Ward 3 Crime Meeting w/CM Frumin, USAO Graves and AG Schwab 1/17 6pm Cleveland Park library

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're going to say it was a on off that could have happened anywhere and ignore things like the daytime armed robbery at Wegmans.

Jesus, what?

Frumin didn’t exactly cover himself in glory at the last crime meeting at this library. He brushed away the concerns of parents and business owners, some who had their lives directly threatened. It was pretty stunning to see how poorly he understood the crime issue at that time. His response was then was basically that other parts of the city had it worse. What a difference six months make.

I heard it was really bad and my heart goes out to the people brave enough to speak of their experiences publicly. I fear it will be a contest between him, Graves and Schwab to try to deflect responsibility most extensively or appeal to slogans like "Ward 3 for all" or "kids are kids" most enthusiastically.

Public pressure has to be kept on Graves and Schwab, there are not many cards to play. We need more electable candidates like Lisa Gore to step up, certainly in W7 where Gray is not running. We have enough DSA endorsed criminal coddling Councilmembers. We need to not just go with the easy "let's recall" we need electable alternatives. Consider running or helping to identify and support candidates in your Ward or at large. Some, like Mendo, Nadeau and Allen we are stuck with for a while, they were just elected. For the recall enthusiasts, you still need a candidate to run even in the unlikely event a recall is successful.

I cannot imagine being the family of the teen girl and getting that call in the middle of the night. RIP. Far too many children and teens are getting shot and killed in DC, it's profoundly racist to consider that "city living" or "equitable." If Baltimore can bring down homicides, so can DC. It takes focus, good investigations and prosecutions.

[Anonymous]

Hearing the Frumin plans to introduce midnight pickleball, but Schwalb and Allen are concerned that here won’t be enough hugs to go around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The police are just the first step in the process. Are people unaware that the federally appointed USAO Matt Graves declines to prosecute 67% of adult (and some juv) arrests, including felonies and gun crimes and elected AG Schwab does only slightly more prosecuting of juveniles? Both will be there and should feel pressure from the public re: safety. Graves can boost the numbers when he is under Congressional pressure or media scrutiny, then they drop again.

Prior to 2017, across USAOs appointed by Ds and Rs, the prosecution rate was in the 70s and the community was much safer. Now that stat has almost been flipped. We can see the result of 2/3 of arrests of adults NOT being prosecuted. 1,000 warrants for failure to appear or being non-compliant with terms of release have not been served, if federal marshals picked up those people, crime would plummet.

Frumin has little to do with the prosecution process or with much of the work of MPD.

Those are amazing statistics. Why does Graves decline to prosecute? Has he said why?

I've seen a lot of media attention focused on DC crime lately -- do reporters not follow up with Graves to see what happened?

Is Frumin calling out Graves for this?

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]One of the topics discussed will be the young woman murdered last night at a hotel in Friendship Heights.

[twitter]https://twitter.com/FeverPotomac/status/1741918973770219726[/twitter]

Hopefully the meeting will be streamed, that is a tiny space for a meeting that likely will have a lot of interest. The UDC space was fairly full at the meeting following the shooting at Connecticut and Brandywine. [/quote]

Depending on the setup/location, one meeting space can hold 215, so anyone interested should plan to attend, ask questions, etc. It's actually bigger than the room he used at UDC. [/quote]

I just read the tweet stream, which included a RT of Mary Cheh in Jan ‘21 saying that there was a movement to loosen penalties for juvenile offenders, which she opposed. I’m new to DC Council politics, but I see she is out of office. What happened and is anyone running who can roll back these light on crime initiatives?

[Anonymous]

Juvenile crime and prosecution is exactly as Racine and Schwalb have designed it to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Juvenile crime and prosecution is exactly as Racine and Schwalb have designed it to be.

Yup, and then they hide behind confidentiality so that the extent to which they are failing to hold violent offenders accountable is hidden.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y’all are going to be treated to 60 minutes of Matt waxing on fondly about his participation in the MPD Community Engagement Academy. Then, there will be like time for two actual questions.

A coworker who was in the MPD CEA w/ Frumkin said he fell asleep during several presentations. No other current council members have attend CEA, so at least he showed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need to not just go with the easy "let's recall" we need electable alternatives. Consider running or helping to identify and support candidates in your Ward or at large. Some, like Mendo, Nadeau and Allen we are stuck with for a while, they were just elected. For the recall enthusiasts, you still need a candidate to run even in the unlikely event a recall is successful.

