DC Council passes controversial emergency crime act to combat city's rising violence

WASHINGTON (7News) — On Tuesday, the D.C. Council voted 12-1 to pass an emergency crime act revised by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser following a recent rise in crime in the city.

Parts of the emergency act that have generated controversy involve making it easier for the court system to keep suspects accused of violent crimes in jail prior to their trials.

The act makes it easier to keep a defendant in custody before trial if the court finds “probable cause” that the defendant committed a violent crime. It also makes it easier to keep juveniles detained before their cases are resolved if the court “finds a substantial probability that the youth committed a crime of violence—such as carjacking—or a dangerous crime, whether or not it was committed while armed.”

Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George was the only member of the D.C. Council to vote 'no' on the emergency act. Before the vote, she raised concerns that the vast majority of adults who will be held in custody pretrial will be Black. However, the act points out the majority of violent crime victims in D.C. are also Black – one part said 106 of 127 homicide victims as of July 5 were Black men.

Lewis George told the council she was also concerned the act violated due process rights for defendants accused of a crime.

“In this country, we have a standard – innocent until proven guilty,” Lewis George said in an interview before the council meeting. “And in order to take away your liberty, you have to meet a high threshold. And so when we sort of are reimagining that threshold, I think we have to be thoughtful about reimagining what that threshold is.”

But in her opening remarks before Tuesday’s vote Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who introduced the legislation and had the backing of Mayor Bowser, said making it easier to keep people accused of violent crimes in custody was an important step to reducing crime.

“This change responds to the serious problem of a revolving door in which far too many people commit serious crimes, are arrested for them, and then end up right back on the streets sometimes hurting other people,” Pinto said to the council.

The act also creates a felony offense of endangerment with a firearm aimed at “offenders who recklessly fire a weapon in public.” In addition, it makes strangulation a “standalone felony offense.”

It also clarifies GPS records held by the Pretrial Services Agency can be admissible in court to prove a defendant’s guilt; the resolution states current law is unclear.

The act also has other provisions, the text of it can be read here.

There were some changes made to the bill above which can be read here.

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According to Bowser's office, the legislation will:

• Enhance penalties for violent crimes that victimize or target vulnerable residents with physical or mental impairments as well as expanded protections for transit and for-hire vehicle employees, transit passengers, and people at rec centers.
• Increase penalties for illegal gun possession.
• Make strangulation a type of felony assault (strangulation is a key indicator that domestic violence will become deadly).
• Strengthen provisions that allow individuals to petition for early release to ensure the voices of victims and community receive proper consideration.
• Provide greater discretion for the Courts to determine who should be held pre-trial, including defendants previously convicted of a violent crime while they await trial for a new violent crime.
• Increase the reimbursement for the District’s popular Private Security Camera System Incentive Program which strengthens public safety by increasing the network of cameras available to assist MPD in solving crimes and closing cases.
• Require the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council to report more data on process and outcomes.
• Proposes collecting DNA earlier in the process for First Degree sexual offenses after the probable cause hearing.
• Supervisory agencies shall, upon request of MPD, provide MPD with location and identification data collected from any detection device necessary in conducting a criminal law enforcement investigation.
• Expands the District’s representation on the DC Sentencing Commission.

Bowser released the following statement following the Council's approval of the emergency legislation:

"Dear Washingtonians,

Today, the Council approved Councilmember Pinto’s emergency legislation that includes several provisions from my Safer Stronger Amendment Act of 2023. I want to thank Councilmember Pinto for her partnership, leadership, and sense of urgency, and I want to thank the more than 150 people who testified two weeks ago at the Council hearing.

We know that a safer DC is possible. And our community is in agreement that the status quo is unacceptable. People getting killed on our streets is unacceptable. People getting their cars or property stolen at gunpoint is unacceptable. Parents being afraid to let their children play outside or seniors being afraid to walk to the bus stop is unacceptable. The legislation that the Council passed today will fill gaps in our criminal justice system and, in doing so, will increase accountability for violent and criminal behavior and make our city safer."

A spokesperson for the mayor told 7News she will sign the resolution. Because it is considered an emergency measure due to rising violent crime in the city, it will only be in effect for 90 days. The council is expected to revisit the changes made in the resolution in the fall and decide whether to make them permanent.

The council also unanimously passed an emergency resolution Councilmember Brooke Pinto introduced to allow police chases of suspects under limited circumstances.

READ | City leaders slam Congress for considering blocking criminal code, critics push for move

Pinto said the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has determined a police reform act that went into effect in April essentially forbids chases. Her resolution that passed aims to change that, and among other things references a June 21 carjacking in which MPD felt it could not use a helicopter to chase a carjacked vehicle with a six-year-old in the backseat because of the act.

Part of the declaration reads: “The legislation would retain strict limits on pursuits, allowing them only where the fleeing suspect has committed a crime of violence or poses an imminent threat to public safety and where pursuit is necessary and can be conducted in a way that mitigates the risk of injury to innocent people.”