Officials in Washington, D.C., intend to ramp up law enforcement recruitment over the next year amid rising crime and violence, a sharp reversal from the district’s stance of defunding the police during social justice protests in 2020.
Mayor Muriel Bowser unveiled her $30 million plan to expand the Metropolitan Police Department and reach 4,000 sworn officers in a press conference on Monday, her latest effort to tackle the district’s rising crime rates before the mayoral Democratic primary in June when she is up for reelection.
“This budget does what D.C. residents all over our city are asking me to do: get our Metropolitan Police Department fully staffed and resourced with the officers they need to keep our community safe,” Bowser said. “As we get back to 4,000 officers, we’re focused on hiring D.C. residents to be D.C. police, and we’re also focused on hiring more female officers … This investment in MPD is going to help us build a safer, stronger D.C.”
DC MAYOR PROPOSES RAISING POLICE BUDGET BY ALMOST 6%
Bowser’s plan would increase the police budget to hire 347 more officers over the next year through new recruits, graduating cadets, and returning retired officers. But when taking retirements and attrition into account, officials expect the actual net gain to be only about three dozen.
Bowser’s long-term goal of increasing the current police force of 3,500 officers to 4,000 could take much longer, with police estimating it may not reach that capacity until 2031.
Seven council members on the D.C. Council expressed support for Bowser’s proposal, a reversal from when city lawmakers trimmed the budget two years ago amid Black Lives Matter protests and calls to invest instead in other public safety departments. That reduction led to a hiring freeze within the MPD and a loss of about 280 officers in 18 months, the lowest number of officers in nearly two decades.
However, several lawmakers say they’ve noticed a shift within Washington, D.C., particularly as crime rates have risen steadily and have become among the top concerns for voters.
“My own sense from listening to folks at community meetings is that they want to see us turn around the size of the force,” Council Chairman Phil Mendelson told the Washington Post.
However, the MPD has reported struggles with recruitment over the past few months due to the department’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement. The district requires all government employees to be fully vaccinated.
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“We are talking about people from all around the country who have different perspectives, and some of those perspectives do not necessarily align with our values here in the city,” MPD Chief Robert Contee told the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety on Thursday. “And I would say, quite honestly, that’s not necessarily a loss to us. It’s unfortunate, but it’s not necessarily a loss.”
Bowser’s proposal would include a number of incentives to reverse this trend, including hiring bonuses for new cadets, tuition reimbursements, and temporary housing stipends for those who live outside the city limits.
