ANC6A Commissioner Asks MPD for Help on 17th and Benning Road Trouble Spot

ANC6A Commissioner Asks MPD for Help on 17^th and Benning Road Trouble Spot

by Larry Janezich

ANC6A07 Commissioner Sondra Phillip-Gilbert says she has struggled to get the attention of MPD District 5 officials regarding trouble spots in her single member district including one at 17^th and Benning Road.  Last Thursday, at a safety meeting/walk following a shooting near 15th and C, NE, which left two wounded and residents alarmed, Phillips-Gilbert delivered an impassioned plea to MPD Officials asking for assistance in her own adjoining single member district.  She asked First District Commander Morgan Kane and Assistant Chief Ashan Benedict to come to her single member district and walk with her on a tour of trouble spots.  She spoke the hurt and pain she feels because she is unable to help the residents who come to her with their concerns. 

Her single member district 6A07 in the northeast corner of ANC6A is bordered on the north by Benning Road and on the east by 19th Street, and largely by 16^th Street on the west.  The district lies in MPD District 5, outside of First District Commander Kane’s responsibilities.  Benedict, an MPD Executive Assistant Chief, participated in last week’s meeting because he is a nearby resident.  Fifth District Commander William Fitzgerald was not present at the safety meeting  which was in the First District. 

Phillips-Gilbert seized the opportunity to draw attention to her problems by inviting Commander Kane and Assistant Chief Benedict to come and walk with me her in the Rosedale Community and provide the same support that they were giving her neighboring ANC district. 

She told Capitol Hill Corner, “My concern is that when public safety issues are presented, as Commander Kane stated, we must also include other agencies and resources to lend support to address these public safety concerns.

My concern is that the Rosedale Community does not get the wrap around support and strategy to resolve the chronic public safety concerns. We tend to receive what I call the Band-Aid approach whereby; they give you just enough support from one or two agencies to hold you together until the next explosion hits the community, and then you start the process all over again.

I want to see all agencies and MPD come together to sit down with me and discuss strategies on resolving the chronic public safety concerns at 17th and Benning Road, and other hot spot areas throughout the Rosedale community this year.  It is my hope that by the close of the Summer Crime Preventive Program that I can speak on how effective the program addressed the concerns of the community and restored my hope and faith in them all.”