Bowser, DC Council respond to calls to defund police

People make their way along 16th Street, Monday, June 8, 2020, near the White House in Washington, after days of protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser responded Monday to criticisms and calls to defund the police that have been made by protesters marching through the District in the wake of George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis.

She said D.C. has been reforming its police department for nearly two decades.

“We’ve been on the pace of reforming our department for the last 18 years; we’ve had the commitment of wonderful police leadership,” Bowser said. “This department is different than many places in the country because of that steady pace of reform over the last 18 years.”

Bowser’s comments come as the D.C. Council is slated to take up an emergency bill Tuesday, which includes police reform legislation put forth by Ward 6 Councilman Charles Allen called the “Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2020.”

Demonstrators protest Monday, June 8, 2020, near the White House in Washington, over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Members of the Archdiocese of Washington march from the White House to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Monday, June 8, 2020, in Washington, after days of protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
A person dressed as a Bible stands outside the St. John’s Church as members of the Archdiocese of Washington, foreground, participate in a protest before walking from the White House to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Monday, June 8, 2020 in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
A message is attached to a tree on the north side of Lafayette Square, near the White House, in Washington, DC on June 8, 2020. – On May 25, 2020, Floyd, a 46-year-old black man suspected of passing a counterfeit $20 bill, died in Minneapolis after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The White House is visible behind members of the Archdiocese of Washington who gather next to a large banner that reads Black Lives Matter hanging on a police fence at 16th and H Street, Monday, June 8, 2020, in Washington, after days of protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition and Show Up For Racial Justice at Macedonia Baptist Church calling for the firing of Montgomery County police officers who’ve shot and killed certain Black men. (WTOP/Ken Duffy)
A man with protesters at the historically Black Macedonia Baptist Church stands with a fist in the air, turning toward traffic in both directions, before a march across River Road in Bethesda , Maryland, on Monday, June 8, 2020. (WTOP/Ken Duffy)
A protest by Macedonia Baptist Church on River Road in Bethesda, Maryland, on Monday, June 8, 2020. (WTOP/Ken Duffy)
The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition and Show Up For Racial Justice at Macedonia Baptist Church calling for the firing of Montgomery County police officers who’ve shot and killed certain Black men. (WTOP/Ken Duffy)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., center, and other members of Congress, kneel and observe a moment of silence at the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, Monday, June 8, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington, reading the names of George Floyd and others killed during police interactions. Democrats proposed a sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures Monday, an ambitious legislative response to the mass protests denouncing the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
A girl poses for a photograph in front of a police fence at in Lafayette Park, Monday, June 8, 2020, near the White House in Washington, after days of protest over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
A worker power washes graffiti off of a statue in Lafayette Park, Monday, June 8, 2020, near the White House in Washington, after days of protest over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Cherise Mattheson and her son, Maurice Rorie, in Lafayette Park on Monday, June 8, 2020. (WTOP/Melissa Howell)
A scene from the protests in Washington on Monday, June 8, 2020. (WTOP/Melissa Howell)
Signs in Lafayette Park on Monday, June 8, 2020. (WTOP/Melissa Howell)
A Black Lives Matter sign in D.C. on Monday, June 8, 2020. (WTOP/Melissa Howell)
Protest signs in Lafayette Park on Monday, June 8, 2020. (WTOP/Melissa Howell)
The scene in Lafayette Park on Monday, June 8, 2020. (WTOP/Melissa Howell)
A scene from the protests in D.C. on Monday, June 8, 2020. (WTOP/Melissa Howell)
The scene in Washington on Monday, June 8, 2020. (WTOP/Melissa Howell)
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Bowser said the budget she submitted focuses on public safety and added that money for D.C. police has increased slower than for social service agencies.

“We saw a 12% change in investments in (the D.C. police) since 2015,” Bowser said. “DHS, our Department of Human Services, has seen a 75% change. Likewise for schools, both (D.C. Public Schools) and public charter has seen a 40% change. (D.C. Healthy Families), which handles a lot of our health programs, has seen a 21% change. (The Department of Behavioral Health) that handles our mental health programs has seen a 15% change. The Office of Victim Services, in the last five years, has seen a 90% increase in funding.

“So, I just want to be very clear that the budgets that we have sent to the council over the last five years have recognized all parts of public safety, policing, but certainly intervention and opportunity programs,” said Bowser.

