got here was to um take a more um a broader approach to the safety of our community when I say our community I'm talking about the members of Congress or staff the visitors um and

0:51:30

not so when they when they cross the street and they're no longer you know on the capital complex okay well that's somebody else's problem no we we um we take responsibility for our community um as as best we can um a good example is

0:51:45

uh um Union Station there's a lot of activity uh over at Union Station some of it is great and some of it is Criminal and so we uh we assist Amtrak police we assist metr Transit Police and we assist MPD to the best of our ability

0:52:01

we monitor the radio so when we hear 911 uh dispatches come out over mpd's radio if we're close by our cops respond because um we we we want to be able to help again MPD is the best partner we have and they always come to help us

0:52:17

when when we we have the need so we want to be uh better part good partners as well and uh you know make sure that folks that are in and around Capitol Hill when our community is at an event you're going to see us there all right

0:52:32

and and and I know it it's beyond just Capital Hill because in our recent policy conference several members of the Capitol Police were there securing us we have conventions coming up that I'm sure that you're going to be involved in both

0:52:43

of those hundreds of officers and so yeah there's a there's a big draw on for us Mr pimberton does does MPD face similar challenges that necessitate more funding and is it true that uh you're at the lowest uh level of officers in that

0:52:59

you've been in in 50 years uh that's correct the lowest Staffing levels we've had in 50 years um and and funding would be a problem if we didn't have uh a shortage of 500 police officers so not paying those 500 cops that are supposed

0:53:13

to be here I think is saving the city a lot of money uh but even when the city has thrown money at this they right now they're offering $25,000 signing bonuses to become a metropolitan police officer and that's not moving the needle and the

0:53:26

reason is is because of this climate and this environment that's been created by the city council it is not an attractive place to work for current employees or potential future employees um you guys were integral part of that so thank you

0:53:38

I yield back gentleman yields back Miss Bice is recognized for five minutes thank you Mr chairman and I first want to say um a heartfelt thank you to uh Capitol Police and Metro Police for the jobs that you do I come from a state

0:53:52

that we respect law enforcement and we abide by the letter of the law and every week that I get on a plane and I fly to DC my husband wonders if something is going to happen to me while I am here working serving the people of

0:54:06

Oklahoma's fifth congressional district uh it is absolutely infuriating to me what is happening to the nation's capital right now people call my office uh excited to come this summer to tour The Monuments to uh bring their children

0:54:23

and one of the questions they're asking my office is can you tell me about safety why in the world do we have to have a conversation with visitors to the US capital the heart of this country we have to worry about safety it's just appalling and and I

0:54:40

think it should be noted the you know majority of the members you know have been popping in and out but we haven't seen the majority of the Democrat side attend this hearing nor did they offer up a Dem witness to be able to ask questions to as my

0:54:56

colleague Mr Dr Murphy mentioned this isn't a partisan issue this is a safety issue and it was brought up at the beginning of this uh hearing by the ranking member uh there was a discussion about gun violence this isn't a gun

0:55:09

violence discussion this is a prosecute the crimes that the individuals are committing in this city problem and it was referenced that we are arresting uh young people under the age of 24 and not Prosecuting them the DC city council and

0:55:23

the mayor of DC should be held fully accountable accountable for the crime that's happening in this city it's infuriating to me Chief um I want to start with you how is the uscp trying to you know suppress or deter crime in the

0:55:37

Capitol Hill area so we we have the advantage of having um a much smaller jurisdiction than other police departments but um as I've as I've said we certainly um understand that that we can be of service and we can be of help

0:55:52

to the neighborhoods in and around Capitol Hill we we respond to calls that we hear come out in this area um and I think it's important that um we work in partnership with MPD to help help them and U but we we and and we I talk all

0:56:11

the time about us being a a protection agency which we are but we cannot ever walk away from our police responsibilities we we're still cops and we still fight crime and on this campus if you if you took the crime rate of of

0:56:26

things that happen on this campus it's it's very low there there's not a lot of crime on this campus not not not non-existent but there's not a lot um so to the extent that we can Branch push that out to the surrounding neighborhoods certainly push it out

