The D.C. Council began debating the latest crime legislation this week, with several of the council members raising concerns about possible civil rights violations and a rollback in police accountability measures.
The Secure DC Omnibus bill was introduced on Jan. 10 by Councilwoman Brooke Pinto, combining months of proposals and individual crime bills from council members and Mayor Muriel Bowser. It unanimously passed the council’s judiciary committee but is now undergoing what is expected to be another week of review before it comes to a vote on Feb. 6.
The D.C. Council has faced recent victories when it comes to passing public safety legislation, but it has also experienced heavy criticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill who blame Democratic leaders for rising crime in the district.
Here are three instances of recent district crime legislation and whether their passages were victories or failures.
2020 slash in police funding — Success
In 2020, the D.C. Council approved a $15 million slash in police funding, following a growing trend across major cities in the nation after the Black Lives Matter movement led to increased support for defunding the police.
Instead, the funds were directed to efforts such as hiring a gun violence prevention director, finding alternatives to prosecution, and boosting violence interruption programs.
Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen said at the time the legislation was a “reinvestment” from “traditional policing,” acknowledging that policing was only one part of a “larger criminal justice system that has long overpoliced and overincarcerated our Black neighbors relative to White neighbors.”
Allen is now facing a recall effort led by Jennifer Squires, a former government worker who said the representative of Ward 6 should be more dedicated to curbing crime.
2022 district overhaul of criminal code — Fail
The council passed the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, “modernizing” and overhauling Washington’s criminal laws for the first time in 100 years. The legislation reduced offenses and penalties for homicides, robberies, and carjackings, the three areas that the district suffers from the most.
In February and March 2023, the House and Senate voted to overturn the D.C. Council’s overhaul of the criminal code, marking the first time in 30 years that Congress repealed a local law passed by the council.
Thirty-one Democrats joined Republicans in the House to overturn the criminal code overhaul. In the Senate, 33 Democratic senators joined all Republicans to overturn the overhaul. President Joe Biden signed the measure, effectively negating the district’s new criminal code.
2022 police reform bill — Success
The D.C. Council also passed the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, which aimed to improve police accountability and transparency.
The bill, among other things, prohibited the use of neck restraints, increased access to body camera footage, and revised officer disciplinary procedures, making it easier to fire officers for misconduct. It also weakened the bargaining power of the police union and limited the use of tear gas to disperse protesters.
The House and Senate also voted to overturn the police reform bill, but Biden vetoed the attempt in May 2023. Eight senators who caucus with Democrats joined Republicans in backing the bill, and some Democrats in the House joined Republicans to overturn the police reform legislation, as well.
2023 emergency public safety bill — Success
In the wake of high levels of crime in Washington, the council passed an emergency public safety bill in July. The bill created new offenses for firing a gun in public and made it easier for prosecutors to extradite people with misdemeanors. The most significant provision made it easier for judges to hold people in jail pending trial if they have a history of committing violent crimes.
The emergency crime bill originally sought to broadly increase pretrial detention for juveniles, but it sparked concern from criminal justice reform activists, with Attorney General Brian Schwalb arguing in late June that it could harm juveniles.
Schwalb has come under fire for declining to prosecute several juvenile cases, with former and current lawmakers and other critics arguing that this tactic could lead to many juveniles becoming repeat offenders or escalating to more violent crimes.
2024 Secure DC Omnibus bill — Pending
The Secure DC Omnibus bill addresses many concerns that arose following the passage of the prior legislation. Pinto’s legislation includes over 100 initiatives from 12 small crime proposals already debated by the council and in public hearings.
Juvenile crime has risen substantially in the district, and there currently is a lack of strong policies to detain or prosecute them. In 2023, motor vehicle theft increased 82%, robberies increased 67%, and homicides increased 35%. By the end of January, there have been more than 434 carjackings, 205 robberies, and nine homicides, though carjackings are down by 19%, and homicides are down by 44% compared to this time in 2023.
The crime legislation currently being considered includes establishing drug-free zones, changing definitions of certain crimes and expanding existing penalties, and rolling back some of the provisions in the police reform bill.
Under the omnibus, it would make it a rule that juveniles will be held in pretrial detention if they are charged with certain violent crimes. Officers would be allowed to review body camera footage as they are writing police reports, the prohibition of neck restraints would be loosened, and law enforcement would not need to tell people they are being recorded by body cameras.
Lawmakers debated the omnibus legislation for the first time since it was introduced on Tuesday. Many council members pushed back against several provisions, including the drug-free zones and the measure allowing police to collect DNA from anyone arrested for a felony as opposed to waiting for them to face charges.
“My biggest concern is the provisions that appear to be an abandonment of police reform,” Councilwoman Janeese Lewis-George said on Tuesday via WUSA 9.
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Pinto dismissed Lewis-George’s claim, saying, “I reject that premise that we are abandoning our values.”
The first vote on the legislation will be on Feb. 6.
