Ward 6 D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells said Monday that Mayor Adrian Fenty’s administration blocked the Metropolitan Police Department from speaking at a hearing about absconding juvenile offenders.
Wells called a round-table discussion after a rash of violence allegedly committed by and against juveniles who were under the care and protection of the District’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services. At least nine wards of the city are charged with murder.
Wells said at the onset of the hearing that a representative of the police department had been ready to testify at the hearing, but was told not to by the Fenty administration. He said the refusal of the Fenty administration to allow the police department to discuss a serious problem in the city “really defies belief.”
A Fenty spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
