Top officials from the District and Maryland said they were trying to change local laws that allowed about 400 convicted felons to remain free after violating parole in other jurisdictions.
The initiative is part of a broader effort to improve interjurisdictional law enforcement cooperation that D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley outlined Thursday.
Approximately 400 felons under supervision by D.C. police have been charged with crimes in Maryland that should put them back behind bars. But because the charges are for misdemeanors, the felons cannot be extradited to the District under current law.
“The warrant is useless,” said D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier, who took part in Thursday’s session at the District’s Wilson Building.
Many of the felons D.C. police want to target have violent crimes on their records and have committed multiple offenses. They are the type of criminal who is likely to commit violent crime in the future, Lanier said.
“This issue has been frustrating law enforcement for a long, long time,” she said.
Lanier wants an interim solution that would let police “go after the small number of violent offenders right away” while a long-term legislative fix is worked out.
D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles said the D.C. Council would address the problem in the omnibus crime bill, but declined to mention specifics.
Beyond the extradition issue, officials want to reduce the role of federal agencies in the city’s criminal justice system.
When a person under police supervision is arrested in the District, it can take months to have is or her parole revoked due to the number of federal agencies involved, Fenty said. In Maryland, where all the relevant agencies report to the governor, offenders who violate parole can be returned to jail within days.
D.C. and Maryland officials will meet again in three months to continue discussions on cross-border law enforcement issues.
