'It’s going to make people safer:' DC Councilmember Pinto introduces crime legislation
WASHINGTON - Ward 2 D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto introduced public safety legislation on Wednesday that she says will fill several gaps and make you safer.
Members of the D.C. Council introduced multiple pieces of legislation last fall that got hearings and public input, with violent crime top of mind with a 39% increase last year.
The 93-page bill introduced by Pinto on Wednesday, titled Secure D.C., took those pieces of legislation from last year and rolled it into one omnibus bill.
The bill addresses what Pinto calls continued gaps in public safety. There’s an accountability component for adults and juveniles: New felony firearm offenses, making permanent an assumption of pre-trial detention for those charged with violent crimes, establishing a new crime for organized retail theft, expanding the definition of carjacking to include if someone is near their vehicle and not necessarily in it, creating the possibility for harsher penalties for crimes involving guns. It includes more holistic components too: establishing career training programs at the D.C. Jail to improve outcomes when people are released, grant programs to improve safety in commercial corridors, giving police the ability to declare drug-free zones in crime hotspots.
Pinto says there are around 100 components in this bill meant to improve all things public safety.
"It’s going to make people safer and more secure. It’s going to make residents and businesses and visitors feel safer and actually be safer in our communities, whether that’s ensuring we can prevent crime before it happens with our access to cameras, ensuring perpetrators are held accountable when they do violate the law and that we’re coordinating within our government to better respond to ensure these retaliatory shootings are not as prevalent," said Pinto.
Paul Spires is a Ward 6 community activist. He disagrees with some components of this bill, but overall he says something has to change.
"Some people are not going to like some stuff, some people are not going to get what they want, but this is fair, and we’re in a democracy, we should be able to pull everybody’s words in and bring it to one thing," said Spire.
Pinto says this bill was written with hundreds of public speakers and public input from stakeholders in mind, but is encouraging the council to pass it when it’s formally introduced in the coming weeks.
FOX 5 reached out to each member of D.C. Council. Some said they hadn’t gotten a chance to read the proposed bill.
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Councilmembers Brianne Nadeau and Robert White said they supported something being put forward. While both tell FOX 5 they still have ongoing questions about specific components of the bill, they hear from residents who want something done.
White, who introduced a piece of legislation that rolled into this bill, tells FOX 5 he wants to make sure the legislation would address the root causes of crime in the district.
"We got good feedback, I’ve been in the community a lot talking about the bills, councilmember Pinto and other members have as well. So, from a process standpoint, we’ve gotten a lot of feedback, we’ve had public hearings. People want us to move. And I want us to move as well," White said.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says she supports the measure.
"Passing it will support a system that prioritizes safety and accountability. In 2023, we saw pieces of this legislation move our city in the right direction. Now we can make those provisions permanent and focus on strategies and policies that will continue to make our city safer. I look forward to signing this bill into law and urge the Council to move with urgency to unanimously pass this legislation," Bowser said in a statement.
The American Civil Liberties Union has been outspoken about some of the proposals that wound up in this bill, including giving the ability for D.C. Police to declare a drug-free zone for 120 hours to disrupt open-air markets, certain changes they fear would lessen police accountability and are worried about some changes to favor pre-trial detention for those accused of violent crimes.
In a statement to FOX 5 Wednesday night, those concerns still exist, and they’re hoping D.C. Council rejects the legislation as it stands now.
"We urge the D.C. Council to reject these and other provisions that put both our safety and our rights at risk. Instead, District leaders should build a comprehensive public safety system that focuses on prevention, effectiveness, and accountability," the ACLU said in a statement.
As for what’s next, Pinto says she plans to introduce the bill at a committee meeting next week, then the full council will debate the bill. Indications are there will not be additional public comment directly to the council but it’s up to council members to express individual concerns and proposed markups to the bill.