Is a liberal city council soft on crime or are the recent bills justified?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Closure rates on murders have hovered around 60-70% the last five years. Chance you walk when you get a jury trail in DC? And then you only see 15 years.

Allen's a fool but you elected him and you'll do it again.

Worst part is that while you'll scream fairness murders in DC are almost 100% black on black so by defunding police and being soft on crime you're actually hurting those you're trying to help.

First, you don't see "only" 15 years for a murder case. Thirty years is the low end of the sentencing range for first degree murder. I do not know the details of this bill. But if a young person can, 15 years later, show that they are rehabilitated and get released onto a supervised release program safely, it does not help any community or person to pay for them to be in jail for an additional fifteen years. And please stop with the "black on black" business. In white communities and households, murders are "white on white," because murder usually happen within a community or household. Fairness is right in every community. What could possible be wrong with "fairness"? Don't you want fairness?

BUT prison does not rehabilitate anyone. It is punitive. The 20 year old who committed a crime because they lack impulse control and see violence as a means to solve their problems are not going to turn that around after decades in prison.

[Anonymous]

Prison is not purely punitive---it also serves the purpose of keeping dangerous people away from the rest of us. And there are some offenses which are (to quote SUV) especially heinous---such that those who commit them should never be allowed to walk back among us until they have completed their entire sentence. That is especially true with respect to sexual offenders, as the recidivism rate is exceptionally high. Not to consider the nature of the offense and the impact on the victim before deciding whether the offender has been rehabilitated sufficiently is a disgrace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prison is not purely punitive---it also serves the purpose of keeping dangerous people away from the rest of us. And there are some offenses which are (to quote SUV) especially heinous---such that those who commit them should never be allowed to walk back among us until they have completed their entire sentence. That is especially true with respect to sexual offenders, as the recidivism rate is exceptionally high. Not to consider the nature of the offense and the impact on the victim before deciding whether the offender has been rehabilitated sufficiently is a disgrace.

Sexual offenders have a high rate of re-offense. If Allen wrote treatment, counseling, ankle-monitoring and/or chemical castration into the bill it would be one thing. Why doesn't he work on accountability on the rehabilitation end? He is so focused on sentence reduction above everything else. Sad for the victims/survivors. Allen's law is #rape-friendly.

[Anonymous]

To say DC is “soft” on crime suggests that criminals are neither being policed nor punished adequately.

DC has 549 police per 100,000 people. These are just the locally hired police, not the university cops, the Secret Service, the transit police, and the dozens of other groups armed officers in the federal city. We have the sixth largest police force in the nation and the greatest number of cops per capita among cities over 250k people.

DC also incarcerates a lot of people. There are over 6,000 DC residents in jail or federal prisons. There are many ways to calculate our rate of imprisonment, but estimates vary from
930 per 100,000 residents to 1,153 per 100,000. Regardless of how you calculate it, DC ranks in the top five among states in the nation for incarcerating its residents. (Whether it makes sense to compare DC to states is a matter that can be debated.)

The rate of policing and incarceration has had no effect on crime. To the extent that there has been any pattern to crime, it seems to be correlated to prosperity —sometimes lower in economic boom times than in times when jobs are in shorter supply.

Some of our city leadership and some in the justice system are seeing that policing and sentencing aren’t reducing crime. If the goal is a safer society, not just a more punitive one, it suggests that we need a different approach if crime is to be prevented in the first place. That doesn’t not mean doing away with accountability for violent and repeat offenders. It means supplementing out justice system with new tools until we find some that work.

[Anonymous]

I’m the PP above back to add in something: If you are sufficiently upset about the bill to post about it here, I hope you will submit communicate with the Coucil about it. All it takes is writing up the thoughts you have included in this post and sending as an email to your councilmember, the at-large members, and Allen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To say DC is “soft” on crime suggests that criminals are neither being policed nor punished adequately.

DC has 549 police per 100,000 people. These are just the locally hired police, not the university cops, the Secret Service, the transit police, and the dozens of other groups armed officers in the federal city. We have the sixth largest police force in the nation and the greatest number of cops per capita among cities over 250k people.

DC also incarcerates a lot of people. There are over 6,000 DC residents in jail or federal prisons. There are many ways to calculate our rate of imprisonment, but estimates vary from
930 per 100,000 residents to 1,153 per 100,000. Regardless of how you calculate it, DC ranks in the top five among states in the nation for incarcerating its residents. (Whether it makes sense to compare DC to states is a matter that can be debated.)

The rate of policing and incarceration has had no effect on crime. To the extent that there has been any pattern to crime, it seems to be correlated to prosperity —sometimes lower in economic boom times than in times when jobs are in shorter supply.

Some of our city leadership and some in the justice system are seeing that policing and sentencing aren’t reducing crime. If the goal is a safer society, not just a more punitive one, it suggests that we need a different approach if crime is to be prevented in the first place. That doesn’t not mean doing away with accountability for violent and repeat offenders. It means supplementing out justice system with new tools until we find some that work.

