Is there a solution for ending crime, homelessness & mental health crisis in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Enforce drug and vagrancy rules

We've been enforcing laws for hundreds of years and that hasn't worked.

I disagree. Things deteriorated last year when the police understaffing hit a critical mass and when council made it impossible to enforce certain laws and made it clear they didn’t care and would prefer to pander to the insecure but loud minority

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's really not that hard. Prosecute crime, prosecute vagrancy, prosecute open-air drug use. Make it clear that DC is not a free-for-all.

Or instead of prosecuting it, address the causes of it, and solve the root cause of the issue, not the symptoms.

I work in the DFS, and I strongly believe that people who think like you should volunteer for a few months with CASA or Legal Aid to really understand how this is not a personal choice but a systemic/generational problem over which individuals have 0 -ZERO!!!- control.

You make it sound like "addressing the root causes" hasn't been thought of before. For over 40 years now DC has been spending lavish amounts of money on violence interrupters, homeless services, mental health, affordable housing, and so much more.

Truth is, we need to do both, address the root causes AND smart policing. Because people live in the here and now. If you commit serious crimes or pose a threat to others, you need to be prosecuted and/or sent to mandatory mental health treatment. We can't just sit back and wait another 40 years to see whether the root causes will eventually work themselves out.

The Mayor has been closing encampments, so she will get my vote. She has also pushed other housing initiatives, so I find her actions balanced. I would like for the city council to create some laws around forced hospitalization and treatment, but at least the Mayor is doing something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Enforce drug and vagrancy rules

We've been enforcing laws for hundreds of years and that hasn't worked.

I disagree. Things deteriorated last year when the police understaffing hit a critical mass and when council made it impossible to enforce certain laws and made it clear they didn’t care and would prefer to pander to the insecure but loud minority

Can you show me some data that backs that up? Lots of disinformation and dramatization out there.

[Anonymous]

I don’t need to do that. It’s true. Vote’s coming.

[Anonymous]

DC is pretty disgusting. I went to DC for the first time in months to take my kid to an event. Was planning on having lunch with her outside but the homeless person on the sidewalk made me rethink it. She looked dirty and drugged out of her mind. Left without supporting a local restaurant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is pretty disgusting. I went to DC for the first time in months to take my kid to an event. Was planning on having lunch with her outside but the homeless person on the sidewalk made me rethink it. She looked dirty and drugged out of her mind. Left without supporting a local restaurant.

Ma'am, it was an Arby's

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is pretty disgusting. I went to DC for the first time in months to take my kid to an event. Was planning on having lunch with her outside but the homeless person on the sidewalk made me rethink it. She looked dirty and drugged out of her mind. Left without supporting a local restaurant.

Ma'am, it was an Arby's

No she's correct. It's really off putting .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Enforce drug and vagrancy rules

We've been enforcing laws for hundreds of years and that hasn't worked.

I disagree. Things deteriorated last year when the police understaffing hit a critical mass and when council made it impossible to enforce certain laws and made it clear they didn’t care and would prefer to pander to the insecure but loud minority

Can you show me some data that backs that up? Lots of disinformation and dramatization out there.

Uh, murders way up, carjacking way up, retail theft way up, tents popping up everywhere and no place to go downtown without getting accosted. You tell me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Enforce drug and vagrancy rules

We've been enforcing laws for hundreds of years and that hasn't worked.

I disagree. Things deteriorated last year when the police understaffing hit a critical mass and when council made it impossible to enforce certain laws and made it clear they didn’t care and would prefer to pander to the insecure but loud minority

Can you show me some data that backs that up? Lots of disinformation and dramatization out there.

Uh, murders way up, carjacking way up, retail theft way up, tents popping up everywhere and no place to go downtown without getting accosted. You tell me.

I don't find I get accosted as I did in the 90s. In the 90s a lot of the panhandlers were men in their 20s who were intimidating. Now they are just really disturbed mentally ill who should be in hospitals. But they leave me alone unless you count strewinf garbage and human refuse all around the sidewalk. It's awful in a different way. I guess the tent cities have a lot of criminal behavior and you might get accosted there, so I am glad the mayor is clearing those. They should clear every tent as soon as it goes up

[Anonymous]

If the homeless are a "protected class" can they keep clearing the tents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Enforce drug and vagrancy rules

We've been enforcing laws for hundreds of years and that hasn't worked.

I disagree. Things deteriorated last year when the police understaffing hit a critical mass and when council made it impossible to enforce certain laws and made it clear they didn’t care and would prefer to pander to the insecure but loud minority

Can you show me some data that backs that up? Lots of disinformation and dramatization out there.

