Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) will hold a community meeting to discuss crime in the Mount Vernon Square and Shaw neighborhoods on Monday, December 14, from 7-9:30pm at the New Community Church, 614 S Street NW. According to Mendelson's announcement:
- The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss what the Council has done/can do to improve public safety in the Shaw and Mt. Vernon Square neighborhoods. I have asked that the MPD and U.S. Attorney's office send representatives, and intend that the bulk of the meeting with me devoted to answering questions from those who attend.
This is a good opportunity to ask Councilmember Mendelson, who chairs the Committee on Public Safety and Judiciary, about his positions on various anti-gang/crime initiatives, such as civil gang injunctions, pre-trial detention, and anti-loitering laws.
Residents might also press federal prosecutors as why we have situations such as that of Tony Randolph Hunter, where an individual is beat up and dies in our neighborhood, and his assailant receives just six months for simple assault. Or situations where shooters are arrested by police with discarded guns recovered, yet they are not held.
The forum may also be an opportunity to ask about the role that gang mediation-type groups play in reducing the violence, how money allocated to such groups is spent, and the results it produces.
Finally, residents might ask why the D.C. Council essentially eliminated the vacant property tax, which, by pressuring derelict landowners to put property back into productive use, makes us safer by having more eyes and ears on our block, more vibrant neighborhoods, and reduces the number of locations that are prime opportunities for crime.
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