Secure DC Omnibus Bill Advances to Committee of the Whole Amid Questions, Pushback

UPDATED, Jan. 17, 2024, 5:05 p.m.: This story was updated to clarify a provision about body-worn camera footage and include information about the strikedown of the street vending study in the committee markup.

As the D.C. Council prepares to deliberate and vote on a nearly 90-page omnibus bill that addresses crime, residents, activists, and all those in between continue to weigh in on elements of the legislation that have sparked controversy over the last several months. 

While Chioma Iwuoha acknowledged the traumatic experiences and fears that sparked movement around the Secure DC Omnibus, she cautioned against using what she described as a heavy-handed approach to crime prevention.  

“The narrative around crime is making people push for stronger and longer sentencing, which will have us going back to mass incarceration and over-policing,” Iwuoha said. 

The Secure DC Omnibus includes provisions that allow police officers to engage in vehicular pursuits and review body-worn camera footage, except in cases involving serious use of force. If passed in its current form, the legislation would also require the Office of Police Complaints (OPC) to keep confidential the names of officers while under investigation, while narrowing the definition of a chokehold.

Other provisions in the omnibus bill create new firearm offenses, including those related to discarding a weapon, tampering with serial numbers, and receiving stolen firearms and ammunition. Under the legislation, those who shoot a large number of bullets at a time would receive longer sentences, while sentences for firearm possession would be increased from one year to five years, and stacked atop of other penalties incurred. 

The omnibus bill, if passed, also maintains an expansion of pretrial detention for adults and juveniles accused of committing a violent crime. 

Iwuoha, a Ward 7 mother of one, reflected on her collaboration with Alliance of Concerned Men, Save Our Youth D.C., and Melanin Uprising to connect young people and their families to resources. She told The Informer that her experiences over the last decade have shown her that young people need consistent support and mentorship, specifically from those who’ve encountered similar struggles. 

“We need to double down on wraparound holistic services if we genuinely care about safety so that residents have the services they need to thrive,” Iwuoha said. “The last thing I want to see is us locking up young people who are experiencing poverty. We need to invest in institutions that are doing the work and not lock up people for the failures of the system. When it comes to accountability, mass incarceration has not worked and is not the appropriate intervention.” 

A Deep Dive Into the Omnibus Bill 

On Jan. 17, the council’s Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, which includes Council members Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), Christina Henderson (I-At Large), Anita Bonds (D-At Large), Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) and Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7), unanimously approved the Secure DC Omnibus Bill’s passage to the Committee of the Whole. 

The committee markup resulted in the removal of a provision requiring the D.C. Executive Office of the Mayor to conduct a study on the public safety and health effects of street vending decriminalization legislation that the council approved last year. That provision, originally in Mayor Muriel Bowser’s ACT Now legislation, was created in response to concerns about the proliferation of stolen goods on the streets. 

Now the omnibus bill will likely go before the Committee of the Whole in February, a staff member in Council Chairman Phil Mendelson’s office told The Informer. 

The Secure DC Omnibus, which focuses on violence prevention, accountability, and government oversight and coordination, is a combination of a dozen bills, many of which Pinto introduced. 

Council members Robert White (D-At Large) and Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) each had a bill reflected in the omnibus bill, while Bowser (D) had two. 

Throughout much of last year, Pinto conducted public hearings for all the bills included, including: Addressing Crime through Targeted Interventions and Violence Enforcement (ACTIVE) Act, Safe Commercial Corridors Amendment Act, FRESH STARTS Act, Bowser’s Addressing Crime Trends (ACT) Now Amendment Act and Safer, Stronger Amendment Act, and White’s Whole Government Response to Crime Act. 

Noticeably missing from the omnibus bill are provisions from the ACT Now Amendment Act that drew the ire of District residents, including those allowing the random search of people under court supervision and another targeting people wearing hoodies in public.

Below are other provisions of the Secure D.C. Omnibus: 

1. Crime Prevention
   1. The establishment of a grant program to help commercial  corridors enhance safety 
   2. The establishment of a pilot program to install “blue light” technology and cameras at Metro stations. 
   3. Reinstate MPD’s ability to declare drug-free zones. 
   4. The establishment of a task force centered on diversion, treatment and accountability for low-level offenders. 
   5. Hospitality career training and healthy food for D.C. Jail residents. 
   6. Expansion of the camera rebate program for small businesses with glass break sensors and inferior camera systems. SNAP households also receive eligibility for camera vouchers. 

