Thanks to his 3-year-old black lab mix, Bettie, and D.C.’s ambiguous leash laws, Daniel Greenberg has a criminal arrest record. District of Columbia police cited Greenberg on May 3 for letting Bettie run around Logan Circle in Northwest Washington without a leash.
The problem, Greenberg said, is that the city has two contradictory animal control laws on the books: an antiquated criminal regulation dating to before the city had a legislative body and a law the D.C. Council recently passed making it a civil offense.
Greenberg got slapped with the old criminal offense and arrested, rather than simply receiving a citation.
“The council’s will was being thwarted by this police officer,” Greenberg said.
Greenberg, a software consultant, said he spent two hours at the police station giving up his fingerprints, two days in court fighting his case and countless hours of research to discover the two sets of laws.
He has lobbied city leaders to fix the problem. D.C. Capt. Melvin Gresham has asked the D.C. Office of the Attorney General to look into the matter, and D.C. Council Member Jack Evans will introduce legislation to make sure that the no-leash law is not listed as a criminal offense, according to e-mails provided by Greenberg.
Last week, Greenberg agreed with prosecutors to pay the $25 court fee without admitting guilt to a criminal offense. It’ll take him two years to get the arrest erased from his record, which could be a problem if he ever reapplies for a security clearance, he said. He’s also trying to get his fingerprints back from the MPD, the FBI and whoever might have copies of them.
“It’s madness,” Greenberg said. “I just don’t want anybody to have to go through what I went through.”
