Criminals need to be locked up

Thirteen people were murdered in the nation’s capital in the first five days of August. July saw 10 killings in its first five days. Homicide is up 22% this year in Washington compared to last year, and violent crime overall is up 37%.

This is unacceptable, or should be, in any U.S. city but is particularly so in the city that is seen as representative of the country. The Democratic Party’s experiment with alternatives to incarceration has been a disastrous failure, and unless it is abandoned soon, Congress might need to step in with tough policies needed to restore order to the city over which it has ultimate responsibility.