U.S. District Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on Tuesday told Fox News that she plans to implement measures to crack down on juvenile crime with or without local D.C. officials.
The three top Democratic candidates for mayor of the nation’s capital all said during a Monday night debate that they would refuse to cooperate with Pirro’s recently-announced plan to charge parents of juveniles who break the curfew that the city has imposed.
“The truth is that I’m gonna get what I need one way or the other,” Pirro told Fox News’ Lawrence B. Jones on “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday morning. “I’m not gonna let some politician determine whether D.C. is going to be safe. Look, the citizens of the nation’s capital have the right to expect that they will be safe. In fact, they have a right to demand it.”
Pirro announced the plan to hold parents accountable last Friday, but after a massive brawl inside a Navy Yard neighborhood Chipotle went viral, she doubled down in a news conference on Monday.
Hours later, Democrats running for mayor said in unison that they would not work with Pirro, and one even called the curfew plans “dangerous.”
“Right now, using the curfew as a tool for our young people is dangerous. It is dangerous because we have federal troops who are in our city, masked ICE agents who are in our city, and these are the people enforcing this law on our young people,” said progressive Janeese Lewis George, who currently represents the city’s Ward 4 and is leading the polls to succeed Mayor Muriel Bowser.
“And these are not individuals who are trained in de-escalation,” she continued. “They are not accountable to D.C. residents. In fact, D.C. residents have already been killed without any accountability because we don’t have accountability of those agencies.”
DEM MAYORAL FORUM GOES OFF THE RAILS AS RACE HEATS UP TO REPLACE LONGTIME INCUMBENT
She said that instead, the city should expand its youth programming.
Candidates Kenyan McDuffie, a former at-large and Ward 5 councilman, and Gary Goodweather, a real estate developer, along with George, explicitly pledged not to use Metro Police resources to support Pirro’s plans.
Currently, Pirro enjoys the support of Bowser in her effort to crack down on violent teen takeovers in the city.
PIRRO HAILS TRUMP’S DC CRIME CRACKDOWN AS ‘BLUEPRINT’ FOR AMERICA AFTER DRAMATIC RESULTS
Later in her “Fox & Friends” appearance, Pirro explained just how many tools are at her disposal to handle D.C.’s epidemic of youth violence.
WATCH: Wild brawl erupts in D.C. Chipotle amid ongoing efforts to stop juvenile crime
“I can do it through truancy in schools and working with the chancellor of the schools,” she said. “I can do it through the family court. I have talked to the local attorney general, who has indicated that he will work with us. I can get it through the courts — persons in need of supervision. Who are their parents? If there [is] already a court order requiring that they follow fundamental rules from the family court.”
Goodweather told Fox News Digital that while curfews can be a short term solution to the issue, D.C. needs a more permanent plan.
“As mayor, I will implement a youth mentorship initiative through the Capital Corps program to connect young people with mentors, educational opportunities, workforce pathways, and positive community engagement. Too many young people in D.C. feel disconnected from opportunity, purpose, and support systems, and the city must take a more proactive role in changing that,” he said.
He added later that his plan includes adding, “mental health professionals, counselors, and social workers working directly with youth and families so that they never enter the criminal justice system.”
“I’ve got a lot of opportunities to go after these parents, and no one is going to stop me from doing that.”
Fox News Digital reached out to George and McDuffie.
