Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting more police doing the same old thing isn't going to solve these problems. More social services, more emergency workers who can address social problems - that's what we need. Yesterday I saw a young man very high and very loud who I have seen maybe two times before in the same condition. He got into an argument with a woman who told him to put his clothes back on. I'm not calling the police on him but I'd like to be able to call someone. And why would the police want to deal with this guy anyway? They should be focusing on crime, not on crazy youngsters who are getting high in public.

Also there have been maybe 20 murders in my neighborhood in the last 20 years. Do you really think bringing more police is going to stop that? The police are already here! They respond quickly after every shooting. OP, they are not able to stop the shootings. What we need are more violence interrupters, more social services, more things that provide a future for people who right now think they have no future and nothing to lose by using guns to solve disputes.

I understand why you feel the way you do, OP. But you need to ask yourself why what we've been doing for years hasn't worked.

Thank you! I'll never forget when my black son was bringing groceries into the house from the car. He had on SpongeBob pajama pants. The police office rolled up and yelled at him - WHAT ARE YOU DOING? My son responded minding my business. Oh that's great policing. We want more to harass our kids. That seems productive. That was in Colonial Village. You know, bastion of crime.

Wow, Colonial Village....boggles the mind that the police would find your son suspicious. SMH.

So you think only “certain blacks” should be targeted by police?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting more police doing the same old thing isn't going to solve these problems. More social services, more emergency workers who can address social problems - that's what we need. Yesterday I saw a young man very high and very loud who I have seen maybe two times before in the same condition. He got into an argument with a woman who told him to put his clothes back on. I'm not calling the police on him but I'd like to be able to call someone. And why would the police want to deal with this guy anyway? They should be focusing on crime, not on crazy youngsters who are getting high in public.

Also there have been maybe 20 murders in my neighborhood in the last 20 years. Do you really think bringing more police is going to stop that? The police are already here! They respond quickly after every shooting. OP, they are not able to stop the shootings. What we need are more violence interrupters, more social services, more things that provide a future for people who right now think they have no future and nothing to lose by using guns to solve disputes.

I understand why you feel the way you do, OP. But you need to ask yourself why what we've been doing for years hasn't worked.

Thank you! I'll never forget when my black son was bringing groceries into the house from the car. He had on SpongeBob pajama pants. The police office rolled up and yelled at him - WHAT ARE YOU DOING? My son responded minding my business. Oh that's great policing. We want more to harass our kids. That seems productive. That was in Colonial Village. You know, bastion of crime.

Wow, Colonial Village....boggles the mind that the police would find your son suspicious. SMH.

So you think only “certain blacks” should be targeted by police?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting more police doing the same old thing isn't going to solve these problems. More social services, more emergency workers who can address social problems - that's what we need. Yesterday I saw a young man very high and very loud who I have seen maybe two times before in the same condition. He got into an argument with a woman who told him to put his clothes back on. I'm not calling the police on him but I'd like to be able to call someone. And why would the police want to deal with this guy anyway? They should be focusing on crime, not on crazy youngsters who are getting high in public.

Also there have been maybe 20 murders in my neighborhood in the last 20 years. Do you really think bringing more police is going to stop that? The police are already here! They respond quickly after every shooting. OP, they are not able to stop the shootings. What we need are more violence interrupters, more social services, more things that provide a future for people who right now think they have no future and nothing to lose by using guns to solve disputes.

I understand why you feel the way you do, OP. But you need to ask yourself why what we've been doing for years hasn't worked.

Thank you! I'll never forget when my black son was bringing groceries into the house from the car. He had on SpongeBob pajama pants. The police office rolled up and yelled at him - WHAT ARE YOU DOING? My son responded minding my business. Oh that's great policing. We want more to harass our kids. That seems productive. That was in Colonial Village. You know, bastion of crime.

Wow, Colonial Village....boggles the mind that the police would find your son suspicious. SMH.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting more police doing the same old thing isn't going to solve these problems. More social services, more emergency workers who can address social problems - that's what we need. Yesterday I saw a young man very high and very loud who I have seen maybe two times before in the same condition. He got into an argument with a woman who told him to put his clothes back on. I'm not calling the police on him but I'd like to be able to call someone. And why would the police want to deal with this guy anyway? They should be focusing on crime, not on crazy youngsters who are getting high in public.

Also there have been maybe 20 murders in my neighborhood in the last 20 years. Do you really think bringing more police is going to stop that? The police are already here! They respond quickly after every shooting. OP, they are not able to stop the shootings. What we need are more violence interrupters, more social services, more things that provide a future for people who right now think they have no future and nothing to lose by using guns to solve disputes.

