Council Rejects Fenty's Anti-Gang Measure

"I am tough on crime, but I don't want to compromise on anyone's constitutional rights," said council member Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7). "Maybe none of you have experienced racial profiling, but I personally know people who have experienced racial profiling, and it's not a good thing."

She added, "We have some overly aggressive officers who make assumptions based on someone's appearance."

Kristopher Baumann, head of the D.C. lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, called Alexander's comments "unfortunate and inaccurate."

Baumann added that the council had "failed the public" by voting down the gang provision.

Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) noted that crime has been an issue in the city for decades and said tens of thousands of African Americans have been victimized by previous crime-fighting efforts.

"I'm tired of these black men and women being locked up for things that sometimes are beyond their control," said Barry, who said more jobs and social programs are needed instead of new laws. "I do not condone criminal activity, but we know it's not only black people committing crimes."

Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) countered that her constituents in upper Northwest Washington worry about their safety.

"It is not a question of whether you support civil liberties or not," said Bowser, who is black. "But I believe the people in my ward have the right to go in and out of their house without fear of being shot."

Yesterday's vote follows weeks of haggling between Mendelson, chairman of the judiciary committee, and Evans over the emergency crime legislation.

Mendelson said during yesterday's debate that "citizens should not be looking to the council to reduce crimes."

"We have plenty of laws on the books," Mendelson said, adding that the emphasis should be on "effective prosecution" and combating recidivism.

Mendelson did win support yesterday for several new crime-fighting measures, many of which had been championed by Fenty in his initial proposal.

Mendelson's bill, which will be in effect until September, establishes a minimum 30-month sentence for repeat felony convictions and a three-year mandatory minimum for someone convicted of possessing a firearm while committing some felonies. It also makes it a crime for someone to knowingly be in a vehicle in which there is an illegal firearm.

In addition, the bill creates a gun offender registry program and makes it a crime for the mentally ill, perpetrators of domestic violence and people who have been dishonorably discharged from the military to own a firearm in the District.

Evans, who took credit for forcing the bill out of Mendelson's committee, was successful in attaching an amendment that will make it harder for someone arrested for a violent crime to be released from jail pending a trial.

But the council rejected an amendment by Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) to set the curfew for teenagers 15 and younger at 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends, an hour earlier than now.