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When the value of life in itself becomes a numbers game, life loses its absolute value in quantification. Relative Numeric Values become the standard and balance to weigh life itself. Whether it decreases or increases. Safety itself only becomes relative, than foundational. Tragedy becomes standardized as a see-saw of relative acceptablility and normality.
It ups the penalties for certain gun-related offenses, creates new gun-related offenses like “endangerment with a firearm,” and an offense for discarding a firearm or ammunition. It lowers the threshold for retail theft, making it a felony to steal $500 worth of merchandise (the current threshold for retail theft felony is $1,000). The bill also creates penalty enhancements for crimes targeting certain groups of people, like transit workers, seniors, and adults with disabilities. And it creates a penalty enhancement for crimes committed near a recreation center.
It makes strangulation — which can be a precursor to domestic violence-related homicides – a felony. And it includes a provision that would allow police to force people who evade Metro fare to provide their true name and address, or be detained and subject to a fine.
It also revives an anti-mask provision that D.C. did away with during the pandemic (when masks were introduced as a public health measure); Pinto argues that bringing back a law that prevents people from wearing masks for the purpose of committing a crime or creating fear or intimidation will provide police with “a basis for a stop, for articulable suspicion” that could prevent crimes like carjacking.
Drug free zones
Under the policy, the police chief could declare a small, defined area as a “drug free zone” and decree that for up to five days, it would be illegal to gather there “for the purpose of participating in the use, purchase, or sale of illegal drugs.” Then, police could order people who they believe are involved in drug activity to disperse — and arrest them if they ignore those orders.
Changes to pretrial detention, DNA testing, and access to GPS data
The bill maintains changes to D.C.’s laws governing pretrial detention for people accused of crimes that went into effect after the council passed emergency legislation over the summer. The changes tilt the law in favor of pretrial detention for both adults and children accused of certain violent or dangerous crimes. While only a small percentage of people on pretrial release are arrested for violent crimes while awaiting trial, Bowser and Pinto argue that even small numbers of reoffense can have devastating consequences. Opponents, like Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George – the sole “no” vote on the emergency bill over the summer – argue “there is no credible evidence that pre-trial detention would make D.C. safer.”
The bill also makes other changes to procedures related to arrests and evidence collection – like allowing authorities to collect DNA evidence from people earlier in the legal process, and clarifying that certain GPS records for people under pretrial supervision are permissible to use as evidence against them in court.
Police reform rollbacks
The bill also rolls back several police reforms the D.C. Council has passed in recent years, incorporating pieces of Bowser’s “ACT Now Act.” The changes include allowing officers to view their body worn camera footage as they’re writing police reports, except in cases where the officer is accused of using serious force against someone or killing them.
The bill also loosens the city’s prohibition on police neck restraints. Police leadership, the police union, and individual police officers themselves have argued that the law passed by the council as part of a slate of police reforms is overly broad, leading officers to be penalized or disciplined for times when they accidentally touched someone’s neck or touched their neck in an effort to protect them from self-harm. The change to the law clarifies that incidental touching is not prohibited, and also allows police to use a neck restraint for the purpose of limiting a person’s movement. (Mike Tobin, who heads D.C.’s Office of Police Complaints, testified this fall that he agreed the policy needed to be tweaked to carve out incidental neck touching, but said allowing the use of a neck restraint to restrict movement goes significantly too far).
Other police reform rollbacks include eliminating a requirement that police inform contact subjects that they’re being recorded by body worn camera, and allowing police vehicular pursuits to continue if there is a risk of death or serious bodily injury to a person fleeing a crime (the policy would continue to prohibit vehicular pursuits that endanger other members of the public).
The bill would also pare back an expansion of public access to certain police disciplinary records that the council previously approved."
If it allows the police to move in on open-air drug markets like the McDonald's sidewalk on Minnesota Avenue near Benning Road, I think it is great! Break that mess up or get arrested. Also, I've been saying all last year that I believe the crime surge in DC was necessary to get the legislation we're about to pass. The impact of the 2023 crime surge will be felt in DC from a policy standpoint for the next 30 years. We needed it! The DC Council was becoming so progressive and liberal it was becoming practically legal to be a criminal. Those days are long gone in DC. They are about to put your butt in jail!
If it allows the police to move in on open-air drug markets like the McDonald's sidewalk on Minnesota Avenue near Benning Road, I think it is great! Break that mess up or get arrested. Also, I've been saying all last year that I believe the crime surge in DC was necessary to get the legislation we're about to pass. The impact of the 2023 crime surge will be felt in DC from a policy standpoint for the next 30 years. We needed it! The DC Council was becoming so progressive and liberal it was becoming practically legal to be a criminal. Those days are long gone in DC. They are about to put your butt in jail!
Yea the use and sale of all those drugs is already illegal though lol. But hopefully something works. I've seen it before something already plainly illegal but unenforced and then rather than saying “were enforcing now” they just add a layer for optics and/or make an ordinance and begin enforcement they could've done anyway. It's good but just kinda silly dog and pony show.
I imagine (because of the state/region they’re in) that places such as Jackson, Birmingham, Houston, and Kansas City are much “tougher on crime” than Boston or San Diego. Yet they obviously have astronomically more murder every year.
Obviously, any change that will reduce violence in DC is a good thing. But if it were really as easy as enacting tougher laws, wouldn’t those aforementioned cities be less violent?
I imagine (because of the state/region they’re in) that places such as Jackson, Birmingham, Houston, and Kansas City are much “tougher on crime” than Boston or San Diego. Yet they obviously have astronomically more murder every year.
Obviously, any change that will reduce violence in DC is a good thing. But if it were really as easy as enacting tougher laws, wouldn’t those aforementioned cities be less violent?
Louisiana has ridiculously tough sentencing. Super high crime. The issues are cultural and can vary within ethnicities from city to city.
We say Boston doesn’t have high crime cuz of immigrants….. but western cities full of Mexican immigrants still have bad crime. You see it in Tucson Albuquerque and many places in California. You see pretty crime among Somali immigrants in Minnesota in a city that's majority white.
I imagine (because of the state/region they’re in) that places such as Jackson, Birmingham, Houston, and Kansas City are much “tougher on crime” than Boston or San Diego. Yet they obviously have astronomically more murder every year.
Obviously, any change that will reduce violence in DC is a good thing. But if it were really as easy as enacting tougher laws, wouldn’t those aforementioned cities be less violent?
I'm going to disagree as the approach have been similar with spikes in crime(e.g: more police, more community outreach programs, stricter curfews, charge more for violent crimes, prayers). Jackson have the policy E.J.E.C.T that been in place since mid 010s. The recurring complaint is lenient sentencing by the local courts, similar to New Orlean per say, and that violent offenders are back on the streets within a few years or less.
Louisiana has ridiculously tough sentencing. Super high crime. The issues are cultural and can vary within ethnicities from city to city.
We say Boston doesn’t have high crime cuz of immigrants….. but western cities full of Mexican immigrants still have bad crime. You see it in Tucson Albuquerque and many places in California. You see pretty crime among Somali immigrants in Minnesota in a city that's majority white.
These things are very localized and cultural.
Miami homicides was lowest in 2023 the city of Boston have more than Miami for first time in decades. Miami have large immigrant population. New York City homicides are going down as well past 3 years.
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