DC Government

“Dear Popville,

Thought this might be of interest, an interactive map showing DC Parking violations over the month of May 2016. This was the most recent month of data published by DC Open Data.

There are three layers that can be activated via the layer selector in the top right a corner. Density, Time Animation(Showing violations is aggregated into a 24hr period), and violations catorgorized by State Tags.

For reference there were ~126,000 violations for this dataset.

Randy Smith”

From the Mayor’s Office:

“This afternoon, Thursday, September 29, Mayor Muriel Bowser hosted a signing with Channing Phillips, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia (USAO) and DC Attorney General Karl Racine (OAG) to announce a partnership between them to advance the Safer, Stronger DC public safety program. This partnership calls for the Bowser Administration to transfer $1.2 million in funds to the OAG to be used for the hiring of additional attorneys and enhanced training of attorneys who will be detailed to the USAO where they will help prosecute crimes. The partnership will hasten bringing to justice those charged with violent offenses and help protect residents and neighborhoods in the District of Columbia.

Full press release after the jump. (more…)

Since August we’ve relayed numerous reports of streetlamps out all over the District. From a press release:

“Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a week-long effort to identify street light outages in all eight wards of the District and launched Text to DC311. Immediately following the announcement, teams of District Government employees went into neighborhoods across all eight wards where residents have reported the most outages to take an inventory of broken street lights.

“We have 70,000 street lights in the District and too many of them do not work. By fixing street lights, we can make District streets safer, stronger and brighter,” said Mayor Bowser. “By launching Text to DC311, we are offering residents a more convenient way to report outages, as well as other issues. We know that everyone’s time is valuable, and we are doing everything we can to bring city services to your fingertips.” (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user Miki J.

“Dear PoPville,

I’m trying to update the address on my D.C. License and also renew my vehicle registration. Online it states you can change your address while updating vehicle registration but I don’t see this option. It also states you save the $20 change of address fee when you change your address with another service (like registration).”

Anyone do this recently with success?

From a press release:

“In the wake of a fatal shooting in the 2300 block of 11th Street NW last week near Cardozo High School, and a reported sexual assault in the 1700 block of 21st Street NW in the Dupont Circle area, as part of its on-going effort to improve public safety, staff did a walk through of parts of Dupont Circle last night, as well as around Cardozo High School and parts of Adams Morgan. Over 30 street lights were found to be dark – creating further safety concerns following the discovery of streetlight being out in Georgetown in the wake of sexual assaults there, as well as street lights being out in upper 14th Street, along Georgia Avenue and along U Street NW.

“It is simply unacceptable in this day and age to have all these street lights out”, says Executive Director Terry Lynch. “You have people using the streets who are less safe – people are coming home or going off to work, they are back from dining out or other recreation, visiting neighbors or friends …….street lights need to be working, he said. “The DC Government should do a 30 day citywide sweep to return all lights to working order, and also use current technology to be alerted immediately when street lights are out so they can be repaired within 24 to 48 hours”.

Street lights that were out were located at: (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user Erin

From DMV:

“The District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles is warning customers about a phishing scam to collect money from past due tickets. In an email from [email protected], customers are being told that they have a Notice of Unsatisfied Photo Enforcement Ticket. The notice also directs customers to click the link to “Lost Traffic Tickets.”

Photo Enforcement tickets are mailed through the United States Postal Service to the address of record based on the tag number. Also, DC DMV mails the Notice of Unsatisfied Photo Enforcement Ticket, and it contains specific information on how to contest the ticket by submitting a request for adjudication. DC DMV only contacts customers via email if they have registered for DC DMV’s email ticket alert system. Then, they will receive an email notifying them to log into their account when there is a ticket update.

Customers who receive this email notice should report it to the Federal Trade Commission, which has detailed information for consumers on how to handle phishing scams.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Caroline Angelo

Heads up indoor swimmers – from DPR:

“Today, the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) released the 2016 Fall/Winter Indoor Pools Maintenance closure schedule.

DPR’s indoor, year-round aquatic centers will undergo yearly scheduled maintenance to deep clean the pool and facility.  Pools will temporarily close in phases, beginning on Sunday, October 9, 2016.

Barry Farm, Ferebee-Hope, Marie Reed and Therapeutic pools will not close/undergo maintenance. During each respective closure, all programs, permits and classes will be suspended at that particular facility. Please contact the Aquatics Division (202-671-1289) if you have any questions or require further assistance.
INDOOR POOLS CLOSURE SCHEDULE (more…)

A reader has been keeping exceptional records about all the street lamps out in Ward 1. They pass on their latest that they sent to the Mayor’s Office:

“The following lights were at as of tonight the 12th of September:

13th and U St se corner
S and 14th at side of 1740 14th St NW
12th and T Streets NW me corner
8th and T Streets NW NW corner
8th and T Streets NW se corner
10 Streetlights in front of 1840 7th St NW
1914 8th St NW
1390 Kenyon St NW
2 streetlights at 1377 Kenyon St NW
Park Rd NW and Pine St – side of Sacred Heart Church

In addition Howard University’s lots on 7th and T and 7th and S were both open and unmonitored and had all their lights out – about 9 lights altogether out and also their lot at 9th and W had its lights out.

Thank you for any assistance you can provide DDOT to insure streetlights are working.

I have lived in Ward 1 for 35 years. I have always experienced the Ward getting 2nd tier service from city agencies compared to Ward 3. Ward 2 and the federal zone. I remain hopeful that will change under Mayor Bowser.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr.TinDC

Thanks to all who passed on links to this depressing article from the Washington Post:

“The criminal justice system in this city is broken,” Lanier said, citing what she sees as the lack of outrage over repeat offenders as a key reason for her decision to take a job as head of security for the National Football League. “It is beyond broken.”

D.C. Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of police, said that while he understands Lanier’s “frustration with [D.C. police] bearing the brunt of the public’s outrage over crime in the District, I wholeheartedly disagree with her characterization that our criminal justice system is broken beyond repair.”

Read the full story here.