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Tag: d.c. council

  • DC leaders outline priorities for next police chief after Pamela Smith’s retirement – WTOP News

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    Once a nomination for a new police chief is made by Mayor Muriel Bowser, the D.C. Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety will hold confirmation hearings before the full council gets a vote.

    Once a nomination for a new police chief is made by Mayor Muriel Bowser, the D.C. Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety will hold confirmation hearings before the full council gets a vote.

    Among those on that committee is Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen, who said he’s looking for a chief who can handle several priorities at once.

    “Certainly, working to have trust in the community, and after what we have seen this last year, a chief that’s prioritizing rebuilding trust with the community and those that do not like to see MPD alongside federal enforcement, alongside ICE officers,” Allen told WTOP.

    Earlier this year, outgoing Chief Pamela Smith and D.C. Police received criticism for working alongside federal officers during President Donald Trump’s administration’s federal law enforcement surge. Many said that move conflicted with D.C.’s Sanctuary Values law and eroded community trust.

    Allen said that trust element is crucial because, despite efforts in recent years to build relationships between police and residents, those ties were strained by the federal surge.

    “There’s no escaping the fact that the decisions made by the chief to have them collaborate and work with ICE and federal law enforcement, I think, has strained the trust for a lot of folks in our city,” Allen said.

    Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto, who chairs the committee, said the next chief has a big role to fill ahead. She wants someone who can rebuild the department’s ranks, strengthen trust with the community and keep federal interference out of local policing.

    “It is critical that the next Chief of Police is committed to honoring the letter and the spirit of our Sanctuary Values law to protect every single resident of our city and to ensure the policy is implemented fairly and with fidelity,” Pinto said in a statement.

    Pinto also stressed the need to recruit and retain officers while maintaining integrity and accountability within the department.

    Allen also believes the next chief must build trust within the department itself.

    “They’ve got to have the trust of the men and women in the department — that’s both the patrol officer as well as the white shirts, that leadership that you see up in the ranks — and that’s a tricky thing, and they’ve got to be able to have that,” he said.

    Allen is also looking for someone who goes beyond the data and takes the time to truly get to know all the communities the department serves.

    “The downside, or the risk you have to being solely data driven, is that you end up over-policing some parts of our city, rather than really focusing on safety and justice and being fair and building community,” Allen said.

    He also believes Mayor Bowser and the D.C. police department must decide if the search is about finding just an interim chief, so the next mayor can choose a permanent leader, because both will need to work closely together.

    “Regardless of who it is, you want that mayor to have somebody that they trust in that position and somebody that we trust,” Allen said.

    When it comes to who is chosen, Allen believes the next leader could come from within the department.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Mike Murillo

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  • DC residents say police department is still cooperating with ICE, violating human rights – WTOP News

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    Last month marked the end of a 30-day cooperation between D.C. police and ICE agents. Mayor Muriel Bowser said then that officers would no longer be involved in immigration arrests. But residents said it’s still happening.

    Dozens of District residents spoke out at a public hearing before the D.C. Council on Wednesday about what they described as a continued collaboration between the city’s police department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

    The neighbors told D.C. Council member Brianne Nadeau, who hosted the discussion, that what they’re seeing on city streets are human rights violations.

    “I walk with my passport in hand,” said Nadia Salazar Sandi, a core organizer with Colectivo de Familias Migrantes, a human rights nonprofit in D.C. “I’m a parent and I can’t fathom being separated from my 3-year old. … My parents walk with a fear that I’ve never seen before, with passport copies in hand and a prayer that nothing will happen to anyone in our family.”

    Last month marked the end of a 30-day cooperation between D.C. police and ICE agents. Mayor Muriel Bowser said then that officers would no longer be involved in immigration arrests.

    But residents said it’s still happening.

    “Every single day within one mile of the house where I was born and raised, 15 to 20 immigrants are snatched up by masked federal agents with no warrants and no due process,” said Tanya Golash-Boza, a professor of sociology at the University of California who studies immigration law enforcement.

    “Our neighbors are being attacked. Families are living in terror. Children are losing their parents. And people are scared to leave their houses,” she said. “If we allow it to continue here, in the nation’s capital, what happens next?”

    WTOP has reached out to Bowser’s office about the residents’ concerns. Her office did not comment on the issue.

    Residents said D.C. police are arresting undocumented immigrants for minor infractions. Then, minutes later, ICE agents will arrive on the scene to arrest them.

    “On the way to grab my morning coffee, about a dozen masked ICE agents were staging in the firehouse parking lot on the corner of 14th and Newton Street,” said D.C. resident Dante O’Hara. “The workers … on the same corner of the firehouse are absolutely terrified. One of their workers told me that she was afraid to walk her daughter to school in fear of being kidnapped in front of her daughter.”

    O’Hara called for the city to follow the lead of Chicago, which recently set up “ICE-free zones.” It bans federal immigration agents from using city property and private businesses as staging areas to scope out suspected undocumented immigrants.

    Residents are also asking the city for more legal services for immigrants and more data collected during arrests to track which agencies are on the scene.

    Nadeau’s committee invited the D.C. Office of Human Rights, which handles cases involving human rights violations, to attend the meeting. She said the office turned down her request to join.

    “If actions by our own agencies do not comply with D.C. law and human rights, we need to know and we need to make demands of the executive to put an end to those actions,” Nadeau said.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Gigi Barnett

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  • US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro says DC Council is soft on juvenile crime – WTOP News

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    The Trump Administration is taking aim at youth crime in Washington. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro is harshly criticizing the D.C. Council for what she says is being soft on juvenile offenders.

    President Donald Trump’s administration is taking aim at youth crime in the District. U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro is harshly criticizing the D.C. Council for what she says is being soft on juvenile offenders.

