U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) participated in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on crime rates in cities governed by Democratic leadership. The hearing included testimony from Forlesia Cook, whose grandson was killed in Washington, D.C., in 2017, and Detective Gregg Pemberton of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, who also serves as Chairman of the D.C. Police Union.
During the session, Senator Britt criticized policies she described as contributing to increased crime rates. She stated, “The problem that we’re facing today was created by blue cities … Whether it’s cashless bail policies, downgrading classifications of whole categories of crimes, undermining rights and protections afforded by law enforcement officers like we saw in D.C. in 2022 … Or creating systems to ensure pretrial releases of even the most violent offenders.”
Britt addressed Ms. Cook directly about her experience: “Your grandson should still be with us today. And we need to utilize every tool in our toolbox to make sure that that is the reality for another grandmother somewhere in D.C. or wherever across this country. And you said today that when you told your story that no one heard you … You said today, for the very first time, you feel heard. Can you talk to me about what it means with President Trump placing emphasis on keeping our communities safe? What it means to someone like you who has lost someone, your very first-born grandson, so near and dear to your heart?”
Ms. Cook replied, “If we don’t send the killer a message, then they’re going to keep killing.”
Senator Britt then questioned Detective Pemberton about how legislative changes have affected law enforcement: “You obviously are well aware of D.C.’s 2022 Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Act and the impact it had on the MPD … From your experience, when you have elected leaders that undermine law enforcement, that don’t seem to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with law enforcement … Can you tell me what that does on morale and what it does for recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers?”
Detective Pemberton responded: “I can, [it] is absolutely, unquantifiably the worst piece of public safety legislation that I have ever seen … And I can tell you exactly what it did. It took us from nearly 4000 police officers to 3200 police officers in five years. We went from 30,000 arrests per year to 15,000 arrests per year. It created liabilities for police officers for administrative, civil and criminal penalties even when they do their job properly … it made it so it’s impossible to hold criminals accountable even when they’re convicted of violent crimes. It has absolutely destroyed the police department in ways that I certainly don’t have time to get into.”
Senator Britt recently co-sponsored the CLEAN D.C. Act which aims to repeal Washington’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Act of 2022. She commented on her motivation by referencing an incident involving her staff: “In 2023, one of my staffers was carjacked and held at gunpoint, just one mile from our nation’s Capitol building. D.C.’s crime rate is higher than the national average and even higher than that of many capital cities in third-world countries. To put it simply, anyone who says D.C. doesn’t have a crime problem isn’t facing the facts.”