I actually think that a recall campaign might be one of the best ways to get voters attention. The sad truth is that the vast majority of DC voters, across socioeconomic lines, are painfully ignorant and disinterested in local politics. You'd even be hard pressed to find people that know the name of all 13 councilmembers, much less the positions they hold.

When the few who bother to vote go to the polls, they usually vote for the incumbent by default unless there's been a major scandal that's gotten a lot of attention in the media. The last part is important - The Post is usually focused on national politics (though they occasionally some good local reporting), and outlets like The City Paper and DCist seem to be run by activist journalists.

Most people in the city don't realize that Graves has been dropping the vast majority of cases, that they've been giving people who attempted murder "assault with deadly weapon" plea deals of only a few months in the few cases they do prosecute, that activist judges have been throwing out cases and reducing the already low sentences, that there are people like the guy who assaulted the preschool teachers who continuously terrorize neighborhoods with the authorities refusing to do anything about it.

Most people don't know that Frumin has been refusing to answer correspondence from his constituents on crime, that he's generally avoided the issue, and that the only time he called for Graves to take action was calling for him to take action against a resident that shot a car thief. I've talked to people on Connecticut Avenue that know that things are falling apart in their building and are planning to move after decades, but don't know that this is because of specific D.C. government policies that are taking citizens money and using it to give free apartments to criminals and drug dealers. People don't realize that Frumin not only supports these policies, but wants to see it expanded.

A recall election might be the only way to wake people up, leading them to ask why it's happening, what's motivating people to do this, and what the sides are. A typical primary runs the risk of D.C. voters just defaulting to Frumin because no one cares enough to pay attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Y’all are going to be treated to 60 minutes of Matt waxing on fondly about his participation in the MPD Community Engagement Academy. Then, there will be like time for two actual questions.

A coworker who was in the MPD CEA w/ Frumkin said he fell asleep during several presentations. No other current council members have attend CEA, so at least he showed up.

Nadeau attended some cadet thing recently, she posted about it on Twitter.

Frumin reminds me of Jiminy Cricket, always tilting his head and lowering expectations. He just does not come across as a serious person. I would have voted for Cheh again but remember for all her WORDS against actions like license renewal if many moving violating tickets, she still actually voted for much of it.

She said too much outside the Days Inn after that shooting, about crime, juveniles and vouchers
and got huge blow back from the activist crowd. 2 days later it was announced that she would not run again.

I voted for Goulet, but for Silverman's last minute antics (defended by Racine, her former boss) we might not have Frumin.

Racine really is the hidden hand, are people aware how many on the Council worked for him (with that being their ONLY professional job in some cases)?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/02/27/bowser-racine-dc-mayor/

He has long been rumored to be planning a run for mayor. Schwab is his former colleague at Venable and was his handpicked successor. Some of Racine's ideas may be considered outside the mainstream. https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-attorney-general-wants-restorative-justice-for-all-juvenile-cases-even-murder

When leaving office he disingenuously referenced the juvenile carjacking epidemic and fears for his girlfriend and their young boys, as though HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. One with the people pose. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/01/23/karl-racine-dc-attorney-general/

Other hidden hands are DSA who has endorsed many members and who turns out large numbers of activists to testify at hearings and DC Justice Lab who does not disclose donors and who wrote much of the crime bill that was struck down by Congress, along with the talking points for it. DCJL have presented at CP ANC meetings. Many of the ANC Commissioners have some pretty extreme views re: equity and public safety.

I don't see things changing any time soon. Home Rule set up the Council so their terms are staggered. Recall is likely not worth the energy, especially when there are no identified electable candidates to replace in unlike event it works. The laws re: juveniles should be reversed but even if that happened, the prosecution rate (which is among, if not the lowest in US) by USAO and only marginally better prosecution rate by AG and the lax judges on both DC SC and COA, many of whom are former public defenders, are much bigger problems.