Uh, murders way up, carjacking way up, retail theft way up, tents popping up everywhere and no place to go downtown without getting accosted. You tell me.

I don't find I get accosted as I did in the 90s. In the 90s a lot of the panhandlers were men in their 20s who were intimidating. Now they are just really disturbed mentally ill who should be in hospitals. But they leave me alone unless you count strewinf garbage and human refuse all around the sidewalk. It's awful in a different way. I guess the tent cities have a lot of criminal behavior and you might get accosted there, so I am glad the mayor is clearing those. They should clear every tent as soon as it goes up

Who still cares about the 90s! Compared to 5 or 10 years ago, the level of crime, disorder and filth is WAY UP in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the homeless are a "protected class" can they keep clearing the tents?

That’s the beauty of it. They can still clear them off of government land but as a business owner you would have a harder time clearing them out of your establishment. DC is an interesting place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Enforce drug and vagrancy rules

We've been enforcing laws for hundreds of years and that hasn't worked.

I disagree. Things deteriorated last year when the police understaffing hit a critical mass and when council made it impossible to enforce certain laws and made it clear they didn’t care and would prefer to pander to the insecure but loud minority

Can you show me some data that backs that up? Lots of disinformation and dramatization out there.

Uh, murders way up, carjacking way up, retail theft way up, tents popping up everywhere and no place to go downtown without getting accosted. You tell me.

I don't find I get accosted as I did in the 90s. In the 90s a lot of the panhandlers were men in their 20s who were intimidating. Now they are just really disturbed mentally ill who should be in hospitals. But they leave me alone unless you count strewinf garbage and human refuse all around the sidewalk. It's awful in a different way. I guess the tent cities have a lot of criminal behavior and you might get accosted there, so I am glad the mayor is clearing those. They should clear every tent as soon as it goes up

I'm surprised. I don't remember getting accosted in the 90s. Some of the panhandlers who were coke/crack addicts would come up with some really over-complicated scam that they tried to sell you on (I lost my wallet, and I've got to get the North Carolina to help my sick grandma who is in hpspice and I tried to call my brother but his phone is broken so he can't get there and.....). But I've had a few incidents recently with the really disturbed mentally ill where they were yelling threatening things at me because they imagined I had done something I hadn't. And there was one woman who ran up and tried to punch me, but lucky for me (and not for her) she was so out of it that she missed by quite a bit. I'm really not sure what the solution is for people that are that far out of it. Institutionalization is probably necessary.

I'm also not sure the Mayor is actually clearing the tent encampments. Aren't they just moving around? They closed the one at Franklin Park and it looks like most of them just moved over to McPherson Square.

[Anonymous]

Generally the homeless get advanced notice of camp closings so they simply move to another area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Enforce drug and vagrancy rules

We've been enforcing laws for hundreds of years and that hasn't worked.

I disagree. Things deteriorated last year when the police understaffing hit a critical mass and when council made it impossible to enforce certain laws and made it clear they didn’t care and would prefer to pander to the insecure but loud minority

Can you show me some data that backs that up? Lots of disinformation and dramatization out there.

Uh, murders way up, carjacking way up, retail theft way up, tents popping up everywhere and no place to go downtown without getting accosted. You tell me.

I don't find I get accosted as I did in the 90s. In the 90s a lot of the panhandlers were men in their 20s who were intimidating. Now they are just really disturbed mentally ill who should be in hospitals. But they leave me alone unless you count strewinf garbage and human refuse all around the sidewalk. It's awful in a different way. I guess the tent cities have a lot of criminal behavior and you might get accosted there, so I am glad the mayor is clearing those. They should clear every tent as soon as it goes up

I'm surprised. I don't remember getting accosted in the 90s. Some of the panhandlers who were coke/crack addicts would come up with some really over-complicated scam that they tried to sell you on (I lost my wallet, and I've got to get the North Carolina to help my sick grandma who is in hpspice and I tried to call my brother but his phone is broken so he can't get there and.....). But I've had a few incidents recently with the really disturbed mentally ill where they were yelling threatening things at me because they imagined I had done something I hadn't. And there was one woman who ran up and tried to punch me, but lucky for me (and not for her) she was so out of it that she missed by quite a bit. I'm really not sure what the solution is for people that are that far out of it. Institutionalization is probably necessary.

I'm also not sure the Mayor is actually clearing the tent encampments. Aren't they just moving around? They closed the one at Franklin Park and it looks like most of them just moved over to McPherson Square.

Of course people who refuse housing will move around. But it's a step in the right direction to offer resources and close camps. Now the council should be making hospitalization not optional, rather than declaring more protections on doing WTF you feel like in you incapacitated state