WASHINGTON — D.C.’s U.S. attorney is asking the City Council to give police and prosecutors more power to fight back against gun crime. But critics warned of a return to the days of "stop and frisk" during Wednesday hearings on the "ACTIVE Amendment of 2023."
The most controversial provision of the bill targets people already convicted or charged with gun crimes by giving police the right to stop them at any time or for any reason, without a warrant to search for guns if they are out on the street on parole, probation, or pretrial supervised release.
“Any proposal that would allow the police to stop anyone, at any time at random is dangerous, particularly for young Black residents," said Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker during hearings on the bill authored by Judiciary and Public Safety Committee Chair Brooke Pinto, the Councilmember from Ward 2.
D.C.'s top prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves called the "stop and frisk" criticism hyperbole.
“You could only be searched if you were under court supervision. This is not random stopping of individuals on the streets," Graves said.
Graves says 90% of gun offenders end up released by judges before trial and most get probation. The result puts the majority of gun offenders back in the community, he warned.
"You have individuals going back to the same place where they were arrested in the first instance, engaging in the exact same conduct. And what we are telling you is that law enforcement does not have the tools to effectively make sure that these individuals are not rearming themselves," Graves said.
But Councilmember Parker remains unconvinced.
“The question that comes to my mind is how will they know who was on release? How will they know who is at risk?" Parker asked
Graves says about 100 to 150 people get charged with gun crimes per month in the District.
Other provisions of the ACTIVE Amendment of 2023 would:
- Adjust the maximum penalties for endangerment with a firearm;
- Increase the maximum penalty for individuals firing a large number of bullets at a time;
- Require that sentences for possession of extremely dangerous weapons, like machine guns be stacked on top of baseline penalties, rather than running concurrently;
- Create a new offense of unlawful discarding of firearms and ammunition;
- Amend the definition of carjacking to include situations where the victim is not in or immediately next to their vehicle;
- Require judges to issue written findings that set forth the evidence that supported their decision to release an individual charged with a violent crime;
- Classify strangulation and certain sexual abuse crimes as “dangerous crimes” and “crimes of violence”;
- Create a Prearrest Diversion Task Force charged with developing recommendations for increasing the use of prearrest diversion and implementing those recommendations.