U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said at a news conference Tuesday that her “ears are deaf to” the contradicting crime stats that show a 30-year low in the nation’s capital.
Pirro said that despite the data showing an improving crime picture, the families of the victims of violent crimes would agree with her.
“You tell the mother of the intern who was shot going out for McDonald’s near the Washington Convention Center, ‘Oh, crime is down,'” she said.
Pirro presented her own stats showing that in 2024, 29 children, mostly teenagers, were shot and killed in D.C. So far in 2025, that number is 16.
“We are going to make sure that law enforcement is focused on these innocent, now silent, victims of crime in the District,” she added.
She also restated her call to change several D.C. laws, including the Youth Rehabilitation Act, which provides the option of alternative sentences, including probation, to most offenders under 25. She said laws like that prevent young people involved in violent crime from being taken off the streets.
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