If your child were mugged on the way home from school, would it matter whether the arrest took place in a red state or a blue state? Of course not. Public safety transcends partisanship. Whether in Washington, D.C., Memphis, or a small town in the heartland, it is the basic guarantee of safety—not the noise of political rhetoric—that serves as the guardrail protecting every other freedom Americans hold dear.
That theme ran through the Senate Judiciary Committee’s recent hearing on stopping ineffective crime policies. (Watch full hearing here)
The heartfelt stories and testimonies illustrated the human cost of ineffective policies. They were raw, painful reminders of what happens when laws are weak, prosecutors refuse to prosecute, and criminals are emboldened.
Forlesia Cook, a grandmother from Washington, D.C., told the committee how her grandson was gunned down in 2017. Shot seven times, his killer received a concurrent sentence that could mean just ten years behind bars. “Murder in D.C. is treated like a joke,” she said.
For Cook, no statistic about crime trending down means justice for her family. Her testimony was a reminder that victims—not charts—should be at the center of our crime debate.
Detective Gregg Pemberton, chair of the D.C. Police Union, described what happens when leaders strip police of tools, staff, and support. With the city’s police force at its lowest in half a century, officers are leaving in droves, not from retirement but from frustration. “When leaders attack police, communities suffer,” he said.
He went on to explain how D.C.’s short-term crime drop after the National Guard arrived wasn’t a miracle—it was the certainty of enforcement. If you let police do their jobs, crime goes down.
Senator Brent Taylor of Tennessee pointed to his own city, Memphis, where more than half of violent crime cases were dismissed under a more progressive prosecutor. Routine traffic stops were nearly banned, and parole for first-degree murder defendants wasn’t opposed. “Failed policies like decarceration and cashless bail have created chaos,” he said, but also showed how the combination of federal-state task forces can reduce crime quickly when they’re empowered to enforce the rule of law.
The debate over using the National Guard loomed large at the hearing. Some hailed it as necessary; others, including retired Major General William Enyart, warned that the Guard isn’t trained for local police work and deployment costs taxpayers millions.
Even conservatives like Senator Thom Tillis noted that federal intervention risks “bailing out” liberal leaders who refuse to fix their own broken systems. He’s right—papering over the problem doesn’t solve it.
So where do we go from here?
First, we must reject the failed policies that created this revolving door of crime: rogue prosecutors, reckless bail laws, and defunding police. Second, we need to rebuild local institutions—restore staffing, repeal laws that handcuff officers, and stand firmly behind law enforcement. Third, we have to expand what works: joint task forces that leverage federal resources while holding local leaders accountable.
We know what doesn’t work, and we need bipartisan courage to do what does. Because no matter where you live—urban cities to small town America—every parent deserves to know their child can walk home safely. We cannot allow public safety to be hijacked by partisan politics when our safety is the very foundation of freedom itself.