DC elected leaders left message ‘they were not supportive of police officers’: Journalist
Fox News contributor Jessica Tarlov and Daily Caller Editorial Director Vince Coglianese weigh in on rising crime in Washington D.C. and cities across the U.S.
As gun violence continues to surge in Washington, D.C., a mass exodus from the police department forced top brass to change its patrolling strategy in communities permeated by violent crime, and Mayor Muriel Bowser is imploring the city council to approve her plan to get more officers on the force.
The latest homicide came Monday when gunfire rang out just before 4 p.m. in the 600 block of Jefferson Street, Northwest. A man, later identified as 35-year-old John Edmonds, was declared dead at the hospital.
Police later arrested 23-year-old Treavon Johnson, who was charged with second-degree murder while armed in connection to what detectives believe to be a domestic-related dispute.
The incident came just 24 hours after a separate triple shooting Sunday in the 100 block of Q Street, Northwest. Two young men, identified as 22-year-old Jovan Hill Jr. and 19-year-old Tariq Riley, were found suffering from fatal gunshot wounds outside an apartment complex in the Truxton Circle neighborhood. Police said a third victim walked to a hospital. No arrests have been made.
As violent crime persists, the DC Metropolitan Police Department has been shrinking.
Washington Metropolitan Police officers. (Washington D.C., Metropolitan Police Dept.)
Manpower is currently at 3,584, which is 208 officers less than a year ago, Chief Robert Contee said in an internal video message last week which was later obtained and published by Fox 5 DC. The department is on a trajectory to shrink to just 3,460 officers by the end of September 2022, he said.
"We can no longer operate as we have done in the past," Contee said. "Violent crime continues to affect our community every day… Our overall violent crime and homicide rate is at the same level as last year. Every loss of life is tragic. Every loss of life no matter where it occurs in our city whether it gains national news or not is unacceptable and it underscores how crucial our work really is."
Contee cited several other high profile shootings that happened recently. A mass shooting claimed the life of 6-year-old Nyiah Courtney, who was killed at a D.C. intersection while waiting for a bus with her mother. Three people were wounded when shots rang out outside Nationals Park, sending crowds inside the stadium into a fury as the game was cut short during the sixth inning.
The chief said data does not support, in an environment of a shrinking workforce, that a fixed post is the most effective way to deploy police resources. The department will pivot its strategy to "more intelligence-layered patrol deployment."
"Specifically, with our shrinking workforce, we cannot afford to dedicate officers to individual blocks or corners on fixed posts," Contee said. "This does not mean that we’re going to be ignoring areas that are the most susceptible to violence. Quite the opposite, strong evidence based research shows a greater impact when officers spend an average of 10 to 15 minutes every two hours in a specific area versus being assigned to a particular location, corner or block continuously."
‘THE FIVE’ BLASTS LEFT-WING ACTIVISTS DENOUNCING COPS WHILE MINORITY AREAS CALL FOR MORE SUPPORT
He also stressed that officers would be expected to foster relationships with community members in the neighborhoods they patrol.
"To make this effective, I will rely on you to engage the people on your beat, to get to know them better and to build true relationships," Contee said. "I know you do this already. And I know not everyone you come across wants to talk to the police. Contrary to what it may sometimes seem, as I move through communities, I consistently hear there’s a genuine desire by many in our community to have stronger relationships with officers who patrol their neighborhoods."
This change in strategy comes a year after demonstrations swept through D.C. and elsewhere in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Amid activists’ triumphant calls to "defund police" and widespread civil unrest in some areas, the D.C. City Council revised Bowser’s fiscal year 2021 budget, reducing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s budget by $32 million. That represented an about 5.4% decrease and $9.6 million from police was redirected to "violence intervention," the Washington City Paper reported.
Now, as Bowser’s fiscal year 2022 budget is being reviewed by the city council, the mayor spoke to Fox 5 DC on Monday to stress that the plan calls for the hiring of 100 new officers and police cadets.
"We want to make sure that my full proposal is funded by the council," she said. "We want every D.C. resident to feel safe in their home. Every business and visitor to feel safe. I am concerned about the shrinking numbers and it’s been a hallmark – certainly of my tenure – to get the number of police officers up. We’ve been focused on a retirement bubble for many years and we were finally bending the curve in that bubble. And we have to make sure we continue to make the case with members of the council to ensure that there is funding for the number of officers that we need."
Last year, during the height of the "defund police" movement, Bowser said her budget was not approved to hire the number of officers needed by the community. "We had a year of no police hiring," she said Monday, explaining that she notified the Council last week that the city would use whatever overtime dollars needed to make sure that there are enough officers out on the streets and in neighborhoods.
"There’s a limit to that, however. We want our officers to be fresh and make good decisions, so the chief need to make decisions on how best to deploy them and use that overtime," she said.
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Records show that Bowser’s proposed budget would further cut the police department’s funding by 5.8% compared to what was approved by the city council last year. The mayor proposed a $514 million operating budget for the police department, with a target goal of 4,823 employees.
Her plan also proposes a 172% increase in funding for Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, a so-called violence interruption agency first formed in 2017. Despite the dramatic increase, its funding would still be significantly lower than that reserved for the police department. Bowser proposed a $28 million operating budget and to expand the office to 58 employees.
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