0:56:39

where we have Congressional events um we we're going to continue to do that so it's just um uh understanding that we need to continue to take our police responsibilities very seriously it was mentioned uh by a couple of my

0:56:52

colleagues that we have a 50-year low for um the number of officers on the MPD currently is your um uscp trying to help augment some of the um 500 um police officer shortage that the MPD is seeing currently to the extent we

0:57:10

can absolutely especially in in the area where we're where we're patrolling and so we you know we would offer them the help same way they offer us help every day of the week so yeah we we we're doing our best to work hand inand with

0:57:23

them yes um if I can also just ask what do you think that uh proactive measures that can be taken by either members or staff um to try to you know uh protect the safety of people in and around the capital what should we be doing so um we

0:57:38

we offer a fair number of services um in terms of escorts in terms of of um uh what we call law enforcement coordinations and I still it it's still frustrates me that um the participation rate the request rate for those Services

0:57:55

is very low so just encouraging your colleagues encouraging staff members encouraging uh you know at any event that you all might have to um let us know so that we can help Co either coordinate with the state and locals who

0:58:08

are in the jurisdiction or we can be there ourselves the last thing I think um I want to um read which I think really gets to the heart of the problem it has to do with some of the police reforms that have come forward um and I

0:58:25

would say that DC isn't Prosecuting the crimes not just these individuals that are being classified as youth that are under 24 but a but a mirriad of other crimes as well there were over over 15,000 uh crimes committed um according

0:58:41

to the the report that I have in front of me but uh more than 10,000 were not uh actually prosecuted and I think that's part of the problem maybe the DC city council should look at um changing their statutes to allow for an elected

0:58:54

uh da to be able to hold a DA accountable and with that Mr style or Mr chairman I yield back the gentle woman yields back uh the gentleman from the state of Ohio Mr Kerry is now recognized thank the chairman and also the ranking

0:59:09

member uh for for having this hearing today I do want to point out a couple things I I happen to be uh one of those members that actually lives in a in a neighborhood very similar to Capitol Hill in Columbus Ohio and uh you know so

0:59:22

we have we have seen the uptick of course and I've talked to our police off officers there um and the recruiting efforts that they are facing is equal to what I think is consistent with what I'm seeing across the country I also do want

0:59:35

to point out that uh you know we when you reach a certain age a lot of your staff uh tend to be about the same age as your children and uh we had three of our young staffers that were just walking back on Capitol Hill uh one of

0:59:48

them is here with us today um that were attacked by a homeless guy with a knife and you know as a father you you hear hear that and you view these young staffers as professionals but you you you're mindful um so anyway along those

1:00:03

lines um I do have a few questions Chief I'd like to kind of start with you uh as we know the Capitol Police expanded jurisdiction reaches Beyond cap the capitol campus itself into some of those surrounding neighborhoods and you

1:00:17

mentioned this in your in your written testimony you also highlighted it um and you described some of the multiple incidences that you've responded to in the crimes in the near nearby area what are the greatest challenges that you

1:00:28

face with the jurisdiction of these neighborhoods um the the the biggest challenge for us is that once you get beyond that extended jurisdiction Zone and you know and oftentimes we're patrolling Beyond there because we've got a building where

1:00:45

30 members of Congress live so we we're patrolling that three four five times a night um the fact that we' if if something happens often times we'd have to call for MPD to take some sort of action because we don't have the uh

1:00:59

Authority that we need well with with that what would you say the coordination with MPD what's what's that typically like it's it's great um uh but but a very quick example we had at the uh um Congressional softball game last year it was beyond a extended

1:01:16

jurisdiction Zone we had a group of demonstrators walk on into center field and and stop the game um we called for MPD because we did not have the authority to arrest them because it was outside the extended jurisdiction Z what

1:01:29

I would like to have a memorandum of agreement we have several memorandums of agreement with with MPD um to be able to at a congressional event that we would in fact have the authority to to take police action at at something like that

