In a report detailing the proposed cuts, Allen’s committee cited the weeks-long demonstrations against police brutality in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
Tensions between Newsham and the council have been rising since the protests started, with Newsham accusing lawmakers of “abandoning” officers when they passed sweeping emergency legislation to toughen police hiring and discipline.
On Wednesday, Allen proposed cuts that include $6 million in vacant positions, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s proposed $2 million expansion of the police cadet program and about $900,000 for travel, ballistics shields and public relations. He would also reverse cuts Bowser (D) proposed to violence-reduction programs that advocates see as an alternative to traditional policing.
Allen’s cuts to Bowser’s proposed $533 million police budget do not amount to the wholesale overhaul of the department sought by some activists. Ahead of the report being made public, Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), who is on the public safety committee, said the council was unlikely to approve anything close to “defund the police.”
She said the council would most likely put in place a budget that lets the police force shrink by attrition, not layoffs.
“This is not going to be by any stretch a radical document, and it shouldn’t be,” Cheh said. “I don’t think we should act rashly. The fact that you get hundreds of emails should not dictate what you do. What should dictate what you do should be your consideration of what the data are, what the likely effects would be.”
Allen wants to retroactively impose a four-year term on the office of chief of police, meaning the mayor would have to decide whether to reappoint Newsham next year and lawmakers would have the final say in whether he can keep his job. The council approved Newsham for the post serving at the pleasure of the mayor in a 12-to-1 vote in 2017.
As protests have roiled the city in recent weeks, Bowser has resisted calls to defund police, noting that social service agencies in her government have seen greater increases to their budgets under her tenure than the police department has.
In a statement responding to the budget proposal, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Kevin Donahue said some provisions “do not make D.C. safer or stronger.”
“We will continue our dialogue with the members of the committee and the community to ensure they understand the full impact of these actions,” Donahue said.
Newsham declined an interview request but said through his spokesman: “There is concern that the Council is basing their budget decisions on a small percentage of the community that has been very vocal with anti-police rhetoric and that this could negatively impact the safety of our communities.”
The chief has warned that a smaller and less-funded force could hamper efforts to reduce crime and endanger training that he says ultimately reduces police misconduct.
“No one can say the Metropolitan Police Department is resistant to reform,” he said in an interview last week. “We have been in reform mode for the past 18 years.”
In proposing that Newsham’s term expire next May, Allen’s committee noted Newsham’s recent criticism and said the council would “vet nominees with the goals of ensuring healthy leadership and encouraging respectful collaboration and openness to reform.”
The report said “tough on crime” rhetoric “is counterproductive and is, in actuality, actively doing harm to communities of color, particularly when the District is continuing to experience a spike in homicides and is called to act with urgency.”
Newsham has frequently blamed the rise in homicides on repeat violent offenders who he says too often sail through the justice system without serious repercussions.
Council member David Grosso (I-At Large), who was the sole vote against Newsham’s contract in 2017, on Wednesday began circulating a letter calling for the chief’s resignation.
Even before the proposed cuts were made public, the D.C. police union began pushing back on them, saying the department has had to cancel leave to deal with protests in recent weeks and that further cuts would be dangerous.
“Currently, every single one of our police officers is working in response to these disturbances, and it is still not enough to keep agitators from destroying property and injuring people,” the union said in a statement, adding that officers have been diverted from neighborhood duty.
“The irony must be lost on people who seek to overtake the city and create lawlessness in a misguided effort to claim the police are not necessary.” “We hope that our elected officials don’t allow rogue groups to take over sections of the city while our members are forced to stand by and watch.”
In an interview Tuesday, Allen said police leadership should not take the calls for change personally. “It’s not about anyone’s feelings getting hurt or anyone feeling offended; it’s frankly about a moment that demands leadership,” he said. “You constantly have to be able to be humble enough to hear other people’s experiences and act upon it, and that does not mean you discount the fact you’ve done some good work.”
The cuts must be approved Thursday by at least two of Allen’s three colleagues on the public safety panel — who tend to be relatively moderate on criminal justice issues. Committee chairs usually don’t propose budget changes unlikely to advance from their panels.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) can make his own changes ahead of votes on the full budget next month.
Cheh agreed with Newsham that D.C. police have made many improvements compared to 20 years ago, when officers killed more people per capita than any other force in the country and the department entered into a federal consent decree.
“We don’t have rogue activities and misbehavior,” Cheh said. But she said Newsham “overreacted” when he accused the council of abandoning the department.
“That was really unfortunate,” Cheh said. “But I guess he was trying to speak directly to the officers and worried about their morale.”
The chief said he had not talked to Allen since a June 9 budget hearing and wished for a more collaborative approach.
“I think what they did they did without input,” Newsham said of the police overhaul bill and the budget proposal. “I think they ignored some of the input we gave them, and I’m certain they didn’t take into consideration the concerns of the public when they did what they did.”
Allen said he didn’t disagree that the police had been making changes.
“You can both acknowledge that MPD has made reforms and improvements over the last 20 years and also acknowledge we are not yet done with this journey,” he said.
Julie Zauzmer contributed to this report.