'The status quo is unacceptable:' DC leaders debate how to tackle rising crime rates
WASHINGTON - There were some vast disagreements at a Wednesday Public Safety Committee Hearing in D.C. Council Chambers. But there was a big thing everyone agreed on: As it relates to D.C.’s current crime problems, something has to change.
The hearing was for the Addressing Crime Trends, or ACT Now bill. 80 speakers signed up.
A large number supported the bill, saying anything was better than nothing, and it would address the rising violent crime that’s plagued the district in 2023.
Another set of people thought this bill would do nothing to address carjackings, robberies and gun violence, the increasing trends that seem to concern people most.
Another group said they like some components of the bill, but have concerns about others.
Becky Strauss is an ANC Commissioner for Gallery Place-Chinatown who supports the legislation.
"My main message is that the status quo is unacceptable. And as you’ve said, the solution to the crime wave, there aren’t any easy fixes, there isn’t one solution, there have to be many solutions within the very elaborate ecosystem that is D.C.’s public safety system," Strauss said.
In part, the bill would give police the ability to create temporary drug-free zones at known open-air drug market locations. It would also create criminal penalties for organized retail theft and reinstate a law making it illegal to wear a mask in order to commit a crime.
The bill would also clarify some policing practices, the mayor’s office says to bring policy up to date with reality.
Specifically, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office said it would delineate between incidental contact and serious force when an officer touches someone’s neck. It would also give officers an opportunity to review body-worn camera footage before writing reports.
Speakers against the bill Wednesday had civil liberties concerns, and worries this could lead to over-policing, or unnecessary negative interactions with police.
Paul Spires is a community activist generally against the legislation, particularly as it relates to the drug-free zones.
"It has nothing to do with the drug zones. If that was the case, a person wouldn’t be getting robbed on 10th and D street on Capitol Hill, that’s not a drug zone, so what are we talking about here? The tourists, I work in tourism, the tourists are not afraid to come to D.C. because of drugs, they’re afraid of coming to DC because of violence, that’s it," Spires told Fox 5.
Chief Pamela Smith spoke to the committee in support of the bill.
"There are significant crimes that are happening here in the District of Columbia, one specifically around retail theft. We see a lot of armed carjackings, and also robberies with young people and young adults are using ski masks. This is the legislation that we’re going to need to give our officers additional tools to investigate these kinds of crime," Smith said.
As to the critique about this bill missing the mark on the crime problems, Smith said it will give police additional tools to help stop crime. And in response to the civil liberties concerns, she says the department practices constitutional policing, adding general counsel has reviewed the bill.
This bill is one of a few others meant to stem some of the crime problems in the District.
The ACT Now Bill will continue going through legislative review, and a hearing on some of the other public safety bills will happen in December.