[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 5, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S43-S44]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Violent Crime

  Mr. President, on another matter and the last issue I am going to 
speak to, I want to visit with my colleagues on the continuing rise of 
violent crime across the country.
  We have all heard about the unprecedented 30-percent spike in murders 
that began in the summer of 2020. It continues to this very day. Over a 
dozen cities set new homicide records in the year just passed.
  The rise of violent crimes coincides with the defund the police 
movement and widespread de-policing. Cutting police budgets combined 
with an antipolice sentiment fostered by local elected officials has 
led to violence against our police officers, so we have seen a dramatic 
increase in on-duty deaths in the last year.
  I want to quote the Fraternal Order of Police. That organization says 
that 63 officers were murdered and 346 officers were shot. This 
organization also reported ambush-style attacks on law enforcement 
officers spiked 115 percent from 2020. The FBI has reported that 
unprovoked attacks against officers in which the officers had no 
official contact with the offender prior to the attack ``continued to 
outpace all circumstances of felonious officers' death.''
  Other forms of violent crime are also up, as police are forced to 
retreat from the streets, including carjackings. Chicago saw 1,646 
carjackings, compared to 603 incidents in 2019. Minneapolis Police 
report that carjacking shot up by 537 percent. Carjackings in New 
Orleans have doubled since 2019. Oakland Police say carjackings 
increased by 85 percent. Washington, DC, reports a 141-percent increase 
from last year. In Louisville, KY, carjackings have increased 185 
percent. And similar reports come out of cities across the country.
  So, you see, criminals are emboldened by what is going on in our 
country, either through not showing respect for law enforcement or from 
efforts to cut the budgets of police departments.
  Flash mobs--another sort of new lingo that is just new because of the 
increase in crime--flash mobs have made large organized smash-and-grab 
robberies a way of life in many cities. You have seen this on 
television--break down the doors, go in with the hammers, steal 
everything you can, do it within 2 or 3 minutes, and get out of there. 
So in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Boston, Houston, 
Atlanta, Sacramento, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Seattle, groups of 
dozens make off with hundreds of thousands in merchandise.
  I requested a briefing from the Department of Justice and the 
Department of Homeland Security on these organized retail crime groups.
  This rise in violent crime ought to be unacceptable to everybody, and 
I am stepping up to find solutions to these issues.
  This past December, Chairman Durbin of the Judiciary Committee held a 
field hearing in Chicago concerning gun trafficking and violent crime. 
I submitted questions for witnesses concerning the crisis level of 
carjackings, the terrible attacks on police, like the murder of Chicago 
Police Officer Ella French, and failed policies in blue cities that 
allow violent crime to continue.
  I hope the Judiciary Committee will hold a full committee hearing 
here in Washington on the spike in violence and the challenges that law 
enforcement is facing, including ineffective bail policies, the 
cumbersome restraint on police officers, and the impact of the 
progressive prosecutor movement. Every minority member of the 
committee, led by myself as ranking member, has written to the chairman 
to request that we do have this hearing. I look forward to working with 
him on setting that up.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in looking for ways that we can do 
more to combat violent crime--from carjackings, to organized retail 
crime, to an unspeakable rise in murders and the murders of police 
officers. Let's have a hearing where we can learn more about these 
trends and how we can support police officers. Let's look for ways that 
we can strengthen Federal criminal laws and Agencies to fight this 
violent crime. We can't continue down this path or it is going to lead 
to vigilante law enforcement.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.

[[Page S44]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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