I understand why you feel the way you do, OP. But you need to ask yourself why what we've been doing for years hasn't worked.

Thank you! I'll never forget when my black son was bringing groceries into the house from the car. He had on SpongeBob pajama pants. The police office rolled up and yelled at him - WHAT ARE YOU DOING? My son responded minding my business. Oh that's great policing. We want more to harass our kids. That seems productive. That was in Colonial Village. You know, bastion of crime.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think you understand “defund police”

Police should do police work, that is what defund police means.

9 out of 10 calls fo not require a police officer.

They should not be directing traffic.
They should not interview rape/child abuse victims... in moco for example trained psychologist interview child abuse victims.. not cops.
They should not do 90% of traffic stops
They should not do parking violations (some areas don’t have cops do this some do)
They should not do shop lifting calls, corporations should have security file reports... many places already do this
They should not work in the courts... scheduling court time for police
They should not be in charge of car repairs. (Yep they run their own shop most places)
They should only assist in mental health calls when needed (of course you only see the ones where they “are needed” it’s rare)
They should not be policing cars for operability.
They should not be secretaries for the prosecutor’s office.
They should not get overtime for court.
Accident reconstruction does not require a gun and a badge.
Recruiting does not require a gun and a badge


We also need to fund training so cops that hate the job can be retrained to find a job more suitable.

You are doing that thing where you realize you have no argument so you cherry pick from around the country in an attempt to shroud yourself in reasonability.

DC police don't do half the things you just mentioned. The OP is talking about DC. Don't sell Ddot and DMV services here as police functions when they are not.

If you want to lobby for a logical reapportioning of public jobs in DC. I think we would all be for it. But don't argue for defunding the police.

I’m not cherry picking but I am putting out the not every area does the same thing. For example DC police really should have psychologists interview children who have been abused not cops. They also she can go on mental health cases that they are equipped to handle. There’s a ton of things that they shouldn’t do, they should do police work

A couple of things.

First, for as woke as you are, to assume that the counselor is female is simply naive.

Second, 16% of the MPD's force is civilian. You would know this if you ever went into a police station. You deal with non uniformed civilians. They then call and leave messages for the officers you were hoping to talk to. They process RPPs etc. Both the uniformed officers and civilians are paid out of the same budget. Defund the police and the civilians get cut first and uniforms are moved into the admin roles.

Also, MPD has counselors. I think we are all in agreement that they need more and they probably need to be both uniformed and civilian. More counselors will cost more money.

Anonymous wrote:Getting more police doing the same old thing isn't going to solve these problems. More social services, more emergency workers who can address social problems - that's what we need. Yesterday I saw a young man very high and very loud who I have seen maybe two times before in the same condition. He got into an argument with a woman who told him to put his clothes back on. I'm not calling the police on him but I'd like to be able to call someone. And why would the police want to deal with this guy anyway? They should be focusing on crime, not on crazy youngsters who are getting high in public.

Also there have been maybe 20 murders in my neighborhood in the last 20 years. Do you really think bringing more police is going to stop that? The police are already here! They respond quickly after every shooting. OP, they are not able to stop the shootings. What we need are more violence interrupters, more social services, more things that provide a future for people who right now think they have no future and nothing to lose by using guns to solve disputes.

I understand why you feel the way you do, OP. But you need to ask yourself why what we've been doing for years hasn't worked.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will end up the same way as when Reagan defunded the mental health institutions.

But that was due to the ACLU and many on the left complaining about institutions violating civil liberties (well, and the fact that health care was considered to be a state function).

The idea that it is compassionate to remove all constraints on people's behavior is mis-guided. Same for both issues. Let's bring back mental health institutions (adding more substance abuse treatment) and it will help the policing problem.

I think you mean bring back mental health treatment and institutions for those that need it.

You don’t want to go back to institutionalizing people with Down’s syndrome.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will end up the same way as when Reagan defunded the mental health institutions.

But that was due to the ACLU and many on the left complaining about institutions violating civil liberties (well, and the fact that health care was considered to be a state function).

The idea that it is compassionate to remove all constraints on people's behavior is mis-guided. Same for both issues. Let's bring back mental health institutions (adding more substance abuse treatment) and it will help the policing problem.

yes to all of this.

Anonymous wrote:As a MSW, I really question whether most social workers would be willing to go unaccompanied into many of these situations, maybe with a partner, but not alone. Many of the situations that end up with police shootings are people who appear volatile, have a knife in their hand, are high and approach in a threatening way, etc. Definitely they don't deserve to die. I am just not sure that many people in mental health services would want to approach these people alone. It could even create more dangerous situations, as the police feel that they have to protect the unarmed social worker who is in the line of fire. Perhaps police could at least use nonlethal force when called for mental health checks, and not chase and agitate people on welfare checks. Training...