2. Accountability for Crime
   1. The establishment of a new felony offense for strangulation while enhancing protections for senior citizens, people with disabilities, and transit workers and passengers.
   2. Expanding the definition of carjacking 
   3. The establishment of “directing organized retail theft” as a crime; lower the threshold for felony retail theft from $1,000 to $500. 
   4. Allows GPS records to be admissible in court and earlier collection of DNA evidence for serious offenses
   5. Reenacts the prohibition of masks on public property or during demonstrations for those older than 16 years old who intend to engage in civil and criminal violations 
   6. Prohibiting firearm possession for those convicted of stalking or intrafamily offenses 

3. Government Coordination and Oversight
   1. Requires the Office of Unified Communication to publicly share data and metrics on 911 call center performance; 311 system updates 
   2. The enforcement of civil violations for fare evasion 
   3. Expand D.C. Sentencing Commission from 12 to 15 members by Increasing council and mayoral representation  
   4. Required annual firearm tracing reports
   5. The mandated sharing of data by Criminal Justice Coordinating Council on programs, diversion and sentencing agreements 
   6. Shooting reviews conducted by Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and law enforcement partners to identify high-risk individuals and risk of retaliation 

Amid much finger-pointing between Bowser, Mendelson, and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matt Graves about the causes of crime, Pinto told The Informer that her office aimed for a holistic approach in crafting the legislation. 

“It’s incumbent on all leaders in public safety to ask what we can do better to improve public safety,” Pinto said, citing D.C residents, including rapper Lightshow, as an inspiration for the legislation. 

“It’s wholly unproductive to point at one person or agency as the sole source of the problem,” Pinto added. “The truth is that it’s everything. The Secure DC package recognizes that reality. It adjusts the laws the council controls and mandates things for agencies and courts.” 

Council Member and Advocates’ Reactions  

On Friday, Council member Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1) issued a statement commending Pinto for putting together a package that the council could act upon quickly. She spoke positively about the carjacking definition expansion, organized retail theft designation, and the Safe Commercial Corridors pilot program. 

Nadeau however expressed concern about the provisions preventing OPC from accessing police disciplinary records and allowing MPD officers to review their body footage. She also said she’s working with colleagues to tweak the drug-free zones provisions to better protect substance users who are in crisis. 

The D.C. Open Government Coalition reached out to Pinto in opposition to provisions of the omnibus bill that redact officers’ faces and badges in body-camera footage, deny access to footage where an MPD officer negligently discharges a firearm or shoots an animal, and keeps FOIA request filers from learning if officers sought counseling or substance use treatment. 

Meanwhile, the “Don’t Throw D.C. Under the Crimnibus” campaign has been in full swing for nearly a week. Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, Stop Police Terror D.C., and the Civil Rights Corps continue to encourage their members and supporters to call members of the council’s judiciary committee in opposition of the Secure D.C. Omnibus Bill. 

In an email this week, D.C. Justice Lab policy counsel Destiny Fullwood-Singh implored all 13 council members to reconsider provisions of the omnibus bill that create new mandatory minimums. She told them that those mandatory minimums, in tandem with what she described as a flawed criminal code, gives much discretion to prosecutors and places D.C. at risk of being used as a political playground. 

D.C. Justice Lab executive director Patrice Sulton emailed Nadeau, challenging her and her colleagues to look at the legislation closely. She too brought up the dangers of mandatory minimums by providing three hypotheticals where people involved in relatively harmless situations could receive decades-long sentences. 

Sulton told The Informer that the Secure DC Omnibus in its totality doesn’t reflect the will of the people like Pinto implies. 

In making her point, Sulton cites the provision allowing police officers to review body cam footage prior to writing initial reports. She said that not much of what District residents recommended for crime prevention was translated into this legislation. 

Instead, Sulton said, it’s the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia that has a significant role in shaping the Secure DC Omnibus. She told The Informer they’ve done so without any grasp of the consequences. 

“There is a lot of poor drafting in this 93-page bill Pinto is rushing through,” Sulton said. 

“Once again, people who are directly impacted are allowed to voice their concerns but are not playing a role in choosing the solutions to those concerns or drafting the words on the page,” Sulton continued.  

“Council member Pinto claims to be speaking on behalf of victims, but the contents of the bill don’t reflect their demands at all. Residents need to speak up on their own behalf. Tell those who represent the city to go back to the drawing board and write a bill that will actually change behavior.”