Now at 5, it happened just an hour ago,
the DC Council passed
that emergency crime bill.
The goal is to try to save
lives and to do it quickly.
I'm Leslie Foster.
I'm Lorenzo Hall.
From shootings to robberies,
we know a lot of our neighbors
just don't feel safe.
Now, with the majority vote,
the DC Council is taking action
to try and stop this bloodshed.
Our Delia Gonsalves joins us lie
outside the 7D police station.
And D not everybody is behind
this new crime bill, right?
That's right. I mean,
we've been hearing a lot from te
mayor and other elected leaders
that there is urgency behind ths
bill because we are in an emerg.
But folks who live here in Ward Eight
say this is always been an emergency.
Ward 8, the neighborhoods around here
are suffering and a lot of folky
we have been dealing with this r
years and been asking for chang.
But now there is a promise withs
bill passing. The change will c.
In fact, the sponsor of the bil,
Councilmember Brooke Pinto,
says the crime bill will make
our streets safer this summer
after much debate and amendment.
The bill passes with a 12 to one vote.
Ward 4 Councilmember Jenice Lews
George voted against the bill.
She offered an amendment striking down
what supporters say is the meat of the bill,
allowing judges to hold a person
accused of a violent crime behid
bars while they await trial.
Now the council member,
who is a lawyer herself,
says this violates due process d
she says the data shows it will
only make matters worse and peo.
Or criminally aligned,
The bill also makes firing a gun a felony,
allows prosecutors to extradite
suspects charged with misdemeanors and
allows GPS data from ankle monis
to be used as evidence in court.
We've seen more than 500 people
shot and 400 separate incidents.
I hear from residents in all 8
wards every single day that peoe
are fearful and want urgent actn
to address these challenges.
Since I've been on the council,
I've been trying to ring the al,
trying to figure out how to supt
Councilman Mcduffie's near act to create
a comprehensive approach to addressing
crime through a public health approach.
It's just recent that we are
putting some teeth in the game
in the last three to four years.
Now I can tell you the bill
passed with that 12 to one vote.
However, they are still debating
amendments to this legislation,
including one offered by Robert White,
which would require the mayor to submit
a report January 1st accountingr
not only where the guns are andw
many guns have been recovered, .
A little more detail on the
manufacturer of the gun,
the the sale, the theft of that,
really trying to track where
these guns are coming from.
The bill, an emergency legislation goes
right to the mayor's desk for signing.
It will last 90 days once she ds
sign this bill coming up at six.
Though not everyone, as we mentioned,
is aligned with this bill,
and even though they're hopeful
it will save lives,
they say it doesn't address some
of the key contributing factors.
To crime in this city.
For now we're live outside out
7D Delia Gonsal's W USA 9 and
this may be just one part of how
we start to get our arms around
this violent crime in the city.
Delia looking forward to hearing
more of those voices in your
piece coming up at 6:00 O'clock.
We can verify though that violet
crimes are happening more oftenn
DC compared to this time last y.
These are the new numbers from DC Police.
Violent crimes are up 33%.
Homicides are up 17%.
And car thefts 117%.
Now under the crime bill,
the DC Council unanimously passn
emergency legislation for DC's 911 Center.
The new law pushes for more
transparency and accountability,
and W USA9 has followed the
problems closely with the Office
of Unified Communication.
From people being sent to the wg
locations to the difficulties
people have making 911 calls,
this new bill will require the,
oh you see,
to make the data public on stafg
shortages and how long it takes
to answer a call and how long it
takes to send help the errors in
the answers of those calls and e
number of calls that are droppe.
All members of the council passd
a bill to launch an independent
investigation into some of the
sexual harassment claims against
former DC Deputy mayor John Fal.
Kyo found Chiquio, You remember.
Resigned back in March,
shortly before allegations madey
two city employees became publi.
And two weeks ago,
WUSA Nine heard reports of 1/3 accuser
who works outside the DC govern.
Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a letto
the Inspector General calling fn
investigation into allegations of favoritism,
bullying and retaliation
in the Wilson Building.
Now the DC Council wants to
launch its own investigation.