DC Mayor Proposes Rolling Back Progressive Reforms with New Crime Bill
Muriel Bowser’s new bills would ease up some restrictions on police passed since George Floyd's murder, while cracking down on open-air drug markets and organized retail theft.
Acting D.C. police Chief Pamela Smith. stands with Mayor Muriel Bowser (left) and other officials at a news conference on new proposed legislation aimed at “reducing crime in the District.”
Photographer: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images
Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser introduced a set of proposals on Monday to dial back progressive reforms that the mayor says have made it more difficult for police to enforce public safety.
Bowser’s proposed legislation would amend a suite of police regulations passed by the DC Council in the wake of the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the national reckoning that followed. Bowser, a Democrat, says the bill would correct reforms that hamper Metro Police Department enforcement while introducing new tools to target organized retail theft and open-air drug markets.