Mayor Bowser signs Secure DC crime bill into law
WASHINGTON - D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed into law Monday the new Secure D.C. Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024.
It's a comprehensive piece of legislation designed to combat the crime crisis impacting lives all across the city.
The Secure D.C. Bill was a roughly 100-page piece of legislation passed by the DC Council last Tuesday.
Secure DC Crime Bill passed by DC Council
The Secure D.C. Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024 has been passed by the D.C. Council and is now headed to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's desk.
Now, with the stroke of a pen, Secure D.C. is the law.
The mayor called reporters to the Wilson Building Monday to document her signing the bill into law.
"Secure D.C. will help us rebalance that public safety ecosystem that has changed over the last 10 years, and we’re starting to swing it back to the right place," Mayor Bowser said.
Its key components will take effect immediately, even though Congress needs to sign off on it.
Secure DC Crime Bill: What’s in the Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024?
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.
What's in the Secure DC Crime Bill?
It strengthens gun penalties, cracks down on organized theft, and expands the definition of carjacking.
It also creates drug-free zones and allows for the collection of suspects’ DNA if they’re charged with a violent or sex crime.
There was passionate and sometimes heated debate over several elements of the legislation. Some people say more needs to be done on the intervention side. Others are concerned that the police are being given controversial new powers – some of which were stripped away in the wake of George Floyd's murder.
Bowser said that crime numbers are going in the "right direction."
She reported that for the first two and a half months of 2024, homicides are down 33%, violent crime is down 14%, property crime is down 12% and overall crime is down 13%.
Watch Mayor Bowser sign the Secure DC Bill below: