DC Government

From a press release:

“With homicides in the District quickly approaching triple digit numbers, shootings and armed robberies skyrocketing, and gun violence raging through all quadrants of the city, immediate measures need to be taken to address this epidemic.

In January of 2015, one of Chief Lanier’s directives went into effect that all vice investigations be turned over to a centralized narcotics unit. While the district vice units continued to exist, their responsibilities dwindled. A few months later, they were ordered to operate in full uniform, thus hamstringing their ability to conduct effective operations. At the end of May 2015, vice was disbanded completely and most officers were sent back to patrol. This is when crime began to spiral out of control.

The DC Police Union believes the dismantling of the district vice units is one of the main contributors to our current inability to combat rampant gun violence. Drug dealers and gang members have taken advantage of this lack of enforcement. Officers who patrol and residents who live in or frequent some of these volatile neighborhoods will tell you that the open air drug markets are flourishing, spurring unchecked violence between the factions fighting for control over the drugs, guns, and money.

The Union is calling for the Mayor and the Chief of Police to immediately reinstate district level vice units. Chief Lanier has stated that the spike in murders is caused by drugs, high capacity firearms, and now gambling. This is exactly the type of enforcement that the vice units were tasked with and successfully suppressed until they were disbanded earlier this year. We are calling for 100 members—10 to 12 officers per district, 1 sergeant, and 1 lieutenant—to be immediately detailed to a 90 day assignment to district vice offices. This would provide a rapid response and deployment to the most affected neighborhoods, directly addressing the violence and crime that is surging right now.

Of course the question is where these officers would come from, considering the Union has been highlighting the manpower issues in the department. But the current deployment strategies being employed are nothing short of an embarrassment and are not fooling anyone. Fixed posts, light towers, pop-up canopies? This city needs proactive policing, not scarecrows on the corner. At an evening roll call in the Seventh District last week, 22 assignments were given out, 18 were fixed posts—officers ordered to stand at a location and not move from it lest they be disciplined. The Union believes that a portion of these officers can be repurposed into district vice units to begin instantaneous interdiction of violence and start apprehending the persons responsible for these crimes.

Please stand with our officers and demand that enforcement and investigation of these crimes begin immediately. We have highly trained and motivated officers who want to protect your families and our communities. Tell Mayor Bowser and Chief Lanier that you want effective policing in your neighborhood, not security guards.”

Bullet hole from 3601 Georgia Ave, NW taken in 2012

From an email:

“Mayor Muriel Bowser’s failure to protect the citizens of the District of Columbia continues. Last week I wrote about the crime surge the city has seen. It’s only gotten worse since.

Matt Shlonsky was 23 years old, a 2014 graduate of American University and an employee at Deloitte. He was walking near the Shaw Metro station yesterday, minding his own business, when he was randomly killed, a victim of a drive by shooting in what has become a lawless Shaw community.

As an elected city official I call on the mayor to immediately implement a true plan, with specific actions, to take back our communities from the violent crime we’ve seen recently.

The following are ten simple strategies that could help right now. If I can come up with this list I expect our mayor and her leadership team in the executive branch can come up with an effective and comprehensive plan to solve this problem. (more…)

From the Shaw listserv after the latest shooting on O Street last night:

“The mayor has failed to address the surge in crime in many neighborhoods across the city. While other cities have had it far worse it’s extremely distressing that small areas of our city continue to be a problem year after year to the point where I hope for evening downpours to drive the criminal element inside thus reducing the chances of violence. The mayor needs to demand action by her agency leaders and call a meeting with prosecutors to discuss lenient sentences and lack of prosecution of violent arrestees. MPD can lock them up but violent offenders need to stay behind bars.

There was a discussion about additional lighting and cameras at the rec months ago and we are still waiting. These are not complicated fixes. The park rangers can’t even be troubled to pick up a piece of trash when walking because it’s become accepted that some of our parks are models for the broken windows theory.

There are also members of the community who know who are responsible for these crimes but they keep quiet due to fear or being known as a snitch. Until the community as a whole reaches a tipping point of no longer accepting the culture of violence our challenges will persist.

I encourage all to call 911 any time even petty crime is witnessed, be it possession of an open container of alcohol, illegal gambling “dice,” public pot smoking, public urination etc as these issues often lead to bigger issues and also lend themselves to what appears to be a culture of acceptance by some of petty crime around the greater area of Kennedy Rec. The more calls for service PSA 308 gets, the higher the likelihood of more officers becoming permanently assigned to the PSA.

Charlie Bengel
Commissioner
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2F06
Chair, Logan Circle ANC Public Safety Committee”