- 6 weeks ago
On Tuesday, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser held a community meeting amidst President Trump's federal takeover.
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00:00to declare a public safety emergency. We do not believe that we are experiencing a crime spike
00:10or are in an emergency status. In fact, MPD has been doing the job with community and all of their
00:18partners in government to drive down violent crime in the District of Columbia. We have, in fact,
00:24experienced a 26 percent decrease, and that's on top of the 35 percent decrease we saw in violent crime
00:33last year. Having said that, we never take our foot off the gas, and we're never satisfied
00:41with any level of crime, certainly violent crime, the use of guns, and homicide, and robbery and
00:50carjacking in our city. We recognize and we worked with all of you in 2023 when we did experience
01:00an unacceptable spike in violent crime. That's when I came out to ANC meetings. I met with school
01:07leaders. I met with members of the council. We moved an emergency piece of legislation that was followed
01:14by an omnibus bill authored by Council Member Brooke Pinto. That bill allowed us to do what I think is
01:22one of the most significant things to drive down crime, and that is to be able to hold violent
01:29offenders who have been accused of a violent crime pre-trial. And since we've been able to do that,
01:37we have seen the number of shootings and homicides go down in our city. So now we are dealing with
01:45what we believe is the president's invocation of a part of the charter that he has the prerogative
01:54to invoke. And we are ensuring that our chief of police is the leader and is working with her
02:06counterparts that have been named by the president, specifically the director of the Drug Enforcement
02:14Agency and the Marshal's Service, to ensure that any additional officers that we have, and we expect that
02:23could range in the hundreds on any given night, will be deployed in the way that helps us drive down
02:31violent crime. The president also issued an executive order that would deploy the National Guard in D.C.,
02:43and I know you've been following in the news, and you know that the D.C. Guard is in fact the
02:50president's guard. The mayor cannot launch the D.C. National Guard only by request to the Department of
02:58Defense. The president has indicated that he will use or that will use the National Guard in non-law
03:09enforcement ways. And so we will continue to watch for that. Today, I requested and had a meeting with
03:20the Attorney General for the United States, Pamela Bondi, who the president has given his,
03:27who has delegated his authority to in this matter. The executive order states clearly that the
03:35president may request NPD services from the mayor and directs the mayor to provide those NPD services.
03:42The executive order nor law change our organizational structure in the district. Our structure in the
03:49district is that the agency, in this case NPD, reports through the deputy mayor and the city administrator to
04:01me. And the chief of police has a direct line to me as well. The Attorney General for the United States,
04:11Pamela Bondi, as the president's designee, is also my point of contact in working with the federal
04:20government. I am appointing Deputy Mayor Appiah to be our policy lead with the federal partners. And Chief
04:32Pamela Smith is our operations lead in working with the federal government and federal forces that will be
04:40in the district. So with that, I want to pause and see if Lindsay and Kevin want to add anything and then take your
04:52questions.
04:52Okay, any questions?
05:03Yes, Mayor, we've got a couple of questions. The first I'll read, it's from Naomi. Mayor Bowser, can you speak to the rights,
05:12protections and resources available to DC residents of all ages, and how your office intends to communicate
05:19about those rights and resources to constituents in light of the recent changes of organizational
05:24structure?
05:25Well, there have been, Naomi, no changes to organizational structure. How you communicate
05:31with DC government remains the same, including with the Metropolitan Police Department or with your
05:39contacts in the EOM. That all remains the same. I have asked my team to look at some of the questions
05:47that we're getting from community and put together a know your rights kind of one pager. And I will
05:55continue, we're going to continue to work on that to make it as fulsome as possible and post it online.
06:03Needless to say, and this is true today, as it was yesterday, as it was last week and the week before that,
06:10we expect all of our residents to act lawfully and we expect the police to act lawfully. And that is how we
06:18will proceed in this space. So part, we're having various conversations with people who have influence in the
06:34community to help spread that word. And this is the first such meeting. We intend to have it with our
06:40violence interrupters, as well as our school leaders. And we don't and don't expect to be the only leaders
06:48of these conversations. This is really a time for community to jump in. Don't wait for me to ask. Don't wait for
06:56me to tell you to do something, but this is the time for us all to jump in and make sure that our kids know
07:03the law, know their rights, and are safe.