That the majority of arrests were not being prosecuted was reported by Bowser to Council beginning in 2018 (required) but no attention was brought to by mayor or any on Council, including law professor Cheh, it until the DC Crime Facts account popped up in 2023. Then media picked it up and Congress had an oversight hearing over DC, but, no sustained change. Graves can dial the number up temporarily when he needs to but it soon drops again. I personally think it is the culture of career prosecutors in the office that is at issue, remember JLG was a juvenile prosecutor. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/04/politics/black-prosecutors-dc-gun-cases/index.html

So far, no Oversight by the Committee with oversight over DOJ, that is overdue and needed. A focus on needed resources (say using Fed Marshals to serve the 1,000 outstanding warrants), crime lab needs, detailing lawyers with criminal experience who are not ideologically captured instead of newbies who will go along with office culture, changing performance metrics to link to public safety, etc. Right now, dinged if they lose a trial and that incentivizes pleas. Our USAO is the only one who is also the local prosecutor. Regular and vigorous oversight is needed to get back to the 70+% prosecution rate that was the norm before 2017, when the city was safer and more livable. When Contee said that the average murderer has been arrested 11 times before killing, the truth is that MANY of those cases were not prosecuted "no papered." No reason has to be given for that decision or for judges who choose to release killers pretrial. The Council could change that but won't.

The future could hold a far worse on safety mayor, Racine and a largely similar Council, although I do think Gore has a shot. A pubic safety minded candidate for W 7 is key.

We hope to move before then. Here 30 years and glad to have been here during the Fenty years when DC and DCPS were on the upswing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need to not just go with the easy "let's recall" we need electable alternatives. Consider running or helping to identify and support candidates in your Ward or at large. Some, like Mendo, Nadeau and Allen we are stuck with for a while, they were just elected. For the recall enthusiasts, you still need a candidate to run even in the unlikely event a recall is successful.

I actually think that a recall campaign might be one of the best ways to get voters attention. The sad truth is that the vast majority of DC voters, across socioeconomic lines, are painfully ignorant and disinterested in local politics. You'd even be hard pressed to find people that know the name of all 13 councilmembers, much less the positions they hold.

When the few who bother to vote go to the polls, they usually vote for the incumbent by default unless there's been a major scandal that's gotten a lot of attention in the media. The last part is important - The Post is usually focused on national politics (though they occasionally some good local reporting), and outlets like The City Paper and DCist seem to be run by activist journalists.

Most people in the city don't realize that Graves has been dropping the vast majority of cases, that they've been giving people who attempted murder "assault with deadly weapon" plea deals of only a few months in the few cases they do prosecute, that activist judges have been throwing out cases and reducing the already low sentences, that there are people like the guy who assaulted the preschool teachers who continuously terrorize neighborhoods with the authorities refusing to do anything about it.

Most people don't know that Frumin has been refusing to answer correspondence from his constituents on crime, that he's generally avoided the issue, and that the only time he called for Graves to take action was calling for him to take action against a resident that shot a car thief. I've talked to people on Connecticut Avenue that know that things are falling apart in their building and are planning to move after decades, but don't know that this is because of specific D.C. government policies that are taking citizens money and using it to give free apartments to criminals and drug dealers. People don't realize that Frumin not only supports these policies, but wants to see it expanded.

A recall election might be the only way to wake people up, leading them to ask why it's happening, what's motivating people to do this, and what the sides are. A typical primary runs the risk of D.C. voters just defaulting to Frumin because no one cares enough to pay attention.

I agree with all of this, and see how Baltimore has righted the ship with common sense, classic investigate and prosecute strategies. I don't see it happening here. Most people still won't care or they benefit from the status quo, even emotionally in the sense of wanting to fit with the crowd/NPR/SJW.

I've heard older people in FH and AU Park spout the platitudes about criminals carjacking bc needy family, etc., even when own safety is impacted. A building in FH had a recent intruder, let in, who threatened people and even older folks nattered on about him "need somewhere to go." Yes, that would be shelters, not the hallways, stairwells, etc. of a building that has $3k rent. It's not just the Petworth crowd that buys into DSA rhetoric, WP and NPR push it to a different demographic.

[Anonymous]

^ needing

[Anonymous]

Wow 25 replies to a post in two days. Good luck on your recall movement!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hearing the Frumin plans to introduce midnight pickleball, but Schwalb and Allen are concerned that here won’t be enough hugs to go around.

LOL, in a effort to keep all those white supremacist from shooting up the city. We all know who the real terrorist are.

[Anonymous]

https://wjla.com/news/local/de-leaders-crime-solutions-first-murder-2024-embassy-suites-northwest-ashlei-hinds-matt-frumin-dc-council-alston-smith-friendship-heights-public-safety

[Anonymous]

Always with the head tilt, lowering expectations. Good for this reporter. Of course the Council could have and act with a sense of urgency. Yet they do not.