My Initial Review of the Secure DC Omnibus

There’s a lot to like in the Secure DC Omnibus, which incorporates several important bills working their way through the legislative process now. And there are parts of the bill I need to know more about: how they will be implemented so that they don’t have the unintended consequence of making us less safe or violating people’s civil liberties. District residents have a right to feel and be safe. I commend Councilmember Brooke Pinto for bringing together many proposals into one package the Council can move on quickly.

• Carjacking. Residents are rightfully fearful of this violent crime and the numbers have increased dramatically in the last year. Currently, the law requires a person to be inside their car the moment it is taken from them in order for the offender to be charged with carjacking. This legislation expands the definition of carjacking to include when a victim is within the vicinity of their vehicle, but not in it. This is a commonsense improvement.
• Case Closure. The case closure rate in the District of Columbia is too low. I’ve introduced my own legislation to close more homicides by increasing the reward and providing relocation and other assistance to witnesses. The Secure DC Omnibus requires more reporting on case closures, allowing for the type of transparency that fuels advocacy and change, and better results for victims and communities.
• Shoplifting. The Mayor’s proposal, incorporated into this omnibus package, creates a new offense of “Directing Organized Retail Theft.” This law is intended to go after the organizers of retail theft and resale, which is the right approach. My staff and I are also exploring ways to require online resale platforms to reign in the sale of stolen goods.
• Safe Commercial Corridors. This law expands the original pilot program called the Safe Commercial Corridors Grant program in downtown, Shaw, and Adams Morgan, which I helped fund in the FY 2024 budget. It assists business owners in contributing to a safer environment with various improvements, from lighting and pedestrian improvements to cameras and safety ambassadors.
• Victim Services. As a community we owe it to victims of crime to support them. We also know supporting victims heals communities and breaks the cycle of violence. This legislation increases support for victim services and victim compensation, something I have long championed.
• Red Flag Law. I introduced this law in 2017, in which family members, police, and mental health professionals can ask a judge to temporarily remove a person’s firearms if they believe they present a danger to themselves or others, because of emotional distress or other issues. This tool, which has been incredibly effective in other states, is being underutilized in DC. The legislation calls for additional public awareness campaigns to promote the law, which is critical to increasing the use of this life-saving legislation
• 911 Call Center Oversight. The Office of Unified Communications, which operates the 911 call center, continues to be routinely understaffed and make errors in dispatching that cost critical seconds and minutes in police and fire and emergency medical services responses. The legislation requires more reporting and data transparency, which has been either nonexistent or lacking.
  I introduced my own 911 bill recently, which would transfer all fire and emergency medical services calls to a call center manned by Fire and Emergency Services Department personnel who can better handle those calls and allow the existing 911 center to focus on police calls.
• Drug Free Zones. This provision would allow MPD to declare a drug free zone for up to five days in areas experiencing high levels of drug activity and dangerous crime. I’m working with colleagues to tweak this provision to ensure it does not harm people who are in crisis, specifically people with substance use disorders who need services, not arrest. When they are barred from being in the places their caseworkers know to find them, they don’t get support, which is harmful to them and to community safety.
• Transparency in Officer Disciplinary Action. I am concerned that, as written, the bill proposes to limit the Office of Police Complaints, which provides civilian oversight of law enforcement misconduct, from accessing police disciplinary records. This provision could deteriorate community trust in the Police Department in the communities they serve, which would have the unintended consequence of making their jobs harder and our communities less safe.
• Body Worn Camera Footage. The Mayor’s ACT Now bill, incorporated into the omnibus, would allow police officers to review footage of their body worn camera before writing their initial reports. There is plenty of published evidence-based research that shows when police review BWC footage, officers may become convinced that they observed a certain detail during the event, whereas they only saw it later in the BWC footage. This leads to unintentional misrepresentations of an event they witnessed first-hand. I will need to learn more about this policy from MPD and how they plan to minimize the effects it will have on officer memories during trial.

Combatting crime is a complex and comprehensive process, and this bill offers a number of solutions to difficult problems. My team and I are reviewing every provision to ensure we consider big and small ways this bill will impact our communities, and work to make any necessary adjustments. I am hopeful that the Council can move quickly to vote on the package before the end of the month.