07:10Thank you, Mayor. And I just want to remind everyone who's on, we've got people who are dialing in. If you
07:14press zero now, that will get you into the call queue. We've got people who are typing their questions and
07:19I'll read some of those out loud. We've also got people who have raised their hand and I'm going to call
07:23now on Lamont Mitchell. I've made your line live. You now need to unmute yourself and you can ask
07:28your question. Thank you, Mayor. Let me just say this is a very difficult time for the city, but I
07:35certainly enjoy the leadership that you have brought in working with what is as opposed to what
07:43what could be. My major concern is that unlegal guns coming into the city, particularly from states
07:52that have very flexible laws as it relates to gun purchases. And how are the ATF working with the
08:03FBI to track down these guns? I know for a fact that guns are being purchased in red states and being
08:10sold to our youth in Washington as protection for themselves. They think they need a gun at 14,
08:17because everybody else got a gun at 15. And I didn't hear anything that he talked about going and
08:25making sure illegal gun purchases and sales are eradicated in D.C. We don't have gun shops in D.C.
08:33The guns have to be coming from somewhere and they're given to our children who think they need
08:38them for protection and it's causing a lot of heartache and headache.
08:42Okay. I got it. That's a good question. Now, in my meeting with the Attorney General today,
08:50we had a big focus on guns, illegal guns, using guns in the Commission of Crime. And that will be a
08:59focus area for enforcement. You are right in to suggest that once we have recovered those guns,
09:07that we should be tracing them and finding out where they come from and what other crimes they
09:12could have been involved in. So we'll keep that on the forefront.
09:16Thank you. Our next question. David, I tried to unmute you. Can you speak and see if we can hear you,
09:25David Rubenstein? If not, I'll read your question out loud. I'll read the question. How do you envision
09:32federal resources helping to support policing in nightlife districts, which still generate a great
09:38deal of issues? I expect and I can also ask Deputy Mayor Appiah to jump in. And when we are
09:51thinking about when the chief of police is thinking about where additional federal forces would go. Now,
09:58keep in mind, she's approaching this in a similar way. Just imagine if we had the number of MPD police
10:05officers that we should have, if we were at 3,800 instead of 3,100 and some. So she is approaching
10:14her deployment strategy with some nuance to see how the additional federal police officers can help in some
10:25areas. She has some special focus areas, homicide reduction in some neighborhoods where we have a lot
10:33of gun activity and a lot of homicide. And also in areas where we have seen robbery, areas that are
10:44drug enforcement zones that she identifies periodically, juvenile curfew enforcement zones, as well as nightlife
10:53areas. So we expect that when there are additional federal resources available, that they will be
11:02deployed in our high priority areas, which include our nightlife areas.
11:07And so for those who aren't aware, I see Gene Homa on here so knows that every Friday, Saturday, and many Sunday nights,
11:18we actually have a multi-agency effort in our night corridors, East Street, but with particular focus on U Street
11:26and the Golden Triangle, where we see many, many people out enjoying our nightlife areas. And so, as the mayor said, a focus for the
11:35chief is really, we've focused on presence. And certainly what this surge, the federal surge of
11:44officers will allow us to do is to add presence in those areas where we know that there are significant
11:51people out and about in the overnight hours particularly, which is what much of the focus of the federal law
11:59enforcement officers will be is really supporting a lot of the overnight efforts. So that will allow the
12:05chief to really enhance the efforts that we've had with both MPD and then you know, many of you know,
12:12DPW, DDOT, many of our other enforcement agencies that participate in helping us to try and have order in
12:21our nightlife areas. Thank you. Our next question is going to come from the phone. So Linda, I'm
12:29Major Line Live. Linda in Ward 4. If you can speak, we can hear you. Linda, can we? If not, we're going to
12:40come back to Linda because I think I heard we need to make another move here. So we're going to move to
12:44Markita Bryant in Ward 8. Hi, I just want to say thank you for all you're doing for our city,
12:52for your leadership. I do have a question and concerns. I have parents who have reached out,
12:57we have started the conversation. They are worried the school year is getting ready to start. Youth
13:04are nervous. Do they walk with their parents? How would this look when the first day of school happened?
13:10We have a lot of seniors who are also asking that same question when they go out on their
13:14walks and strolls. How do we make this less intimidating? I know it will be a presence,
13:20but I guess parents and school children who will be traveling to and from school and also seniors who
13:26walk about the community, they do want to know how can we make this a more environment where it is still DC,
13:33but also it's collaborative. Can you give us some ideas about what you think would be appropriate?
