WASHINGTON — After months of debate over solutions to crime in the District, the DC Council is set to vote Tuesday on a massive public safety package.
The legislation dubbed "Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024," proposed by Councilmember Brooke Pinto who chairs the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, takes from 12 bills prompted after a spike in violence in 2023.
Pinto took to social media on Sunday to say, "Residents deserve to be safe & secure across the District. On Tuesday, the Council will vote on my Secure DC bill that will improve safety by increasing prevention, accountability, & government coordination."
The legislation includes proposals that would create new gun laws in D.C. One of the initiatives would make it an offense to fire a gun in public. Another proposal would increase the maximum sentence for some gun-related crimes from one to five years.
During a Jan. 30 recent public safety briefing, Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters that the District was not doing enough to deal with guns. She urged the Council to approve the "Secure DC" legislation.
Another proposal would allow judges to hold adults and youth accused of certain violent crimes like carjacking in jail until their trial.
"We need to have greater prosecution of juveniles. We have seen our kids become more violent at younger ages and have less accountability, so we think that needs to change," Bowser told reporters following the briefing.
Among the most controversial proposals is the one that would allow DC Police to create "drug-free zones" for up to five days.
Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker says his constituents have raised concerns about how the "high-crime" areas would be designated and work. "If you establish a drug free zone, in a certain intersection or community, what stops them from going down the street?" Parker asked
At-Large Councilmember Robert White has called into question the need for the zones because the conduct that is being penalized is already punishable by DC code.
The "drug-free zones" have also caught the attention of the national civil rights organization Campaign Zero. The group's executive director, DeRay McKesson posting on X, "The #SecureDC plan by Bowser and Pinto is a 'do anything' plan that is just bad policy. And it surely won’t lower crime."
DC Police Union has taken aim at Campaign Zero saying," SECURE DC is common sense, logical public safety policy. Any of these radicals suggesting otherwise should be ignored."
If the Council approves the omnibus public safety bill on Tuesday, they have to approve it again in a separate meeting.
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