D.C. councilmember calls for hiring hundreds of new police officers

D.C. Councilmember Vincent Gray put forward a bill Wednesday that seeks to add over 800 officers to the District’s police force while also removing some of the police oversight measures and provisions that became law in recent years.

The proposed legislation calls for the Metropolitan Police Department to increase the number of officers to 4,200 — which would be the highest number in over 20 years.

Mr. Gray’s bill would also remove the public calendar of police disciplinary hearings and cut the position of deputy auditor for public safety. Both provisions were part of a police overhaul bill passed by the council last month, and that Mr. Gray voted in favor of. 

That law, currently undergoing congressional review, has drawn been criticized by some GOP lawmakers as soft on crime and criminals.

Mr. Gray joins other District leaders, including Mayor Muriel Bowser, in questioning whether the council overcorrected in an attempt to reform local policing.

“Tragic and brazen crimes are in the headlines nearly every day. School children are robbed at gunpoint. Our roads are increasingly dangerous. Sadly, the list goes on,” Mr. Gray, the Ward 7 representative, said in a press release. “After a horrendous crime or crime spree, we hear residents call for more police.”

The D.C. Police Union would once again be allowed to bargain over officer discipline when negotiating with the city, according to the bill. That ability was taken away from the union following council action in 2020.

Officers considering retirement would be offered a bonus equivalent of a year’s salary if they stayed on another five years as well.

Brooke Pinto, the Ward 2 councilmember, voiced her support for Mr. Gray’s bill. A spokeswoman for Ms. Bowser told DCist that the mayor is encouraged by the bill’s attention to police staffing needs.

Chairman Phil Mendelson, on the other hand, derided Mr. Gray’s bill in a separate interview with the Washington City Paper by saying that “crime is great for demagoguery” and jeering its prospective recruitment targets.

“Saying that [recruitment] should be 4,100 or 4,200 is not the right way to do it,” Mr. Mendelson told the paper, adding that the previous police academy class had only about 15 of its 30 spots filled. “Put in a bill for 5,000 officers or a bill for 10,000. That’s not going to make a difference because the police can’t get applicants.”

Mr. Mendelson, who championed many of the recent cuts to the force, admitted at a public safety meeting in Adams Morgan last week that the moves came in response to “sentiment,” according to DCist.