WASHINGTON — A string of shootings at D.C. police officers has the head of the police union speaking out in an exclusive interview with WUSA9.
FOP-MPD Labor Committee Chairman Steve Bigelow Jr. says the worrisome trend has him worried a D.C. police officer could be shot and killed in the line of duty if something doesn’t change.
“That is my worst fear,” Bigelow said.
That fear was nearly realized when a suspect opened fire on officers during a standoff in the 2200 Block of Savannah Terrace in Southeast last Monday.
The suspect was killed but not before unleashing a hail of bullets on police officers, grazing one in the arm. Another was hit in the chest and saved by his bulletproof vest.
Bigelow said it’s one of three instances D.C. police officers have been shot at in less than two weeks, including incidents in the 5100 block of F Street Southeast on Sept. 12 and another in the 1500 block of Morris Road in Southeast on Sept. 18.
Bigelow says those incidents mimic a national trend. Body-cam video from Baltimore shows police being shot during a routine stop in late August. It lead to a high-speed chase and gun battle in the streets before the suspect was shot and killed. No officers were injured.
Bigelow blames the recent violence against officers in D.C. on the increased policing of the police by the city. He argues the expanded reporting of police stops in the District and the increased number of investigations by D.C. Office of Police Complaints is causing his officers to hesitate and back off on patrol.
“Proactive policing is the only way to solve these problems,” Bigelow said. “We are having people coming up with policing tactics developed in a college classroom.”
Bigelow was referring to community policing, which prioritizes building relationships between officers and assigned neighborhoods over police stops designed to find illegal weapons.
A recent report by D.C. police revealed officers did nearly 11,600 police stops in a one-month period, a number some city council members already felt was too high.
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But Bigelow says the rising murder rate is a sign that violence is spiraling out of control, including acts against his audience. A 17-year-old gunned down on Morris Road in Southeast Sunday night was the 129th murder in D.C. this year.
“And that’s why we have to get ahead of this,” Bigelow said. “We are seeing an alarming trend and we have to work together to protect the brave men and women that keep this city safe.”
The FOP says one direct impact all this has on your public safety is police officer’s recruitment and retention. The union estimates the department is expected to lose about 30 more officers than it gains in 2019, hurting the overall quality of D.C.’s police force.