During his campaign, Baumann toured the city's seven police districts and said he often heard the same refrain: Officers felt beaten down by what they viewed as an unfair discipline system and a lack of leadership at the top. Police officials were not coming up with strategies to curb crime. Beat officers felt overworked and underappreciated. They felt that Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, who has headed the department since 1998, offered nice sound bites for TV but didn't follow through, Baumann said.
It might all just be sound and fury, though. Police Chief Ramsey counters that crime has dropped dramatically in the District since he took over in 1998, and the statistics back him up. Further, Baurmann seems like he might just be trying to rattle some cages:
Others seemed a bit put off by Baumann's rhetoric. During the council hearing Feb. 23, Baumann made sweeping allegations about subjects such as staffing in the 7th District.
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Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said he thought the department's top commanders easily refuted Baumann's claims.
Also, WTOP has a really brief story about some pushes to require DC police to live in the neighborhoods they serve. I know that several of our PSA officers live in the neighborhood, and it is appreciated by everyone, but given the difficulty in finding good officers, is narrowing the pool of candidates really the right way to go?
What do the residents of Logan Circle think?
3 comments:
Rather than requiring (and thus narrowing the pool), why can't there be a graduated incentive system put into place to entice police officers into neighborhoods? By graduated, I mean if they move into low-crime/low-problem areas, they get the low end of the incentive (5% pay boost?) but if they move into high-crime/high-problem areas they get the high end of the incentive (20% pay boost?) There are already carrots dangling (e.g., extra tax incentives in purchasing a home, lower interest rates, grants for down payment), but they just aren't working.
That's a neat idea. I personally like that.
I personally think that all city workers should be required to live in city limits. It works in other major cities - I don't see why it shouldn't work here. It gives officers, teachers, etc. a real stake in their communities and is mutually beneficial - they care more about their own neighborhoods and as a result, students are better taught, police service improves, etc. If we need to pay them more to live here, that's money well spent in my opinion.
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