The chairman of Washington, D.C.’s police union has dismissed the “ridiculous” call by a Democrat councilman to bring in the National Guard to address the horrific crime rate in the nation’s capital.
Councilmember Trayon White made headlines this week when he denounced the violent crime that has consumed local neighborhoods and said that it may be time to send in the troops to restore order as the chickens have come home to roost as a result of the criminal coddling, anti-police policies put into place by Democrats.
“The crime is out of control and getting worse by the day. We must declare an emergency regarding the crime and violence in our neighborhoods and act urgently. It may be time to call on the National Guard to protect the children and innocent people that are losing their lives to this senselessness,” said White who represents Ward 8.
(Video: Fox5 Washington DC)
“It really is ridiculous to hear what this gentleman is saying,” Washington, D.C., Police Union Chairman Greggory Pemberton told WMAL on Wednesday, scoffing at White’s call for National Guard boots on the ground.
The union chief blasted White and the city council which he said now is making a “pretty preposterous” demand for “humvees and camouflage” and “rifles on corners” after previously having pushed for the demilitarization of the police department.
The National Guard works for “civil unrest, major events, and inauguration.” Pemberton explained, saying that the Guard does “have arrest authority” but only for a “civil disturbance.”
“They are not equipped to go out and investigate shootings and homicides. They are not detectives. They don’t know how to secure a crime scene. They don’t know how to do any of the work that we do,” he said.
“That’s not what they are for,” Pemberton stated.
“They are not here to investigate violent crime,” he continued, adding that “White is really asking for is more police officers.”
White held a news conference on Tuesday at the site of a weekend shooting incident in which three people were killed and two others wounded, the latest casualties in a city that, like so many others under Democrat control, has entered an advanced stage of decay despite being the seat of the national government.
“I am calling on the community and its stakeholders to join us for a shooting response to speak out against the violence in our city. Elected officials cannot solve this alone,” he said. “This effort requires the input and cooperation of parents, students, churches, businesses, civic associations, and even those responsible for the violence. We all must do this together. I stand ready to make our streets safe for all who walk them, not only in Ward 8, but across the District.”
“We are in a war zone,” White added.
“Numerous actions by the D.C. Council, to include their rhetoric, has resulted in a mass exodus of sworn law enforcement officers and an exponential increase in violent crime,” Pemberton told congressional lawmakers at a House Oversight Committee Hearing earlier this year, placing the blame for the skyrocketing crime rate directly on White and his fellow council members.
“Numerous actions by the D.C. Council, to include their rhetoric, has resulted in a mass exodus of sworn law enforcement officers and an exponential increase in violent crime.”
Witness Greggory Pemberton, Chairman of @DCPoliceUnion pic.twitter.com/sQb4qR1uIX
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) March 29, 2023
“This is a very sad day for America, and it was also very sad driving through Washington, D.C., and seeing the filth and the decay and all of the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti,” former President Donald J. Trump observed of the nation’s capital which he returned for his arraignment on January 6 charges last week. “This is not the place that I left. It’s a very sad thing to see it.”
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