Brooke Pinto to Tell Latest on Crime Bill at Monday’s ANC Meeting
By • February 29, 2024 0 310
An aggressive omnibus crime punishment bill, developed by Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto, is facing its second vote of approval on Tuesday, March 5.
At 7 p.m. on Monday, March 4, Pinto will discuss details of the bill — remotely — at the Georgetown-Burleith-Hillandale Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E’s monthly meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. See the agenda here. The meeting will be in person and at Georgetown Visitation Prep.
Representing Georgetown, Council member Pinto is chair of unquestionably the hottest committee in the city right now: the Committee on the Judiciary & Public Safety.
The committee is charged with confronting and fixing D.C.’s most perplexing — some say “perceptional,” albeit most visible — problem: a rising crime rate, including robberies, armed carjackings and homicides. Most all are committed by youth who became almost untouchable and unpunishable in a series of regulations passed by an increasingly self-described progressive District Council loosening enforcement actions across the board for increasing number of incidents of serious unpunished crime, including open mass daytime robberies in stores such as CVS — impacting city commerce. Stores have closed because of it. Outside dining has decreased in many newly popular areas of D.C. — making Georgetown now the top dining destination in the city. New commercial projects and plans for federal workers to return to in-office work — crucial for the revitalization of the downtown — have become negatively impacted by the crime.
Last July, Pinto, who had just been elected to a second term, introduced omnibus legislation, “Secure DC,” that includes provisions from Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Safer Stronger Amendment Act of 2023 as well as the Addressing Crime Trends Now Act (ACT Now) of 2023.
“We know that driving down crime requires us to send a clear message that if you make our city less safe, if you bring violence to our community, you will be held accountable,” Bowser said. “Passing it will support a system that prioritizes safety and accountability. I look forward to signing this bill into law and urge the Council to move with urgency to unanimously pass this legislation.”
Basically, “the comprehensive legislation consists of seven pieces of new legislation, as well as pushes to make temporary legislation permanent, and calls for greater oversight hearings regarding 911 operations and District violence interruption programs” according to city sources. It increases penalties including incarceration for violent crimes and heightens law enforcement surveillance. “It is a necessary response to rising crime,” said Pinto.
Critics, however, are concerned that the new legislation would allow the Metropolitan Police Department to randomly stop or seize anyone on parole, probation or supervised release for a gun conviction — which several D.C. judges say may be unconstitutional.
“Too many of our residents are afraid. My comprehensive package of legislative initiatives is a compilation of common-sense, targeted interventions that will urgently and practically improve safety for DC residents,” Pinto has said and will likely point out at Monday’s ANC2E meeting.