And DC now offers sentence reduction opportunities to violent rapists. Was Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, #metoo just a dream I had?

[Anonymous]

Saying DC is soft on crime is like saying DC is kinda Democratic. There are few places in America that are softer on crime than DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Closure rates on murders have hovered around 60-70% the last five years. Chance you walk when you get a jury trail in DC? And then you only see 15 years.

Allen's a fool but you elected him and you'll do it again.

Worst part is that while you'll scream fairness murders in DC are almost 100% black on black so by defunding police and being soft on crime you're actually hurting those you're trying to help.

First, you don't see "only" 15 years for a murder case. Thirty years is the low end of the sentencing range for first degree murder. I do not know the details of this bill. But if a young person can, 15 years later, show that they are rehabilitated and get released onto a supervised release program safely, it does not help any community or person to pay for them to be in jail for an additional fifteen years. And please stop with the "black on black" business. In white communities and households, murders are "white on white," because murder usually happen within a community or household. Fairness is right in every community. What could possible be wrong with "fairness"? Don't you want fairness?

BUT prison does not rehabilitate anyone. It is punitive. The 20 year old who committed a crime because they lack impulse control and see violence as a means to solve their problems are not going to turn that around after decades in prison.

Then Allen should work on legislation ensuring (more) rehabilitation, education and supervised re-entry for young offenders. Offering vicious rapists and heinous murderers the exact same get out of jail free opportunity as a misguided youth swept up in gangs is not that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To say DC is “soft” on crime suggests that criminals are neither being policed nor punished adequately.

DC has 549 police per 100,000 people. These are just the locally hired police, not the university cops, the Secret Service, the transit police, and the dozens of other groups armed officers in the federal city. We have the sixth largest police force in the nation and the greatest number of cops per capita among cities over 250k people.

DC also incarcerates a lot of people. There are over 6,000 DC residents in jail or federal prisons. There are many ways to calculate our rate of imprisonment, but estimates vary from
930 per 100,000 residents to 1,153 per 100,000. Regardless of how you calculate it, DC ranks in the top five among states in the nation for incarcerating its residents. (Whether it makes sense to compare DC to states is a matter that can be debated.)

The rate of policing and incarceration has had no effect on crime. To the extent that there has been any pattern to crime, it seems to be correlated to prosperity —sometimes lower in economic boom times than in times when jobs are in shorter supply.

Some of our city leadership and some in the justice system are seeing that policing and sentencing aren’t reducing crime. If the goal is a safer society, not just a more punitive one, it suggests that we need a different approach if crime is to be prevented in the first place. That doesn’t not mean doing away with accountability for violent and repeat offenders. It means supplementing out justice system with new tools until we find some that work.

Here’s the key phase: “Until we find some that work.” People like to tee off on jail being punitive, but they don’t actually have a working alternative as far as rehabilitation goes. There just have a lot of “maybe this, maybe that” — in short, wishful thinking — as if this issue is brand new and none of it has been tried before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To say DC is “soft” on crime suggests that criminals are neither being policed nor punished adequately.

DC has 549 police per 100,000 people. These are just the locally hired police, not the university cops, the Secret Service, the transit police, and the dozens of other groups armed officers in the federal city. We have the sixth largest police force in the nation and the greatest number of cops per capita among cities over 250k people.

DC also incarcerates a lot of people. There are over 6,000 DC residents in jail or federal prisons. There are many ways to calculate our rate of imprisonment, but estimates vary from
930 per 100,000 residents to 1,153 per 100,000. Regardless of how you calculate it, DC ranks in the top five among states in the nation for incarcerating its residents. (Whether it makes sense to compare DC to states is a matter that can be debated.)

The rate of policing and incarceration has had no effect on crime. To the extent that there has been any pattern to crime, it seems to be correlated to prosperity —sometimes lower in economic boom times than in times when jobs are in shorter supply.

Some of our city leadership and some in the justice system are seeing that policing and sentencing aren’t reducing crime. If the goal is a safer society, not just a more punitive one, it suggests that we need a different approach if crime is to be prevented in the first place. That doesn’t not mean doing away with accountability for violent and repeat offenders. It means supplementing out justice system with new tools until we find some that work.

Here’s the key phase: “Until we find some that work.” People like to tee off on jail being punitive, but they don’t actually have a working alternative as far as rehabilitation goes. There just have a lot of “maybe this, maybe that” — in short, wishful thinking — as if this issue is brand new and none of it has been tried before.

The first place I would look, if I were alt-Allen (the version that wants solutions, not to turn violent rapists among others loose), is the DC Youth Rehabilitation Act. It was the previous version of his bill basically. The Post did quite a long expose on it, and on the alarming percentage of crime in this city perpetrated by youth (often ON other youth). So why the recidivism? Where the rehabilitation? Why isn't it working? What could he do to make the time period incarcerated meaningful and the supports and supervisions upon release real?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To say DC is “soft” on crime suggests that criminals are neither being policed nor punished adequately.

