DC agencies ‘not performing as they should’ to reduce crime, ODCA says
WASHINGTON - The Office of the District of Columbia Auditor said in a report Monday that D.C.'s agencies were not "performing as they should for maximum impact on crime reduction."
The report summarized recent audits regarding crime in D.C., and comes one day before the D.C. Council is set to vote on the Secure D.C. Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024.
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The D.C. Council will hold the first of two votes Tuesday on the city's newest crime bill. The Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024 was introduced by Public Safety Committee Chair Councilmember Brook Pinto last year. The bill is a collection of different laws proposed to address what Mayor Muriel Bowser has repeatedly referred to as gaps in the system.
"Who is doing what, and who has done what, that is relevant to crime and the fear of crime in the District of Columbia? In the last four years, the Office of the D.C. Auditor has published comprehensive reports with findings and recommendations touching many of the alphabet soup of agencies in the District’s criminal justice ‘ecosystem,’" reads the report.
"In summary, though, here is what our recent work says: agencies whose purpose includes preventing and solving crime and mitigating the effects of crime are not performing as they should to have maximum impact on crime reduction."
In the report, the ODCA says the "failure to quickly and collaboratively restore the Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) to full performance has limited the availability of sworn members of the MPD to perform patrol and investigative functions."
The Distric's DFS has been without accreditation for years. In October, FOX 5 reported that D.C.'s crime lab could regain accreditation as early as January – but the lab remains unaccredited and unable to analyze evidence like DNA, firearms and fingerprints.
"The forensic lab’s loss of accreditation that has severely hampered the investigation and prosecution of crime was a result of administrative, supervisory and oversight failures across the criminal justice ecosystem," the report reads.
ODCA says the DFS Crime Scene Sciences Division has not met the longer-term goal of fully staffing the division with civilian forensic scientists.
"That has meant that active-duty Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers continue to help operate CSSD, contrary to a longstanding goal of civilianizing the division so officers can return to other police duties," the report reads.
With MPD officers assigned to crime scene responses and shortages within DFS, DFS cannot respond to crime scenes quickly, which could lead to lost or contaminated evidence and delayed crime scene reports – plus a delay in MPD officers turning the scene over to DFS and returning to their patrols.
ODCA also focused on the Office of Unified Communications and the District's 911 system, citing a 2021 report that found that "OUC did not meet national standards in getting timely help to callers needing emergency medical assistance."
"The Mayor’s refusal to acknowledge failures of the District’s 911 system seriously delayed recruiting and hiring so shifts at the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) could be fully staffed and all calls answered according to national standards," the report reads.