13:46Yes. So for the young school children going to school, again, everyone wants safe passage going to
13:53and from school. But I guess in front of the schools, traveling to and from on the metro, you know,
14:00you have a lot of youth who are trying to do something good with their lives. They want to
14:05get to and from school and not feel as though if they travel in groups because they do do that for
14:10safety, will I be looked at upon as something else? Also, we have young school children. Will we have
14:18guards or officers at law enforcement with their vests right in front of the school buildings and it
14:24become intimidating to travel to and from school? Also, we have seniors who have lived different
14:30eras and, you know, this is kind of triggering for them. So they want to stay inside and we know we
14:37want them outdoors and still living their lives and have a quality of life. So yeah, that's what I want.
14:43So I have been thinking about like the first day of school, the first week of school, as we always do.
14:50We are gearing up with our own safe passage workers. We're gearing up with our transportation connect
14:57programs because, candidly, we have parents who are worried about their kids going back and forth to
15:07school. So I want to challenge my team and the chief to think about how we have presence without being
15:17intimidating. And MPD and school resource officers are in and around schools working with the safe passage
15:29workers. We have safe passage workers invest. So, and we have our DDOT staff who is out there who will
15:36be helping with crossing as well. So let me think about ways that we want or don't want any of the federal
15:48surge officers to be supporting at that time. So we are thinking about it. I don't know that I have the
15:58answer right now, but it is on our mind. Mayor, if I could just add in response to the question, I do know
16:07Chief Smith is trying whenever possible to have our MPD officers present when there are other federal
16:14officers who are supplementing where we are in neighborhoods. Our MPD officers know the community,
16:19know the families, often know the kids. And that is one way to your question about how do people not
16:25be perceived differently is making sure our MPD officers are also present. The largest part of
16:31the surge will happen on overnight. So certainly in the school hours, it shouldn't overlap.
16:39And we're trying to be thoughtful with the guard deployment. You'd mentioned that as well. And
16:44having that predominantly focused on where we have the federal monuments, where in past special events,
16:51people may be accustomed to seeing the guard. So we're trying very hard to be mindful to the extent
16:57we can of having our local MPD be present and being able to mitigate some of the legitimate concerns
17:06that you raised. And one of the things that I would say too is because what I hear often as we're
17:11planning now is that people want to see more MPD near schools. And so our hope, and I know that what
17:17the chief and her team are working on is, as the mayor said, is really how can we deploy the federal
17:22law enforcement in a way that helps us to drive down violent crime and really allows us in some respects
17:28to deploy MPD in the spaces where our people want to see them more, right? And so one of those is on
17:33things like routes to school. So as we're working on our safe passage planning, which we work together
17:39with MPD to make sure that we have as much coverage as possible, because that's usually what we hear
17:45kind of most from people, that it's in a way that feels safe and supportive for everybody.
17:53Thank you. We'll take another written question. And there are several questions that are about
17:59schools. And so I'll just combine them all into one. And the question is what schools started schools
18:04about two weeks away? Or is there anything special that the school system or parents should do
18:09in light of the current surge? I think yes. And so I am going to convene a meeting with our public
18:18education officials. During the spike in crime that we experienced in 23, I began a regular meeting with
18:28school principals, especially of middle and high schools, where we could have a direct and frank
18:34discussion about what the schools need from us. And I know that Chancellor Farabee will be meeting with
18:43all teachers and all principals in the coming week. And so we will have as much information as we can
18:52prepared for them so that they can share that information with parents. Likely, and I don't want to get
18:59ahead of the Chancellor, but likely the Chancellor will produce a communication for parents and families
19:06and for in a way to talk to teachers about how to how to talk to their students when they have questions.
19:17Great. Thank you. And as a reminder, everyone in the call, if you press zero, we'll try to get into the queue.
19:22The next live question will come from Rodney Foxworth. You can go ahead. We've got your line. I need it.
19:26Hi, Mayor Bowser. Thanks again for doing this. This is really timely. Just have two quick questions.
19:33I know one or two days ago you talked about if the feds want to help, they can provide additional
19:39funding for judges and prosecutors. Were there any comments from the feds regarding that?
19:46And should I ask the second question now? I'll wait for you to answer the first one.
19:49Go ahead with your second question.
19:51So the second question, and I'm hearing this from a lot of folks in the Lamont and Riggs community where I live.
19:58Does DPR Park Rangers currently provide security services to the areas around our rec centers
20:03throughout the day and night and not? Can your team consider that?
20:09Um, I don't know if I know the answer to their deployment. I know that they are on call.
20:15Um, and I, I'm assuming that they have some patrols around Parks property. I will have to get back to you,
20:23Rodney, on the frequency, um, and specifically on the frequency around, um, Riggs Lamont.
