Revised Crime Bill Approved In District
Mayor Not Allowed To Alter Curfew

By Elissa Silverman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 19, 2006

The D.C. Council approved a revised emergency crime package yesterday that includes $4.2 million for police overtime but does not give the mayor authority to restore early curfew hours for youths, which is part of a bill that expires today.

The measure makes it easier to detain certain adults and juveniles charged with robbery or handgun violations pending a trial or hearing and gives police expedited access to juvenile records. It also allocates $1.7 million for more surveillance cameras and $5 million to implement programs for youths.

A similar 90-day emergency bill adopted in July expires today, including a 10 p.m. youth curfew and certain accountability measures for police. The youth curfew returns to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight Friday and Saturday.

The bill put forth in the summer by Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) was deliberated during the primary election season and was fraught with politics. D.C. Council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4) cast the lone vote against the bill, objecting to controversial provisions that he said amounted to "tinkering around the edges." Although he supported $8 million in police overtime in a separate resolution, opponents said he was being soft on crime. Fenty won the Democratic primary and will likely be elected mayor in the Nov. 7 general election in the District, where three-quarters of voters are registered Democrats.

Fenty voted for the new emergency bill but did not speak during discussion of the measure. It passed with little controversy early in the afternoon, but council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) moved to reconsider the bill later because she objected to the juvenile records provision and was not present when the initial vote was taken. During the renewed discussion, members voted to allocate $1.7 million for more surveillance cameras, a measure that Williams supported. The original bill funded the first 48 surveillance cameras installed in District neighborhoods.

In a letter to council members yesterday, Williams asked them for mayoral authority to alter the curfew in times of "crisis" but said he did not plan to extend the curfew. The final bill does not include the authorization.

The absence of the curfew authority is one difference between the revised bill and the July legislation. Such distinctions are required under District law, which prohibits invoking successive identical emergency bills. On those grounds, the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union objected to yesterday's bill, saying in a letter to Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D) that the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled against passing recurrent emergency bills in most cases.

"Please be advised that the District of Columbia Court of Appeals has ruled that the Council has no authority in the present circumstances to have recourse to a second emergency act," wrote Johnny Barnes, executive director of the local ACLU.

Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the council's Committee on the Judiciary, said that several additions and exclusions make the two bills different.

The bill passed yesterday includes $5 million to implement the mayor's youth development strategy. It also allocates $4.2 million for police overtime and $191,687 to the police department for fuel costs.

Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey declared a crime emergency July 11 after the killing of a British political activist in Georgetown and a surge in homicides, robberies and assaults.

Cropp said that yesterday's bill addresses a different emergency. "These measures have worked, and crime has gone down," Cropp said. "But now, here in October, we are facing a different snapshot in time."

Cropp said there were seven homicides in the District in the first 10 days of this month.

Also yesterday, Cropp withdrew emergency legislation that would have boosted the salaries for the mayor and council chairman while providing funding for the transition.

And council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) introduced a bill that would double the amount that council members can raise for their constituent services funds from $40,000 to $80,000.