Stop the growing violence in the District

[Guest I support Jack Evans]

In response to the recent spike in violent crimes, the DC Council assembled this week for a special emergency session to consider Mayor Williams' "Enhanced Crime Prevention and Abatement Emergency Amendment Act of 2006". Over the past 45 days, I have heard from more than 800 residents requesting cameras be installed in neighborhoods and additional police officers on the streets. Not only in police cars, but also on foot, bike and horseback patrol.

 

The emergency legislation, which passed 12-1, authorizes the Mayor to:

 

Change juvenile curfew hours (established by the Juvenile Curfew Act of 1995) from 12:00 am to 10:00 pm;

Use $12.9 million from the Contingency Reserve Fund to cover overtime costs to deploy 300 additional officers (see below for complete expenditure list); and

Install 23 closed circuit TV (CCTV) cameras.

During the discussion, I offered two amendments to the emergency legislation, which were both accepted. The first amendment allows an Advisory Neighborhood Commission, Civic or Citizens association to request CCTV cameras be placed in their neighborhoods. This request would need to be reviewed and approved by the Chief of Police, but allows a neighborhood to have the request considered. The legislation also states the Chief of Police shall inform the neighborhood and Ward Councilmember if it is determined a CCTV camera needs to be placed in their neighborhood. The second amendment I offered exempts the purchase of the 23 new CCTV cameras from the procurement process. Contracts to purchase and install the cameras would still require DC Council review before approval, but the process can now be fast-tracked.

 

The $12.9 million expenditure from the Contingency Reserve Fund, requested by the Mayor, will fund the following projects:

 

$8 million - to fund MPD overtime costs for the deployment of 300 additional officers for a period of six weeks;

$2.3 million - to install CCTV cameras;

$2 million - to fund overtime costs in other agencies to support and fund government operations associated with graffiti, abandoned vehicles, streetlights and blighted buildings;

$380,000 - to expand Partnership for Success to serve 100 additional youth;

$75,000 - to support girl/gang crew mediation and peace building initiatives;

$70,000 - to support expansion of recreation and street outreach in Police Service Area (PSA) 104 in Ward 6; and

$50,000 - to support and fund the Gang Intervention Partnership (GIP) in PSA 302 in Ward 1.

As residents, I hope you understand the importance of placing cameras in residential neighborhoods. Our goal is to reduce violent crimes and, with the aide of these cameras, we now have the potential to accomplish this expeditiously. We have 90 days to test the new measures, after which we will have to work through the permanent piece of legislation.

[Ward Three Blogger]

We know that there is only one person that is against the DC Emergency Crime Bill. Hey he is running for Mayor without a plan.

 

Oh! Before he as against the cameras he was all for em.

 

Gotta love google.

[aglue]

Fenty said he voted agains the crime bill because he felt it was a knee-jerk reaction and that better crafted/more effective bill could've been put into place.

 

sounds like it could be a legitimate reason not to vote on something.. but he would also need to propose his own version of "better" crime bill. I wonder if he's done that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We know that there is only one person that is against the DC Emergency Crime Bill. Hey he is running for Mayor without a plan.

 

Oh! Before he as against the cameras he was all for em.

 

Gotta love google.

[Guest Guest]

I saw where Mary Cheh distributed a press release outlining the basics behind a bill with teeth to help mitigate the crime in the city. You can see it at www.marycheh2006.com.

 

 

Fenty said he voted agains the crime bill because he felt it was a knee-jerk reaction and that better crafted/more effective bill could've been put into place.

 

sounds like it could be a legitimate reason not to vote on something.. but he would also need to propose his own version of "better" crime bill. I wonder if he's done that?

[Guest Janet in Ward 4]

I was watching television Sunday morning half asleep. I cannot remember the station, but

it was public access. I remember Kathy Patterson talking about not increasing the number of

law enforcement officers in the District.

 

Helllllllllllllllooooo Kathy.

You want to be a head of the DC Coucil right. Well you seem to be ignorant of what is going

on. You should not be representing nobody. Do you know that we have more people living in

the District now????? More people means more problems.

 

I am not sure about the cameras either. I don't want someone watching me scratch my butt.

But, crime is bad and kids are smoking blunts on streets. Something has to be done. What about

places to get books. All those books in Martin Luther King library are old. I have to go to

Georgetown to get my books.

[advocacysusie]

DC Action for Children, the District's only multi-issue advocacy organization dedicated to improving conditions for children and youth in the city, has weighed in on this issue. We did not oppose the curfew change but in our comments to the City Council suggested that the change will not have a permanent impact on youth crime, violence and victimization. We also suggested that NOW is the time for the city to invest in long-term solutions -- like drug treatment, substance abuse prevention, mental health services and many other proven services. If you would like to learn more about what we said, go to www.dckids.org and click the link to "A letter Regarding Crime to The Honorable Linda Cropp."

 

Also on the site is information about the 5 Promises to Kids Campaign -- an action-focused campaign to heighten awareness and move people to action for children and youth in the nation's capital. That information is on the home page. The promise related to violence and safety is Promise 1.

 

Susie Cambria

Deputy Director/Public Policy

DC Action for Children