Bill DeBaun lives with his wife and child in Columbia Heights. Thanks to Bill for taking the time to write this up.
“Last night there were about 20 attendees at the ANC 1A Public Safety Committee meeting at District Bridges in Columbia Heights. The panel last night consisted of representatives from the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. A representative from the Department of Behavioral Health was supposed to attend but couldn’t make it. Notably there was no MPD representative (it appears that was last month, next month will be representatives from community-based organizations engaged in the ANC). During introductions, half or more of the attendees noted they were there out of concern for Columbia Heights’ recent shootings. Attendees identified homelessness, public substance abuse, stop and frisk, underfunding of the NEAR Act, and concerns about MPD training exchanges with Israel, among other issues, as concerns.
Judy Williams ([email protected]) was the DHS representative and discussed her and her team’s work with homeless engagement and meeting those living on the street where they are and connecting them with available resources. She noted there are currently two members of her team on homeless outreach (for the whole city!) and two focusing specifically on opioid outreach and K2 monitoring/prevention (also for the whole city). There was some discussion about whether or not an additional three positions on these teams were funded and just not filled yet or whether funding was pending (I wasn’t clear on where that shook out from my notes, apologies.) K2 (“spice”) is a big problem in Columbia Heights’ plaza, and she noted that they try to keep tabs of what the K2 “hot spots” are to try to put cold water on them by being present as a deterrent and monitoring those who have bad reactions to the drug. (more…)
