After years of misguided policy prioritizing social justice over public safety, the D.C. Council of our nation’s capital finally passed legislation last week that could have begun to swing the pendulum back toward law and order.
But even though the bill does not go far enough, efforts are already afoot to weaken it before final passage by the same forces that have made the District of Columbia one of the least safe cities in the country.
That Washington is suffering an intolerable crime wave is incontrovertible. There was a 39% increase in violent crime in 2023, a 26-point jump in crime overall, and more homicides than in 25 years. This has been caused by ill-conceived criminal justice reforms that mean bad guys are not deterred from crime. Criminals love the soft-on-crime measures that have included restrictions on pretrial detention, the decriminalization of illegal street vending, and an end to police pursuits.
By a unanimous vote last week, the D.C. Council rolled back many of these reforms. This was a positive step, but it did not go far enough.
The legislation, named the Secure DC Omnibus Amendments Act of 2024, makes it easier for judges to detain youths charged with violent offenses, but it does not make it mandatory or even presumptive. The legislation does make adult detention presumptive but still gives too much leeway to judges to bypass the detention mandate.
The legislation creates a new “organized retail theft” crime, but it still leaves police without the tools needed to build a case against street vendors selling stolen goods. The council voted to decriminalize illegal street vending, making it a civil rather than criminal offense. Without the threat of criminal penalties, police cannot investigate these cases. The decriminalization of illegal street vending should be repealed entirely.
The legislation ends a complete ban on police chasing criminals but still allows it only when there is an imminent threat of danger to the public. Police need more discretion to decide when it is necessary to pursue a fleeing suspect.
The bill also revives a 1990s “drug-free zone” program that allows police to identify an area where drugs are being sold and empowers them to arrest those who refuse to leave the area. It should be easier to arrest suspected drug dealers. And there is no good reason why the legislation limits a “drug-free zone” designation to just five days. Five days is not long enough to shut down an open-air drug market.
Instead of trying to strengthen the legislation, however, the usual social justice groups are trying to water it down or remove provisions entirely.
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The Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission claims the pretrial detention provisions are “too expensive,” and the American Civil Liberties Union claims drug-free zones don’t reduce crime. The groups are pushing to have each of these reforms excised before the D.C. Council votes on final passage at the end of this month.
If the council wants to stop businesses and residents fleeing the city, it must ignore these soft-on-crime voices and do what is necessary to make sure criminals know their time is up.