Mayor Adrian Fenty and acting Police Chief Cathy Lanier, in the 107th hour of their new jobs, said Friday they want to have more police officers walking the beat within 100 days.
Their goal is to reduce crime without resorting to costly crime emergencies used by their predecessors. Last year, the District had the fewest homicidesin 21 years, but D.C. police officers were forced to work six-day weeks, which cost the city tens of millions of dollars in overtime.
Since Fenty named Lanier, 39, as his chief of police, she has sought ideas from the rank-and-file and has charged her commanders with coming up with new strategies for reducing crime and increasing the visibility of the Metropolitan police officers.
“The police officers who are in the community every day and the people who live in the community every day are engagedin developing a strategy,” Lanier said, “instead of me setting a strategy and pushing it down to those that have to carry it out.”
Already, police commanders have begun implementing some of the ideas:
» Homicide detectives will be divided into regional teams so they can become familiar with the criminals, victims, witnesses and sources in their areas.
» Patrol officers are getting out of their squad cars and walking the beat at least two hours a day.
» Officers are adopting a block or a park to serve as a liaison between the residents and the police force.
“We’re going straight back to the old days,” said Commander Robin Hoey.
“It’s back to the beat.”
Fenty has vowed to implement plans tailored for each neighborhood by March.
D.C. police union head Kristopher Baumann, whose organization endorsed Fenty’s main opponent for mayor, said he’s been encouraged so far by Lanier and Fenty.
Baumann said he believes that the new police leadership appears to be listening and responsive.
“They’re willing to examine what the problems are and what the solutions are,” he said. “That’s something we haven’t seen for eight years.”