Anonymous wrote:Dear DC 'Do Gooders' please stop advocating for defunding the police. I know that it is easy to do this from wherever you are perched in DC, but those of us in the SE actually want increased law enforcement, MPD or Federal. Most of my parent’s neighbors would love to see the National Guard deployed to the street for a summer or how about right now. I will explain.

I was born and raised in DC. I grew up in Anacostia. I lived adjacent to Ketcham rec, graduated from Anacostia High and went to UVA. Yes, there was a little culture shock. Even though UVA was close, my parents only had the kids visit for major holidays. Christmas and one Thanksgiving. They were always encouraging us to visit friends for Thanksgiving and Spring Break. Summer's in DC were out of the question while in school, but I had a busy ROTC schedule and summers were spent around the country. I graduated UVA and joined the Navy and spent a career bouncing between New Port, Coronado, Little Creek, San Diego, lots of deployments and a tour at the Pentagon.

When I got my orders to the Pentagon my mother asked if I were going to get a nice country house in Woodbridge and I explained that with the reverse commute I would be better off in DC. Initially she was horrified. But we found a nice rental in Glover Park (nothing easier than shooting across Memorial Bridge and being in the North Parking lot for those of you familiar with JO parking at the Pentagon and even running there was super easy once the PAC was leaned up)

It was great to be back in DC. It was not the DC I was intimately familiar with, but we loved it. My parents loved visiting us and suddenly, we were hosting Thanksgiving and Easter, though Mom was still ok with hosting Christmas.

After the Pentagon, I did a last tour on the West Coast and we as a family decided to return to DC for a retirement job. We got back to the city in 2016 after 20 years of bouncing around the world.

My parents are still alive and when we returned said that Anacostia was not an option. Trust me we looked as money would go much further there. We still had a grade school aged child and a High Schooler, so we also needed to look at school zones. Then there was the unpredictable violence. It was simply not enough to mind your own business. Violence would seek you out and find you. Did you know that 'leaving' the neighborhood is not considered accomplishing anything where I grew up? More of a liability in most cases. You were now an outsider, a threat to some sort of perceived balance established long ago. My oldest did not say anything, but you could tell he thought that the adjustment from Coronado HS to Anacostia would be 'real'. We knew that we would play several school lotteries but at the end of the day, Wilson looked like our best bet. Therefor with the help of our great realtor from years before, we ended up in what my wife refers to as an AU starter house. It was WAY too expensive, but it was quiet, and our son could walk to school we thought (He ended up going elsewhere).

So, after all of this you must ask yourself. Why was the common theme from my family, my friends not to return home for 20 years? Anacostia was OK for Christmas but leave after dinner. What kind of a message is that? But when drinking a beer, watching a football game on a Sunday with my dad, he would ask, "Why couldn’t the National Guard patrol the old neighborhood? They could in Iraq and Afghanistan?" His larger point is that we want more local policing. Lots more. Sure, he wants social workers and grocery stores and urgent care clinics. But he reminds me that we had those, and they left. He thinks that it will be easier to get a big box Safeway once there are more police.

I did not vote for Trayon White, but here is an example of a born and raised in the neighborhood person on the City Council telling us that the people most in need want MORE police.

It is easy for us to hypothesize urban utopias with no police and lots of social services, but to get to that point we need to create the conditions. How is that UVA educated social worker going to work safely in DC daily today? My dad also thinks that you could give 100% scholarships to deserving DC kids in the fields of counseling and social work etc., but then my mom asks, why they would want to come back. Maybe it could be a contractual thing similar to the military where the city pays for a four year undergrad at GW, UVA, UMD , W&M, with a four year obligation to work for the city HHS with a salary and housing etc. At the completion of those four years the option to return to school for a paid two-year master’s with another four years owed at the end of it. At the end of the day we get eight years of service to the city for the cost of a degree or two. Now we just need to work on their moms to allow them to return home from Williamsburg. To convince the moms, we are going to need more police. Let us please stop with the defund talk until there is more than a solution. The city deserves results driven hypotheses rather than pie in the sky and more wishful thinking.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will end up the same way as when Reagan defunded the mental health institutions.

But that was due to the ACLU and many on the left complaining about institutions violating civil liberties (well, and the fact that health care was considered to be a state function).

The idea that it is compassionate to remove all constraints on people's behavior is mis-guided. Same for both issues. Let's bring back mental health institutions (adding more substance abuse treatment) and it will help the policing problem.

I think you mean bring back mental health treatment and institutions for those that need it.

You don’t want to go back to institutionalizing people with Down’s syndrome.