1:01:42

so we wouldn't have to wait for them um to uh to arrest make the arrests then I appreciate that I'm I was something else and like I mentioned you know I I live in a neighborhood very similar to Capitol Hill it's in the city

1:01:55

of columb was um and of course many members do um across the country and so Chief can you describe how the capital police work with our local law enforcement agencies Nationwide to ensure member Security in our own districts I appreciate that question we

1:02:12

we have um dozens and and that number is growing exponentially um dozens of of memorandums of agreement that have been signed with state and local police departments from around the country so that we can request their assistance and

1:02:28

they will provide that assistance for uh an event in in uh in a member's home District so that they will provide additional security and we will uh we'll reimburse them for any cost of of that that assistance so we work very well

1:02:43

with state and local agencies from around the country and as as you uh may know we have uh Nationwide jurisdiction to investigate threats against members of Congress but the fact is we don't have the Staffing to inv investig you

1:02:56

know to to go all over the country to do something so we we work with State and locals and we have great relationships all over the country um lastly and I I only have a minute left uh how many arrests does the Capitol Police make in

1:03:08

a typical week from uh DUIs or other criminal suspects coming from DC into the nearby campuses um you know traffic offenses including DUIs we probably make a dozen or so every week um and uh but I will tell you that the number of arrests

1:03:26

um over the last couple years has gone up each year and somebody who was a staffer here in the 1990s I can tell you it uh it's definitely changed and many ways for the better but uh obviously we're seeing this uptick um really

1:03:39

appreciate your testimony and I appreciate the work that you do with our local security teams um I know we have person on our on our staff that coordinates with you guys and you guys have done a fantastic job and I appreciate that with M with that Mr

1:03:51

chairman I yield back the gentleman yields back former law enforcement officer Mr bazo's recognized for five minutes thank you Mr chairman and uh thank you all for being here today and and this is rare um but I have to

1:04:04

disagree with my colleagues uh when they say that this isn't partisan this is actually in fact partisan because Democrats and their legislation has created this issue whether it's here in Washington DC in our nation's capital or

1:04:20

if it's home uh in New York they have passed and and promoted pro-criminal anti-law enforcement legislation that has led us to this situation law enforcement officers actually wear handcuffs on their gun belts to use them against

1:04:42

criminals but Democrats in places like New York and Washington DC have allowed those handcuffs to be put on us to not do our jobs and I know that in the beginning of the uh of the hearing we heard that uh the beginning of this year it seems that

1:05:01

crime is down in Washington DC and uh Chief manger Mr pton you guys have been in law enforcement for how many years 45 45 19 19 that's 64 we'll add mine in let's say almost 80 years all right 80 years on the job what season uh do we usually see the

1:05:29

least amount of crime committed especially those on the street probably be the winter right when the weather gets nicer crime tends to spike okay so now I know that we also talked about guns one of the issues that we're facing

1:05:47

with guns throughout this country is that people are getting arrested with illegal firearms and they're not they're not getting prosecuted we see guns being taken off the streets but very often the criminals who tote those Firearms are

1:06:02

able to walk the streets freely again before the cops are actually done with their paperwork now Mr pton I know that uh you were in the violent crime unit similar to the the work that I did if you had to take a a guess an estimation

1:06:15

how many Firearms how many guns have you a gun arrest have you been a part of in your career uh I would have to say over a thousand okay uh my number's probably a little less you have some more time on the job my next question is this out of the over

1:06:32

thousand gun arrests that uh you were part of how many of those individuals when you went to arrest them presented you with a license to carry that gun zero so gun licensing really would have nothing to do with the carrying of

1:06:48

firearms because those who are breaking the law really don't care about what gun laws are correct that's correct okay now in all of the guns that you have recovered I guess we should focus more recently here in Washington DC because

1:07:02

it seems like the other side of the aisle wants to talk about assault weapons they want to talk about high uh capacity Firearms when in fact much of the time the people who speak the most and I'm not talking about Mr mlli at all

