Crime has become the biggest problem in Washington, D.C. residents say, far surpassing concerns about the economy and the quality of public schools for the first time in almost a decade, according to a new Washington Post poll.
After a year in which homicides have spiked, fewer D.C. residents said their neighborhood is safe, the poll found. Following high-profile attacks that have rattled neighborhoods from Chevy Chase in upper Northwest to Anacostia in Southeast, 1 in 4 respondents said they feel "not too" or "not at all" safe in their communities, up from less than 1 in 5 in 2011. More than 1 in 3 said crime is the biggest problem facing the city, up from 12 percent four years ago.
The concern comes as the nation's cities have seen homicide rates reverse after more than two decades of steady declines.
This same thing is happening from coast to coast. For the first time in a generation, crime is spiking. So here's the bottom line question: Is this the moment Congress will choose to go easier on those -- largely drug pushers -- doing the spiking? Is Congress really that obtuse? That uncaring? That hoodwinked or bullied by billionaire money pushing the Obama/Sharpton "America-is-too-mean" agenda?
As Congress considers the SRCA, we may soon find out.
Leave a comment