Police Chief Peter Newsham echoed the mayor’s sentiment.

“We have been on a path to reform for policing in Washington, D.C., since 2002,” Newsham said, before addressing some of the history of the department.

“For those of you who were here prior to 2002, you’ll remember a series of articles about the D.C. police that came out in 1999, where they painted the D.C. police as using more excessive force, shooting more rounds, poor investigations, everything soup to nuts, which painted MPD in a negative light,” Newsham said.

He added that the U.S. Department of Justice got involved and found a pattern and practice of using excessive force.

After several years, D.C. police came into compliance with an independent monitor, according to Newsham, with the monitor finding that the department “was committed to fair, unbiased and constitutional policing.”

“That is something we are very proud of,” he said.

With the push of defunding police departments across the nation, Newsham issued his concerns of underfunding police.

“I think if you look at agencies that have run into similar problems, underfunding or inappropriate funding would be one of the reasons why they got themselves into that position,” Newsham said.

“Funding is required for training. It’s required for recruitment and hiring of the best people, people who are service-minded and look at this job in that regard.”

The police reform legislation put forward by Allen includes prohibiting neck restraints, or “chokeholds,” prohibits officers from reviewing their body-worn camera footage and aims to increase access to that footage, adds police complaints reforms, expands Use of Force Review Board voting members, repeals D.C.’s anti-mask law and puts new limits on “consent” searches.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson acknowledged the shift in the political climate.

“I do believe that the political climate is different today,” he said. “One of the provisions that I mentioned, I’m going to move as an amendment, has to do with OPC. That’s Office of Police Complaints, access to police records.

“That actually was taken from legislation about 10 years ago, that the mayor, when she was a council member, and I co-introduced that I think has a good chance of passing now. I mean, it’s a fairly simple change, but it makes it clear that OPC has unfettered access to relevant records.”

Mendelson addressed the idea of defunding D.C. police directly.

“I think that when we talk about the demand for defunding the police, we need to be clear what that means. Does that mean really reducing the budget of the police department to zero?” Mendelson said.

“We have to remember that as much as there has been attention on issues of police misconduct, very legitimate concerns about police misconduct, actually some very heinous issues with regard to police misconduct, that police also serve a very important function with regard to crime.”

In a statement, Council member at-large David Grosso said he would be introducing amendments to “demilitarize and reduce MPD.”

While applauding Allen’s legislation, he said, “My concern, though, is that the bill does not go far enough to fundamentally alter the dynamics of policing in the District of Columbia.”

Grosso outlined his four amendments, with the first three looking to reduce the the use of military-style equipment and tactics by the police. The use of tear gas and other chemical agents would be prohibited, a regulation brought up in separate legislation by Council member Brianne Nadeau.

In Grosso’s second amendment, police will be prohibited from using rubber bullets and have limited use of riot gear during demonstrations. Lastly, the council member is proposing that MPD be prohibited in participating in training with organizations “that practice discrimination or with any military or intelligence agency.”

“The final amendment would limit MPD to a sworn officer force of 3,500. D.C. currently has 3,863 sworn officers, approximately 55 per 10,000 residents,” Grosso said. “That’s double the national average and well above other cities of its size or larger. D.C. would still lead the pack of similar cities with 50 officers per 10,000 residents under this new limit.”

Bowser and D.C. police have come under criticism from groups such as Black Lives Matter DC, which accused the mayor of “lip service” to the movement.

“We stand by our critique of the D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser after the unveiling of the Black Lives Matter mural and the renaming of Black Lives Matter Plaza,” the statement reads, in part.

“Mayor Muriel Bowser must be held accountable for the lip service she pays in making such a statement while she continues to intentionally underfund and cut services and programs that meet the basic survival needs of Black people in DC.”

DC coronavirus cases

The District reported 57 new coronavirus cases Monday, bringing the total to 9,389.

In addition, two more D.C. residents lost their lives to COVID-19. Total deaths stand at 491.

Below are maps of infections by ward, neighborhood and community spread.

Will Vitka

William Vitka is a Digital Writer/Editor for WTOP.com. He's been in the news industry for over a decade. Before joining WTOP, he worked for CBS News, Stuff Magazine, The New York Post and wrote a variety of books—about a dozen of them, with more to come.

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