1:07:14

I have great respect for him but there are people who love to speak about um high capacity weapons they love to talk about uh guns that are in mass shootings um but in in fact they really don't know much about firearms and they don't even

1:07:28

know about the guns that they're speaking of so in the arrests that that have been made by the MPD um how many of the guns over the last year would have been handguns you could give an estimate I'm sure you don't have the number off the

1:07:42

top you yeah I don't I know that last year we recovered by 3,200 Firearms I don't know how many were handguns but I would I would venture a guess that it was at least 90% so 90% of the guns recovered last year in Washington DC you

1:07:56

said 3,200 were recovered so 90% of them were handguns illegal firearms and not one of those people probably presented a license to carry it I think that's fair yes okay and a lot of those individuals were repeat offenders right they've been

1:08:10

arrested they've been part of the Criminal Justice System why because over the last few years legislation implemented by democrats throughout this country has made this country less safe it's a fact and Mr mang I know that you mentioned in

1:08:26

your opening statement about the dwindling number of police officers why do you think we have a dwindling number of police officers I think a lot of it has to do with the rhetoric um and the environment that's been created by policy and I have

1:08:39

some personal experience with this exactly right it's the rhetoric and it's the policy that's been created it's the rhetoric that is being spewed by democrats here on Capitol Hill by anti-cop people throughout this country

1:08:53

and it's the policies not only policy cuz now we're talking about laws actually things that are on the books people took pens put them to paper and passed legislation to make this country less safe to make the jobs of law

1:09:05

enforcement harder and to give criminals free reign to do whatever it is they want without any repercussions it's why right here on Capitol Hill you can't go to CVS and get batteries because they're locked up why because people go into

1:09:20

stores take whatever they want and walk right out that is the country that is the City that Democrats have created and I blame it and I say it's partisan because they're the ones who have carried this Banner they're the ones who

1:09:33

have passed this legislation and they're the ones who have doubled down and said we're going to continue to do this my time has expired Mr chairman I yield back the gentleman yields back Miss Lee is recognized for five minutes thank you

1:09:46

Mr chairman and thank you to our Witnesses who have joined us here today for your important testimony and also your efforts uh to fight crime to fight violent crime and your work to ensure that those who live and visit our

1:10:00

nation's capital can do so in a way that is safe I would also like to discuss today a program uh with the Capitol Police uh Chief manger the Special Assistant United States Attorney program and how that is a program that you are

1:10:15

utilizing uh to actually help ensure that you are keeping uh members of Congress other government officials and the public uh safe would you please please describe for us the Special Assistant United States Attorney or Sala

1:10:30

program that you are using in field offices in Tampa Sacramento and DC so these um uh doj has provided us with the authorization to have these um sales to prosecute cases Nationwide and to assist in the prosecuting threats against

1:10:46

involving members of Congress the Department of Justice has also designated our um uh saes as subject matter experts on threats cases um we've had great success with them our sou Tampa work multiple cases in the Middle District of Florida leading to

1:11:03

guilty pleas and threat cases involving a threat against a member of Congress other Federal officials and in one case a threat against the Supreme Court Justice um we uh we've had again great success the salsa in DC their primary

1:11:17

portfolio includes managing the threat portal for us attorney's office in the District of Columbia uh number of cases involving members of Congress as victims Congressional staff members as victims uh or crimes that occurred on Capital

1:11:31

grounds we have our own prosecutor that make sure those cases go forward do you foresee or would you hope to see an expansion of the salsa program into additional cities Across America I think as the workload uh um is it

1:11:47

presents itself that it's a it's a a very efficient way um for us to handle lot of these cases so that not every investigator not every attorney is flying out from DC we've got folks around the country that um can be on the

1:12:01

scene uh working these cases and could you describe I believe the ca also provide training to case agents and investigators within the threat assessment section could you describe for us that section and how the sales are working to help train case agents

1:12:16

and investigators they they are the subject matter experts on uh threat cases and we we get and as everybody here knows you get um threat and concerning calls and and directions of interest um that are very concerning and