DC has 549 police per 100,000 people. These are just the locally hired police, not the university cops, the Secret Service, the transit police, and the dozens of other groups armed officers in the federal city. We have the sixth largest police force in the nation and the greatest number of cops per capita among cities over 250k people.

DC also incarcerates a lot of people. There are over 6,000 DC residents in jail or federal prisons. There are many ways to calculate our rate of imprisonment, but estimates vary from
930 per 100,000 residents to 1,153 per 100,000. Regardless of how you calculate it, DC ranks in the top five among states in the nation for incarcerating its residents. (Whether it makes sense to compare DC to states is a matter that can be debated.)

The rate of policing and incarceration has had no effect on crime. To the extent that there has been any pattern to crime, it seems to be correlated to prosperity —sometimes lower in economic boom times than in times when jobs are in shorter supply.

Some of our city leadership and some in the justice system are seeing that policing and sentencing aren’t reducing crime. If the goal is a safer society, not just a more punitive one, it suggests that we need a different approach if crime is to be prevented in the first place. That doesn’t not mean doing away with accountability for violent and repeat offenders. It means supplementing out justice system with new tools until we find some that work.

Did you actually read the thread before you posted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To say DC is “soft” on crime suggests that criminals are neither being policed nor punished adequately.

DC has 549 police per 100,000 people. These are just the locally hired police, not the university cops, the Secret Service, the transit police, and the dozens of other groups armed officers in the federal city. We have the sixth largest police force in the nation and the greatest number of cops per capita among cities over 250k people.

DC also incarcerates a lot of people. There are over 6,000 DC residents in jail or federal prisons. There are many ways to calculate our rate of imprisonment, but estimates vary from
930 per 100,000 residents to 1,153 per 100,000. Regardless of how you calculate it, DC ranks in the top five among states in the nation for incarcerating its residents. (Whether it makes sense to compare DC to states is a matter that can be debated.)

The rate of policing and incarceration has had no effect on crime. To the extent that there has been any pattern to crime, it seems to be correlated to prosperity —sometimes lower in economic boom times than in times when jobs are in shorter supply.

Some of our city leadership and some in the justice system are seeing that policing and sentencing aren’t reducing crime. If the goal is a safer society, not just a more punitive one, it suggests that we need a different approach if crime is to be prevented in the first place. That doesn’t not mean doing away with accountability for violent and repeat offenders. It means supplementing out justice system with new tools until we find some that work.

Did you actually read the thread before you posted?

I can;t believe survivors rights groups aren't protesting Allen. The issue isn't the crux of the law, it's blocking judges from considering the nature of the original crime. He doesn't trust judges to discern who was a wayward youth and who is a serious sicko. Allen is smarter than judges, so taking care of that for them.

[Anonymous]

The first place I would look, if I were alt-Allen (the version that wants solutions, not to turn violent rapists among others loose), is the DC Youth Rehabilitation Act. It was the previous version of his bill basically. The Post did quite a long expose on it, and on the alarming percentage of crime in this city perpetrated by youth (often ON other youth). So why the recidivism? Where the rehabilitation? Why isn't it working? What could he do to make the time period incarcerated meaningful and the supports and supervisions upon release real?

This is the reason I won't bother contacting my council member this time. I contacted my council member's office four years ago when a neighbor was assaulted and mugged (bludgeoned by a large rock) on our street in broad daylight by juveniles during the same period in which the Post was writing its expose on the DC Youth Rehabilitation Act. Nadeau was completely uninterested in addressing any of the problems in the way the DC Youth Rehabilitation Act has been used to continually release violent offenders back onto the streets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The first place I would look, if I were alt-Allen (the version that wants solutions, not to turn violent rapists among others loose), is the DC Youth Rehabilitation Act. It was the previous version of his bill basically. The Post did quite a long expose on it, and on the alarming percentage of crime in this city perpetrated by youth (often ON other youth). So why the recidivism? Where the rehabilitation? Why isn't it working? What could he do to make the time period incarcerated meaningful and the supports and supervisions upon release real?

This is the reason I won't bother contacting my council member this time. I contacted my council member's office four years ago when a neighbor was assaulted and mugged (bludgeoned by a large rock) on our street in broad daylight by juveniles during the same period in which the Post was writing its expose on the DC Youth Rehabilitation Act. Nadeau was completely uninterested in addressing any of the problems in the way the DC Youth Rehabilitation Act has been used to continually release violent offenders back onto the streets.

OMG, I am so sorry for your neighbor. The Rehabilitation Act lacks rehabilitation. The Post article was specific and actionable, but the Council could care less. Instead, they followed up with Allen's Law.

[Anonymous]

Bowser is critiquing the bill. Now she needs to veto it. It needs to be reworked.

WaPo--

"Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) criticized the sentencing-adjustment legislation on Monday, saying that the bill — which allows offenders who committed crimes before the age of 25 to seek release after 15 years in prison — did not adequately provide for judges to hear the viewpoints of crime victims."