Gun Search Program To Be Request Only

The D.C. Council is weighing in on the program, with Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), head of the public safety committee, holding a public hearing Monday at 5 p.m. Lanier is expected to testify.

"The way it was announced by the mayor, so little had been worked out, and people were free to imagine the most intimidating sort of interaction with police, which nobody wants," Mendelson said.

Johnny Barnes, executive director of the ACLU of the National Capital Area, said he was encouraged by Lanier's changes. Still, he said, there are better ways to get guns off the streets -- such as the successful police-sponsored gun buyback program, in which residents bring guns to a designated place on a certain day and turn them in for money.

"Why do we have to put at risk our fundamental constitutional rights?" Barnes said of Safe Homes.

The ACLU is partnering with the community group ACORN and others to sponsor a "training session" to educate people about their rights. The session will be at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow at St. James Episcopal Church in Southeast Washington.

Participants plan to go into neighborhoods to pass out fliers that say, "Help people understand they can say NO." They also will pass out cards that residents can place in their windows that say, "NO CONSENT TO SEARCH OUR HOME. This home protected by the United States Constitution."

Lanier said that she wants people to be comfortable with the police effort and that her officers will seek input at community meetings to find out whether residents want clergy members and community leaders to be present when police are passing out literature.

A Safe Homes program similar to the District's was announced in Boston last week after several months of citizen resistance and delays. That department has yet to get a call to search a home.

"We're still waiting for the phone calls to come in," said Elaine Driscoll, spokeswoman for the Boston police.