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Council Members Signal Support for Crime Plan
On the issue of juvenile records, Williams said police have had difficulty obtaining the information despite the current legislation. "It's been interpreted out of existence," he said.
But youth advocates fear that the police will now have a way to track down any juvenile who is arrested.
  Mayor Anthony A. Williams, who appeared before a Senate panel yesterday, wants to institute an earlier youth curfew and install surveillance cameras in residential communities in response to a crime surge. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post) |
"Opening up juvenile records to police, where they will be able to target and harass young people who have done nothing wrong, is contrary to best practices and positive youth development," said Jason Ziedenberg, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute.
At the council briefing, U.S. Attorney Kennneth Wainstein and D.C. Attorney General Robert J. Spagnoletti said the proposals were constitutional and would affect only offenders who commit dangerous crimes.
"We're not concerned about the kid who stole a pack of gum from the 7-Eleven," said Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey.
Most council members said they planned to support the mayor's proposal, but several said the mayor was late in addressing crime. Members questioned whether police officers are being properly managed and whether more money should be poured into preventive efforts, such as summer jobs for youths.
Council member Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5), who is running for mayor, was the most vocal and said Williams addressed the issue only after a crime surge on the Mall and in affluent neighborhoods.
Earlier this year, Orange proposed adding 400 police officers to the force, an idea that the mayor and a majority of council members rejected.
Instead, the council approved hiring 100 officers and voted 12 to 1 last week to hire 350 more officers in response to public outcry about the recent slayings.
The mayor's legislation, if approved, would put 300 officers on the street on overtime for six weeks.
Williams said he opposed Orange's plan because he believed that the city needed to review how many police officers should be hired. He said he did not want to waste time talking about who was to blame.
"If I was wrong, I was wrong," he said.
Staff writer Elissa Silverman contributed to this report.
