DC Councilmember's bill aims to help get crime lab fully reaccredited
WASHINGTON (7News) — With the D.C. crime lab recently getting partial reaccreditation, Councilmember Robert White is hopeful his public safety bill will help maintain the Department of Forensic Science's overall capacity and performance, especially during DFS's re-accreditation process.
More than two years ago, the crime lab lost its accreditation over concerns of how it handled evidence and ran the office. Last week, 7News On Your Side reported the crime lab got two units reaccredited, allowing them to once again conduct DNA and drug testing.
However, the ballistics unit did not gain reaccreditation, meaning the lab still cannot test evidence related to gun crimes.
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"I'm glad we got two parts of our crime scene division up and running, biology and chemistry. My bill focuses on a different part. This is the crime scene investigators, the people who collect and analyze the evidence like guns and ballistic evidence. That is where we still haven't gotten accreditation," White said. "We still need my bill, which focuses on fixing what's broken in our public safety system so we can hold people accountable and make our city safer."
White introduced the Whole Government Response to Crime Act of 2023, which addresses multiple public safety issues - including requiring the mayor to collect and publish firearm tracing data, requiring the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement to study the effectiveness of violence reduction programs, establishing a Victim Services Coordinator within the Office of Victim Services, and creating a 911 System Improvement Task Force to study the effectiveness of the Office of Unified Communications 911 system.
The bill also adds a financial incentive for recruits to the crime lab, as well as requires reports on employees' performance.
Specifically, the bill authorizes the mayor to provide up to $5,000 for new and existing employees. It also requires the Department of Forensic Sciences to write up an annual report detailing the total number of employees, amount of incentive funding disbursed, percentage of crimes responded to within 30 minutes and 14 days, number of crimes processed, and recommendations for improvement.
7News asked White how this bill could help the ballistics unit get reaccredited.
"In order to get reaccredited, we need the best and brightest who are in the agency to stay, and those who aren't to come. That's how we get reaccreditation, by having competent professionals who know what they're doing and can get it done. That's what my bill aims to do: keep the strong people who are there, attract the people who we need there until we can get ballistics up and running," White said.
In 2023, D.C. saw its most homicides since 1997, with the number of such crimes increasing by 35 percent compared to the previous year.
The new year got off to a violent start, with the first murder of 2024 taking place less than two hours into the year.
This is happening even as the rest of the country is seeing a 12 percent drop in homicides, including in major cities like New York, Chicago, and Detroit.
"The District, unlike most jurisdictions in this nation, is seeing an increase in homicides. Most places, it's going down. We need to be able to hold people accountable to reverse this trend. We should be moving in the opposite direction we are so when we close this gap, we are going to be able to make our city safer," White said.
With many of these murders involving guns, White said it is crucial to get the ballistics unit up and running again.
"Until that happens, he have to send this stuff out to other crime labs. We're not their priority, so federal prosecutors are having to decide which cases they're going to prosecute or not prosecute. That's why we're seeing so many people commit crimes and get released, and this notion that there are no consequences for crimes," White said.
7News On Your Side also asked White if he knew when his bill will be up for a vote in committee and in front of the full council.
"I know the chair of the judiciary committee wants to move them as quickly as possible. I plan to check in with her this week to see when we're going to mark up these bills and move them to a final vote," White said. "I do believe we will pass it in the next month or two, but on the specific date, I have to check with the chair of the committee. I have had extensive conversations with Chairperson Pinto. She wants to move this as quickly as possible. I do, as well."
White continued: "People are dying in our city. People are scared. People all across the city, in every neighborhood, are being affected by gun violence. We need to make sure we are fixing what's broken to reverse this trend, so people feel safe. If we don't do that, folks are going to move out of our city, they're going to stop coming to dine here. That will have such a catastrophe on our economy, on people's safety. We have got to get this right, right now."