Town Meeting on Crime, 9/14

I was late for the meeting (6:00 start times are tough for us working folks), so I won't attempt a comprehensive recap. But I got there in time for most of it, and the refrains were familiar, though attendance seemed down a bit from last time.

One recurring theme was the complaint that the police aren't following up on information provided by residents, and therefore people aren't calling the police because they think there will be no response. Another was that there are a number of fine police in the district (officers Barnes and Brown were specifically cited), but also too many who are lazy and ineffective. The need for community policing was cited again. (The police representatives cited the new out-of-car patrols, mounted police presence, etc. to show something was being done of this sort.) [Comment: I can't say I've seen much of that--has anyone else?]

One resident suggested that night courts were needed to process people when they are arrested rather than force the arresting officer to return in the morning to do the paperwork. The judge on the panel said that this was unnecessary in a city this size and not an effective use of resources, but Chief Ramsey said that he thought we should have "night papering" because the current system was a big disincentive to making arrests. The Chief also said that he needs specific information on ineffective cops, not just vague complaints, and reiterated (as he did in June) that if people want to remove criminals, they need to report the information that they know about the crimes.

ANC2C chairman Thorpe got praise for his anti-crime efforts, and noted (as did others) that the new surveillance cameras had caused the problem hang-out locations to shift to other corners. He again cited the Lincoln-Westmoreland and Kelsey Gardens apartments as places where drugs are being dealt openly and where other crimes are recurring problems. (He pointed out that both these places are in Alex Padro's district, claiming that Padro's area had the most crime, while his was the safest. Padro then said that actually Barbara Curtis's district had had the most shooting. I thought I detected some eye-rolling in the audience during these statements.)

Councilman Jack Evans said he would convene another meeting probably in January or February after the new Fenty administration was in place and promised to have the new mayor and council chairman there.