1:12:31

these um attorneys uh train our officers to know when it it uh crosses that line from being just free speech or being just something concerning to something that is uh a criminal threat and in your assessment has the program as implemented thus far uh been

1:12:51

successful in addressing some of the rise and threats against members Congress absolutely that we we have uh better success in terms of prosecution now than we did before we had this program and can you tell us why you

1:13:04

think that change why that better rate of success is happening I think it's because um this is their primary job you know prior to this um we would we were competing with attorneys that had a huge case load and and you know sometimes

1:13:19

they just looked at our case and said okay you know not sure this is going to rise to the level of of being a priority for you know for me because of I'm Prosecuting much more serious cases um this way we have folks that their

1:13:31

priority is working U threats against members of Congress thank you Chief and Mr manguel last fall the committee on house administration held a briefing for members and staff regarding the rising crime in Washington DC uh it included

1:13:46

safety tips and advice for how best to protect oneself against uh carjackings and the proliferation of other things like assaults and robberies that we've been seeing here in the district would you like to provide any additional

1:13:58

Insight or advice on how residents or visitors to our nation's capital can protect themselves from these types of violent crimes so unfortunately I can't say that I have any expertise in terms of uh giving advice on personal security

1:14:11

but the one piece of advice that I would give residents is to urge their policy makers and their representatives in the DC Council and in Congress to push harder on anti- crime measures as I mentioned in my testimony one of the

1:14:22

it's very very clear that the criminal justice systems cap ability of dealing with repeat offenders has been eroded and it's been eroded for quite some time and that's why you see the most heinous crimes consistently committed by people

1:14:32

who have 10 15 20 30 prior arrests to to my mind one of the most effective uses of time that citizens can make with respect to this issue is is putting pressure on their elected officials to make some changes and stop that problem

1:14:43

where it is thank you very much Mr chairman I yield back the gentoman yields back uh we're in the home stretch here of our hearing but I'd like to recognize the ranking member for brief closing remarks uh thank you uh Mr chair

1:14:57

and again thank you all for being here this is a complicated and nuanced issue no doubt and more resources would clearly be helpful I want to miss Lee point out an interesting point as relates to the US attorneys which is

1:15:10

again why I'm so strongly opposed to the proposed $320 million cut that was proposed by house of Republicans uh for us attorneys who do great work all across this country including Prosecuting CL crimes here in Washington

1:15:23

DC I I did and I'm sorry that Mr DS bazito left but since he raised a couple of things first as it related to uh 2024 crime statistics he talked about seasonality I was actually comparing the same period of time of year from January

1:15:38

1 to March 21st so basic statistics you want to compare like things and that's what I did so um I understand there will be seasonal adjustments but he raised another thing which he said this was a partisan issue and basically condemned

1:15:52

Democrats uh and and and blamed us for uh the crime issue I wasn't going to raise this but I am going to now which is um violent crime as I said in DC is a is is obviously of concern to all of us U but I note according to a study by

1:16:07

Third Way that looked at 21 years of crime data at the peak of the violent crime spike in 2020 murder rates were 40% higher in red States defined as states that voted for former president Trump in 2020 as opposed to Blue States

1:16:21

defined as those states that voted for Joe Biden in 2020 the m murder rate in states that voted for Donald Trump exceeded the murder rate in the states that voted for Joe Biden every year for two decades from 20 from 2000 to 2020

1:16:35

over the course of those 21 years the per capita murder rate in Trump States was 23% higher than the murder rate in Biden States even if you remove murders in the largest cities in red States from the equation those dominated by

1:16:48

democrats murder rates in Trump voting states were 12% higher uh across the 21-year period than states which included those Democratic controlled areas I ask unanimous consent to enter this study entitled The twood Decade Red

1:17:02

State murder problem into the record and I would say again without objection this is nuanced um look I have strongly as a Democrat supported more resources for law enforcement I will continue to do that uh and I believe we should have

1:17:15

zero tolerance for crime in general so I don't disagree with many of the comments made about prosecution but it is impossible to look at the crime problem in the United States with about looking at uh gun safety measures that are

