Washington, D.C.,'s utterly dysfunctional 911 call center , laws that empower criminals, and anti-police members of the Council of the District of Columbia, such as Phil Mendelson , Charles Allen , and Brianne Nadeau , make the already very challenging job of city police officers harder than it needs to be.
To her credit, police Chief Pamela Smith (who has been in office for one year now) appears to get this. Last November, she appointed a distinguished officer and Marine combat veteran, Jeffrey Kopp, as commander of the force’s Violent Crimes Suppression Division. Kopp seems to be doing an excellent job: Violent crime remains high but is down significantly from last year.
It also bears stating that there are a lot of good police officers in D.C. I’ve personally had very good interactions with Commander James M. Boteler Jr., Detective Dominique Carter, and Officer Qasim Sheroz. It’s impressive that officers such as these remain dedicated when gunmen such as Adrian Vinson ambush rivals, shoot them, pause, and then finish them off , only to receive a mere five years in prison and release rap songs celebrating their murder. Oh, and then get released early, break their terms of probation, and receive only an additional six-month sentence (Vinson was subsequently sentenced to five and half years on a separate gun-drug charge).
Still, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s response times are unacceptable. If shots are fired, the police response is extremely fast. But for other, serious crimes, D.C. residents are never sure whether help will be fast or slow. City residents have offered numerous examples of waiting for hours for police to respond, even when the call involves serious crimes such as assault , robbery , and aggravated burglary . Too often, officers also fail to take basic investigative steps even when abundant evidence is available. And don't even try to get a police response from a call to the 311 nonemergency line. When I had a theft in my backyard, I only received a police response after I told the dispatcher I was searching for the suspect myself.
But while response times are too slow, it’s not uncommon to see two or three police cars sitting next to each other. While this will sometimes be a proactive measure or staging for operations, it also seems likely that officers are sometimes choosing to chat with one another rather than respond to a call for service.
Talking to numerous police officers, I believe two main factors are at play here.
First, there is a lack of support from politicians and prosecutors in the face of police efforts to confront habitual offenders. The restrictions placed on police officers in pursuing even suspected robbers or carjackers are indicative of this big problem. Moreover, the incentive for a police officer to take risks to find and arrest a criminal is low when said criminal is repeatedly back on the streets the very next day.
Second, a lack of police officers in D.C. means existing officers have to work excess overtime. Officers are overly stressed in a job that is already inherently stressful.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Top line: D.C. police officers need greater political, prosecutorial, and public support. But they also need leaders who push officers to police proactively. Darnel Robinson, the operational head of north D.C. patrol operations, and Ramey Kyle, the head of south D.C. patrol operations, should address these concerns.
In doing so, they will deserve robust support — not just when things go well but also when those being pursued crash their vehicles and officers are unfairly blamed.
Most Popular
Comments / 0