    Pirro’s remarks come as a key member of Congress is introducing legislation to take back some of the city’s home rule powers, especially when it comes to law enforcement.

    She made her remarks at a Friday news conference announcing the arrest of two teenagers on murder charges in the killing of a congressional intern who was struck by stray bullets during a shooting in the nation’s capital.

    “The D.C. Council has coddled young criminals for years,” Pirro said. “Everything we do, the D.C. Council is looking to change to benefit the criminal. They reject mandatory minimums that the law requires, they don’t force judges to follow the law. They have sometime called youth rehabilitation and incarceration reduction as well as record sealing.”

    Pirro is calling on Congress to change the law so people as young as 14, who are charged with violent crimes, are prosecuted by her office instead of D.C. Family Court.

    “The D.C. Council thinks that these kids need to be protected. They do not need to be protected. They need to be made accountable, and we need to be protected,” she said. “I am advocating and have advocated for jurisdiction over juveniles 14, 15, 16 and 17.”

    Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Massachusetts, was fatally shot on the night of June 30 near the Mt. Vernon Square Metro station in Northwest D.C. Both suspects in his killing — Kelvin Thomas Jr. and Jailen Lucas — are 17 years old but are being charged as adults with first-degree murder while armed, according to Pirro.

    “It’s bad enough to be gunned down on any street, but to be gunned down in our nation’s capital is an outrage,” she said.

    Tarpinian-Jachym was a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was in D.C. to work as a summer intern in the office of Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kansas.

    In July, the House observed a moment of silence after Estes paid tribute to Tarpinian-Jachym, calling him “a dedicated, and thoughtful and kind person who loved our country.”

    House panel sets target on DC’s Home Rule Act

    Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, says the committee will mark up a bill next Wednesday that strips away some of the city’s Home Rule Act, specifically when it comes to crime, criminal sentences, and police enforcement.

    “President Trump and House Republicans are committed to restoring law and order in our nation’s capital city. Under President Trump’s decisive leadership, crime in D.C. is now falling at an unprecedented rate,” Comer said in a statement announcing the markup.

    “The House Oversight Committee stands ready to back the president’s swift action by advancing comprehensive legislative reforms that empower District law enforcement and tackle the escalating juvenile crime crisis head-on. Every resident and visitor deserve to feel safe in our capital, and together with President Trump, the Committee will fulfill its constitutional duty to oversee District affairs and make D.C. safe again.”

    Among other things, it changes the mandatory minimum sentence guidelines when it comes to first- and second-degree murder, rape, first-degree sexual abuse, kidnapping, carjacking, and first-degree burglary.

    It would also lower the city’s definition of a youth from 25 to under 18, trying people that age as adults. Additionally, it would remove the discretion of judges to sentence youth offenders to sentences below the mandatory minimum.

    Comer said the legislation would ensure a safe and prosperous D.C., adding that other looming changes to the city’s Home Rule Act could include:

    • Establishing a uniform 60-day congressional review period for all D.C. Council legislation
    • Eliminating the ability of the D.C. Council to extend emergency laws in perpetuity
    • Providing a line-item veto of D.C. Acts in congressional resolutions of disapproval
    • Prohibiting D.C. Council from withdrawing legislation from the congressional review process and passing substantially similar laws to legislation that was successfully disapproved by Congress
    • Providing clear and concise expedited consideration procedures for resolutions of disapproval in both the House and Senate to avoid the window of congressional review closing before both chambers may act on the resolution

    WTOP’s Scott Gelman contributed to this report.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Dan Ronan

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  • ‘Drivers are flouting rules’: Bill before DC Council aims to address rise in moped use – WTOP News

    ‘Drivers are flouting rules’: Bill before DC Council aims to address rise in moped use – WTOP News

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    A new bill introduced before the D.C. Council on Monday would address the rise in moped use in the city by implementing point-of-sale regulations regarding registration.

    A new bill introduced before the D.C. Council on Monday would address the rise in moped use in the city by implementing point-of-sale regulations regarding registration.

    Ward 1 Council member Brianne Nadeau introduced the Motorized Vehicle Registration Accountability Amendment Act of 2024 alongside Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen.

    “Residents throughout the District have seen a rapid increase in the number of mopeds, many of them used for food delivery. This presents both an opportunity and some challenges — mopeds are better for the environment and for traffic safety than cars, but without proper oversight, some drivers are flouting rules and creating dangerous situations without accountability,” Nadeau’s office said in a news release.

    The bill would require companies that rent out mopeds to register their fleet. Companies that sell mopeds would be required to provide written notice of a vehicle’s classification and registration requirements to potential buyers before selling a vehicle.

    According to D.C. law, similar looking vehicles fall into different classifications, such as motorcycles, motor-driven cycles and motorized bicycles, depending on factors including maximum speed and engine size.

    Each vehicle class has its own rules on registration, insurance and where they can be operated, and according to Nadeau’s office, her bill would also forbid the practice of mislabeling vehicles at the point of sale in order to circumvent legal requirements.

    “We are working to bring some order to the moped food delivery industry and hold sellers, renters, and operators of mopeds accountable,” Nadeau said in the news release.

    She also told WTOP she hopes the bill can make it easier for consumers to purchase the vehicles while complying with the law.

    “The goal here is to make it more like the car buying experience, where the dealership puts in your paperwork with the [Department of Motor Vehicles] and then you wait for it to come in the mail and not drive off the lot with your vehicle unregistered,” Nadeau said.

    “This is about registering the vehicle with the DMV, which is already legally required, but it’s hard for us to enforce after the fact. And so getting at that point of sale is really important for broader implementation and broader enforcement.”

    WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.

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    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Thomas Robertson

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