1:17:27

common sense um we have 400 million guns in the United States today that's more than a single gun for a man woman and child in the United States I have a family of hunters um and people who take this very seriously and most uh people

1:17:42

do take uh gun violence seriously and gun safety but we have a problem in not to acknowledge it and to suggest that the only reason that we have problems because Democrats in urban areas I think is uh just IR responsible and I think is

1:17:56

beneath the uh the the really learned approach that needs to be taken by the by the Congress and addressing these problems but again uh thank you for the hearing Mr chair thank you again to the witnesses for your service and uh I

1:18:08

yield back the gentleman yields back uh and I I thank you uh for your attendance I'll note if we're debating if this is a partisan issue I think it's telling one Democrat showed up willing to defend the soft on crime policies of the DC City

1:18:23

Council the rest of the entire Democrats on this committee ducked out why because it's pretty darn tough to defend a 24-year-old male who uses a gun to carjack someone being treated as a youth and that's the policy here in

1:18:44

our nation's capital because of soft on crime policies it's pretty tough to defend the fact that the average homicide suspect in our nation's capital has been arrested 11 times before it's pretty hard to defend the massive rise on crime we've

1:19:01

seen in Washington DC over the last four years after in 2020 the DC city council and the mayor cut the budget for the law enforcement officers in our nation's capital so it's not surprising to me that only one Democrat on this committee

1:19:17

showed up it's partisan because we see Democrats and the radical left have driven driven through softon crime policies and what we've seen here is the empirical data of what happens when you do that and you combine that with a

1:19:33

anti- police rhetoric from those on the left that we documented here today shared by Mr pton what the impact is on the morale of law enforcement officers and how hard it is to recruit men and women to join the law enforcement Community to put a badge

1:19:48

over their heart to walk out the door every day not knowing what the call will be but knowing that they're going to answer the call on on all of our behalf in everyone visitors staff members members of Congress have a right

1:20:02

to feel safe in our nation's capital and right now far too many don't feel safe and they don't feel safe because of the policies put forward by liberals in the DC city council that have allowed crime to spike in our nation's capital and as

1:20:19

chairman on the committee on house administration I can tell you I'm committed to making sure that you Chief mangor have the resources that you need to be able to do your job and to be able to make sure that we continue to put

1:20:30

pressure and pass laws as we have to overturn softon crime policies in our nation's capital we've been successful once we've been vetoed by the president of the United States another time but we're going to continue our efforts to

1:20:44

make sure that everyone visitors staff members members alike are safe here in our nation's capital and I be I want to on behalf of I think of all the members who showed up I want to say thank you to the law enforcement officer of the Metropolitan

1:21:01

Police Department the men and women of the US Capitol Police who are out there every day whose jobs are darn hard in particular darn hard because of the policies and the soft on crime policies that have been advocated by this city

1:21:13

council so I'll pause there and I I'll just once again thank our Witnesses for appearing before us today your comments were very helpful uh the members of the committee may have some additional questions for you and we ask that you

1:21:24

please resp respond to those questions in writing without objection each member will have five legislative days to assert additional materials on the record or to revise and extend their remarks now pursuant to paragraph C of

1:21:34

rule 14 of the rules of the committee uh I will hereby appoint March Bell as parliamentarian of the committee on the house administration and Thomas Lane is assistant parliamentarian on the committee of house administration in

1:21:45

addition pursuant to rule paragraph B of rule 14 I hereby uh appoint anarie cake as Deputy Clerk of the committee on house administration without OB letters announcing both appointments will be placed in the record and a copy of these

1:21:57

letters will be available to all committee members there being no further business I want to thank the members for their participation without objection the committee stands adjourned was here to defend I I City I should I should I I did not mean to say

1:22:15

you defended the city council sorry if that that would not be my uh no no no I if I I didn't mean to if I said that I didn't mean mean to say I didn't mean to I won't put you as to say I apologize no I don't with now personally

1:22:35

sorry no no no I AP I apologize I apologize if

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