20:29Um, on the issue of judges, we had a lengthy conversation with the Attorney General about judges.
20:36It's not the first time we have had many conversations about judges. It is a big deal,
20:42especially, um, if they expect to see increased arrest in the city, uh, you have to have the
20:49judges to deal with it. Um, and we have a backlog of about 15. Only the, the president appoints judges
20:59or nominates judges for the DC Superior Court in the Court of Appeals. Uh, his team has a long list
21:06of qualified people, um, that have been submitted by our Judicial Nomination Commission. They are aware
21:13of the issue. The Senate is aware of the issue because they have to do the confirmations. And, um,
21:21we're getting, we're getting a focus on that. Um, on prosecutors, we actually have to
21:28continue to circle back with the Attorney General on that because we believe, um, that they need
21:34to detail prosecutors from other U.S. Attorney's offices because their vacancy, their level of
21:40vacancy is so big. Um, I think they, they're trying to fill 60 prosecutors. Earlier in the year,
21:48a number of prosecutors were fired, um, and they have to backfill for those, um, positions and they
21:56have to do it quickly. So the funding issue, however, that is most significant, most significant
22:03is the, the congressional, like, limitation on our FY25 spending that was about a billion dollars
22:12that affected services across all of our clusters that we had to eliminate in order to balance our budget.
22:19Um, so there's still time for the Congress to fix that. Um, and as far as advocacy goes from the
22:27community, um, that should continue to be in your talking, um, your talking point. I hate the word
22:33talking points, the words talking points though, but that should continue to be a part of your narrative.
22:39Cutting a billion dollars does not make DC safer. Uh, in fact, it has prevented us from being able to
22:46negotiate with our firefighters who are due for a new contract. Um, our police officers have to wait
22:54to get their raise until the new fiscal year begins because our funds were cut in the current
23:01one in FY25. So it's had a lot of impact. So I would continue to talk about that. I would continue to
23:09talk about the need for the president to appoint judges. Uh, and I would, uh, continue to talk about
23:15this as an intrusion on our autonomy. Thank you. Uh, and just scanning the Q and A again,
23:23mayor, there are several questions about homeless encampments, um, and the unhoused residents. Um,
23:28and if that will present either a, uh, a burden to the DC system, or if we know where some of the
23:35residents will be relocated. Listen, we are very worried about, um, this issue. Uh, I know for many
23:43conversations with president Trump, that this is like his, his issue, um, seeing homeless encampments.
23:51I don't know. It just triggers something in him, um, that has, has him believing that our very
23:58beautiful city is dirty, which it is not. Um, and so I, I, I worry about this because we spend a lot of
24:07time and resources trying to get the people who are in encampments into shelter. Uh, and they present
24:14with a lot of issues, um, that make them not want to go into shelter. But Kevin, do you have kind of a,
24:21can you share like a rundown of our outreach experience about how many people we think we're
24:28talking about? Sure. Let me provide some context and then I'll talk about what we're doing literally
24:33today, uh, and tomorrow. So as context, the city has less homelessness than it did last year. So
24:40we've seen improvements in homelessness, which we do through an annual point in time count survey.
24:45Uh, encampments is one part of homelessness that is often the most visible. And that's really defined as
24:51when you literally have two people that are in the similar space or same space overnight, we call it
24:56an encampment. Uh, there's usually a tent structure. Sometimes there's not a tent structure,
25:01uh, and our attention and focus on encampments predates this administration's. So, uh, about
25:07three years ago, we began a protocol really focused on providing housing for those in encampments that
25:15often suffer, have more frequently from mental health issues, from substance abuse issues. So they have
25:20pretty unique needs and intensive needs. Uh, we also started housing programs really designed for folks
25:27in encampments that would provide services on site, uh, where we have housing. Uh, and since we started
25:34that about three years ago, we did a census when we started, we had about 300 people in tents and about
25:41300 tents themselves. Sometimes people have more than one tent. Uh, about four months ago is our last time
25:47we did a survey. Uh, we had fewer than 100 tents, uh, and about 100 people that were in encampments. So we
25:54know we've made a difference and those efforts predate the administration. And now we also don't
26:00want to be naive about the president's interest in this and the use of federal law enforcement. So,
26:05uh, over this past weekend into today, uh, our department of human services outreach workers,
26:12uh, as well as members that work in our office of the deputy mayor for health and human services
26:18have been doing direct outreach, uh, to homeless encampments. Uh, and we really use the DC employee
26:25caseworkers that know the individuals well that have relationships that predate right now.
