The police chief of the nation's capital blamed the courts and the ''defund the police'' movement on the rise in crime in his city.
Appearing Friday afternoon at the site of a shooting the night before, Washington Police Chief Robert Contee III weighed in strongly on the calls of the movement to defund his fellow officers.
''I don't think those calls are helpful right now,'' Contee said. ''I don't fund the police department. Those are conversations that legislators have. You can really point that to them.
''I've been in this police department for over 30 years,'' Contee told reporters Friday afternoon. ''This is the same movie from when I was a boy growing up here.''
He then called on the justice system to do its part to ensure accountability for crime.
''When are we going to do something different?'' he asked. ''And what different looks like — what does not happen here — is accountability.''
Contee also voiced a strong message in support of law and order, declaring: ''The one thing I know about this city is if you don't hold people accountable for things they do, people will continue to engage in bad behavior. We're not holding people accountable."
Pointing out that 198 people lost their lives in Washington last year, the chief emphasized: ''It's happening where people can't sit down or walk down the streets with their kids. That's when people start speaking up about the issue.''
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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