Mayor Bowser directly asked if people should feel safe living in Washington, D.C.
D.C. Mayor Bowser was asked on Monday if people should feel safe in Washington, D.C., as the mayor touted a decrease in crime in the city compared to this time last year.
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser was asked on Monday if people should feel "safe" in D.C., as the mayor said crime had come down in the nation's capital in "all categories."
CNBC host Joe Kernen asked Bowser if his daughter should feel safe in the city.
"I’m a nervous person already. So she’s in her twenties. I already worry. She worries. She’s scared, she doesn’t feel safe. She had a place broken into and someone got shot on her block. And she wanted me to just ask you, what’s the answer? Do you have a plan, is it broken windows, that you got to do more of that? Or is it more funding for police? What’s the plan? Should she feel safe in D.C., Mayor Bowser?"
Bowser answered, "absolutely."
Mayor Bowser joins CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday, April 1, 2024. (Screenshot/CNBC)
"I just got an update from my deputy mayor and crime is down among — in all categories in Washington, D.C., especially those categories that so troubled us last year with robbery and carjacking, down more than 30%. So we’ve done the things that we know will reset our public safety ecosystem, starting last summer with an emergency crime bill, and most recently, just a couple of months ago with a new crime bill that really will reset our public safety ecosystem," she said.
"So we feel very good that we’re moving in the right direction, not just with crime, but with attendance up in our schools, with our population growing, with new restaurants opening more per capita than any place in the United States," she continued. "So people like your daughter are voting with their feet to live in the most exciting and important city in the world."
According to the D.C. police, crime is down compared to this point in 2023. However, homicides increased by 35% in 2023, according to the D.C. police's year-end data.
Overall, violent crime increased by 39% in the city in 2023.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks during the Safeway 'Feast of Sharing' Thanksgiving event, at the Walter E. Washington Convention center in Washington, DC on November 22, 2023. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Motor vehicle theft in the city was up by 82% in 2023 compared to 2022. Motor vehicle theft has decreased by 30% as of Monday, compared to this point in 2023, according to the data.
D.C. lawmakers passed a sweeping anti-crime bill in March that includes more than 100 proposals to fight crime, including ramping up gun violence penalties and adding punishments for organized retail theft, according to FOX 5 DC.
"Passing and implementing Secure DC is a critical step in the work to build a safer DC by rebalancing our public safety and justice ecosystem in favor of safety and accountability. Today, I am grateful for all the people who made their voices heard and demanded action," Bowser said in a statement after the bill passed.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks during a news conference Nov. 9, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
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"I am grateful for the leadership of Councilmember Pinto and all the councilmembers who listened to the concerns of our community and voted in support of common-sense legislation that recognizes the importance of accountability in our ecosystem," Bowser wrote. "We are a city that is committed to creating opportunity and that believes in second chances, but we will not tolerate violence and we will not tolerate criminal activity that disrupts our sense of safety and our ability to build thriving neighborhoods."
Fox News' Greg Norman and Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
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