Reply to Shooting at 14th and V NW

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DC does not enforce laws, so nothing will change.  Lawlessness, from the bad driving to selling drugs in broad daylight to shootings outside of elementary schools, is now accepted.[/quote]

The police don’t enforce anything[/quote]

My experience with drug transactions and MPD in DC has been mixed. It appears that if they know that a particular territory is leading to violence, they’ll watch it. It helps if the local business community complains that customers are being frightened away. MPD will be willing to park a cruiser and/or a mobile camera nearby.

Arrests are harder. They are usually pickier about getting people off the street. Loitering at a known drug dealing corner is not sufficient cause for arrest and can lead to countersuits for civil rights violations (freedom of association, assembly). It’s really hard to get high quality evidence of specific people in active transactions. You need witness testimony and/or high quality photographic images of the drug/money handoffs in order for a prosecution to be successful. Dealers are brazen but not stupid. They often duck into alleys and convenience  stores to complete their sales. If cops tail them, it certainly discourages sales for a time, but, like squeezing a tube of toothpaste, it tends to just temporarily displace activity to another location.

So, while it can look like MPD is leaving drug dealers alone, they are often observing and trying to find creative ways to gather prosecutable evidence.[/quote]

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