Illegal guns continue to be a driver of violence in D.C., and the city’s police chief said an agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to bring certain gun cases to federal court is helping crack down on repeat offenders.
In his testimony to the D.C. Council’s Judiciary Committee, Chief Peter Newsham said he has discussed gun violence with new U.S. Attorney Tim Shea.
“Under the former U.S. Attorney Jesse Liu, we had a very strong relationship with our federal partners and our focus specifically is on gun violence and repeat violent offenders,” Newsham said. “I have met with Mr. Shea on three separate occasions — he was in my office yesterday. He has committed to not only continuing the efforts that we started under U.S. Attorney Liu, but also to increase those efforts with regards to federal resources.”
Newsham said Shea agreed to be aggressive in bringing more cases over to federal court.
“He’s agreed to be very aggressive because I think he appreciates the fact that our felons who subsequently go out and pick up an illegal firearm pose a significant danger to our society,” Newsham said.
Over 20% of D.C. homicides in 2018 were committed by felons in possession of a firearm, Newsham said, and 80% of homicides in D.C. are committed by firearms.
D.C. police data shows that since the U.S. Attorney’s Office took on city gun cases in February 2019, 58 people were found guilty in 131 cases.
“All the information we’ve seen is that gun offenders are going to recidivate at a higher rate than other offenders, and to the extent that we don’t take possession of guns and trafficking of guns very, very seriously, I think we’re going to have violence,” Newsham said.
WTOP has confirmed that the man arrested and charged Thursday after a shooting at 14th and V streets in Northwest D.C. was charged as a felon in possession of a firearm. Newsham referenced this as an example of gun felons re-offending.
