ANC6B Special Committee on Public Safety Hears CM Brooke Pinto on Crime

CM Brooke Pinto, Chair of the City Council’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee

Michelle Chappell, Legislative Lead for Moms Demand Action DC

Rev. Judie Shepherd-Gore Executive Director & Founder of InnerCity Collaborative CDC.

ANC6B Special Committee on Public Safety Hears CM Brooke Pinto on Crime

by Larry Janezich

Posted August 29, 2023

Monday night, ANC6B Public Safety Committee, chaired by Resident Member Lisa Matsumoto, held the latest in a series of meetings on crime in ANC6B.  Last night’s hearing featured CM Brooke Pinto, Chair of the City Council’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee; Michelle Chappell, Legislative Lead for Moms Demand Action DC; and Rev. Judie Shepherd-Gore Executive Director & Founder of InnerCity Collaborative CDC.

CM Pinto:

Office of Unified Command (OUC) – 911.  Cited the recent District Dogs incident as an example of many stories of loss of life and tragedy which she ermed “unacceptable.”  Pinto pointed to an Emergency Transparency Bill for OUC which passed on July 11 which requires the office to track errors, the cause of errors, the number of employee shifts, the number of dropped and missed calls and the number of calls directed to other response teams.  Pinto says she is urging response agencies to step up hiring.  She said the Mayor did not sign the bill but it will go into effect for 90 days this week. 

Former ANC6B Commissioner Kelly Waud asked how Pinto will address retention of staff at OUC.  Pinto said she would seek solutions in pay, bonuses, part time employees, and pension access to make it more attractive for people to stay instead of retire.

Pinto said the Council’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee has a five prong approach to reduce violence:

• Prevention
• Support MPD
• Ensure accountability
• End the cycle of violence
• Ensure collaboration and coordination among city agencies and federal partners

To some of those ends, other emergency crime bills passed in July would:

• Expand camera rebates
• Establish a new standards for strangulation and discharge of firearms in public
• Expand pretrial detention
• Make sure MPD can pursue vehicles in circumstances where public safety is at risk.

Pinto said she was also working to strengthen the Victims Protection Act and finding ways to support young people by increasing funding for after school activities.  She also pointed to an Eyes on the Street pilot program slated to start on October 1 in Downtown, Shaw, and Adams Morgan.  The program would provide Public Safety Program grants to commercial corridors to use as they see fit to address crime issues.

The Judiciary and Public Safety Committee will hold a hearing this fall on permanent versions of the bills.  Pinto also said the Committee would hold a Round Table at the end of Sept with Acting Chief of Police, Pamela Smith.

Michelle Chappell, Legislative Lead at DC Moms Demand Action:

Chappell provided background on the Moms Demand Action – a grassroots movement advocating for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence.  The organization is nationwide, with chapters in all 50 states and hundreds of local groups within those chapters. 

She addressed MDA’s support for CM Robert White’s amendment to emergency legislation passed in July that requires tracing crime guns to the last known point of sale or loss.  This provides a way to hold gun stores who allow “straw purchases” – buyers who buy not for self but with the intention of reselling guns – accountable.  She said a small number of stores turn a blind eye to straw purchases. 

Chappell also pointed to some things not contemplated in the emergency legislation passed this summer but which came up in a community meeting she attended in Ward 5 as root causes of violence:

• Income inequality
• Lack of conflict resolution
• Food security
• The role of social media in escalating conflict 

Finally she cited a recent study in Brooklyn, NYC, which found that a primary motivator for youths carrying guns is fear of dying or fear of harm to family members.  She said she would not be surprised to find a similar result if a survey was taken in DC. https://momsdemandaction.org/about/

Rev. Judie Shepherd-Gore, Executive Director & Founder of InnerCity Collaborative CDC (ICCCDC):

InnerCity Collaborative CDC is a nonprofit that operates as a community development program focusing on assisting disadvantaged youth and families through mentoring, high risk strategic interventions, housing assistance, counseling, and other social service referrals.  It is supported by grants from Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) and partners with city organization such as Credible Messengers, Cure the Streets, and the Safe Passage program among others, to provide administrative support and case work. 

ICCCDC also works to increase collaboration with MPD to create a new policy approach toward the community rather than the continuing an older adversarial model.  Shepherd-Gore is currently pressing for restoration in cuts in funding for the Safe Passage Program.  In response to a question from Special Committee Vice Chair Jody Kent Lavy, Shepherd-Gore said that Credible Messengers are paid $50,000 a year for high risk work often involving far more than a 40 hour work week.  InnerCity Collaborative employs a significant number of returning citizens who help do this work.  

Asked what the Special Committee could do to lend support, she replied – “have conversations like this.”  In addition, she listed some of the kinds of contributions such as clothing, shoes, and toiletries that would help InnerCity continue its work.   https://www.innercitycdc.org/about-us/our-leadership-team/