Secure DC Crime Bill: Council unanimously passes legislation to reduce crime in the District

WASHINGTON - The Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024 unanimously passed the D.C. Council Tuesday evening. 

The legislation is designed to address the growing crime crisis in the District and what Mayor Muriel Bowser has repeatedly referred to as gaps in the system.

"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," Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement earlier this month. "I look forward to signing this bill into law and urge the Council to move with urgency to unanimously pass this legislation."

Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto introduced the bill, which is a collection of laws that, among other things, would better hold offenders accountable by eliminating or extending the length of statutes of limitations for certain serious crimes, making misdemeanor arrest warrants extraditable and even expanding the definition of carjacking to make sure they can be properly prosecuted. 

"In 2023 we saw a devastating 39% increase in violent crime, a 26% increase in crime overall in the District, 274 people lost their lives to homicide," Pinto said during Tuesday’s council meeting. "Residents are in fear of carjacking, thefts and falling victim to crime across our city. This is unacceptable today. By approving my Secure DC omnibus, the council has the opportunity to take decisive and comprehensive action to make the district safer and more secure."

RELATED: Secure DC Crime Bill: What’s in the Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024?

The bill would also toughen the city's gun laws, make directing retail theft a punishable crime, allow police to chase criminals who pose an imminent danger to the public and introduce new intervention programs for inmates to help lower recidivism rates. 

Additionally, the act would increase protections for senior citizens, children and victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. 

"We’ve all been guided by a desire to keep our city safe and hopefully the public will see that we’ve put in a lot of effort to try to make sure that they understand that we are working our tails off to try to improve conditions because what we’re experiencing right now is absolutely unacceptable," D.C. councilmember Kenyan McDuffie said. 

One of the concerns some have brought to the table, however, is that the legislation could unfairly target Black and brown residents in the District. Some provisions of the legislation were removed to address those concerns, such as making mask-wearing illegal and allowing police to take DNA samples from people upon arrest. 

Pinto says she’s taken input from people in every ward and spoken to the 12 other councilmembers but despite this, some people still are not happy with some parts of the bill. 

"So many of these provisions in this bill do not address the root cause of the harm that’s happening in our city and yes, we all agree that something needs to be done but it wasn’t this and I’m glad the council saw through this. They can go back to the drawing board, they can get some more amendments in there to really address the harm that’s happening in our communities," community organizer Frankie Seabron said. 

This was the first reading of the bill and another is expected in a few weeks. That will be followed by a second vote.