New DC bill to address crime one step closer to passing
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WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — New legislation to address crime in D.C. could be one step closer to passing if it gets the green light during a committee meeting Tuesday.
The D.C. City Council’s Committee of the Whole will meet to discuss the Secure DC Omnibus Act, introduced by Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto on January 11.
Slated as an expansive crime bill, the Secure DC Act includes provisions from Pinto’s Secure DC Plan, first introduced last September and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Safer Stronger and ACT Now bills.
The provisions include new gun penalties, making strangulation a felony offense, and allowing officers to review body-cam footage in cases that don’t involve excessive use of force.
DC residents debate ACT now crime bill
The bill would also reinstate the Metropolitan Police Department’s ability to declare “drug-free zones,” which has drawn backlash from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which criticizes the zones for being “failed and ineffective.”
Melissa Wasser, Policy Counsel for the ACLU, says the District should instead “build a comprehensive public safety system that focuses on prevention, effectiveness, and accountability.”
According to the Metro Police Department, homicide in DC is down 62 percent compared to this time last year, but violent crime overall is up one percent.
The Committee of the Whole meeting will be held at 11:00 am on Tuesday.
If the Secure DC Omnibus Act survives the committee process, it will go on to be included for consideration in the next legislative session.
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