26:31And they go and they talk about the need for, um, to go into shelter and the possibility that federal
26:38law enforcement will be focused on encampments. Uh, we have made available in the past few days
26:45additional shelter capacity. So we know we have beds to offer people. Uh, if those, that shelter
26:51capacity gets used, we have the ability to expand it further. Uh, we also have going online and
26:58literally getting the certificate of occupancy this week, um, an entire building, uh, that can house about
27:04200 people, uh, that, uh, is on E street, uh, near North Capitol street. And this is a building that
27:12will be dedicated to having services on site that will provide really humane housing that gives an
27:18opportunity for folks in encampments ability to be able to leave the encampment. Uh, but today,
27:23and I was out there briefly with them, um, uh, our folks are going encampment to encampment,
27:2910 to 10 to talk to every single person to make sure they make connections and they make people aware
27:35of how to get services. And that will continue throughout this week and into the next week with
27:39a greater level of emergency. Thank you. Uh, next question I'm going to take from Mr. Eric Weaver.
27:47Uh, you can go ahead. Your line is unmuted. Oh, hi, Mary and the rest of the team. Uh,
27:54just wanted to, uh, so I know I heard you say you was going to play in a meeting with the, uh,
27:59people doing the valid prevention and stuff. My main concern right now is, you know, a lot of times
28:05the, the valid prevention guys, they're out in the street. And if you don't know who they are, it can look
28:09like they're lottery or maybe engaging in something that they not, but you know, they're out there
28:14keeping their eyes and ears on the street and they're engaging with, um, the community. So just
28:19want to know, do, is it a plan in place to let, I know Kevin, you mentioned that they will be out
28:24there sometimes with MPD who knows a lot of the valid prevention workers, but just, you know, from
28:30the federal people not knowing who they are and seeing them out there and looking like they're doing
28:34something they're not doing. And so it's a plan to explain to them what the valid prevention
28:39workers are out there in the community doing and what that looks like. So, you know, it's a safe
28:44place for them to continue on doing their work. That's a great point. And, um, Lindsey will work
28:52with, um, our WANs office and the attorney general's office to convene a call like this with our violence
28:59interrupters. And I should have mentioned earlier that Chief Smith has secured the agreement from
29:08federal partners that they will wear identifying, um, clothing, um, a vest, jacket, shirt, badge,
29:16so that members of the community know that they are law enforcement. Similarly, we want to work with all
29:23of our teams, the safe passage violence interrupters, uh, to similarly where, um, identifying clothing.
29:31And so Eric, let's, let's talk more and make sure we're, we're all doing that and that, um, we, we can
29:37get down into the details on our, our call. Thank you. Our next question is from Poet Taylor. You can go
29:44ahead. Your line is unmuted. Oh, I can hear us. Uh, if not, our next question is from Bishop Gray.
29:59I did. Can you hear me now? Oh, yes. Go ahead. Go ahead.
30:01I apologize for that. Thank you everybody for your time this evening. I have two questions. Um, one,
30:06as a DC resident myself, a lot of us are experiencing a lot of stress, trauma, and burnout from everything
30:12that's happening. So is there anything that the city's doing to increase access to mental health
30:17support for both residents, um, our violence interrupters, and even our first responders?
30:23And then my second is, um,
30:30I know a lot of us are very concerned about safety. Over the weekend, I was in, um, a neighborhood and it
30:37almost felt like they were doing jump outs and stop and frisks. So when it comes to fairness and policing,
30:45what are we doing to make sure communities, um, how do I want to work this? How is the city working
30:52to protect communities while ensuring that trust and accountability also remain the center? Like,
30:57well, we have a number where we can call if we see something and it's shady. Um, I've had several
31:03people that have been kind of unfortunately locked up because they didn't know where they could smoke
31:08or engage in something. Like there just seems to be a lot of those wires. So I guess those are my
31:12questions. Like, where will we go to get the resources that are always discussed? Thank you again.
31:19So, um, I think as we develop our kind of know your rights, let us find, um, like a clearing house for
31:27information and also to report, um, um, any concerns. Obviously NPD concerns can be reported
31:35to the police complaints line and to any of us and the chief of police. And I'm going to ask the chief of
31:42police to, uh, to maybe, uh, or Lindsay, can you help us think through this? If there is, uh, uh, uh,
31:50email that we can send specific information to so that we can, we can be responsive. Um,
31:57and in that, in, in the information piece that we'll put out poet, um, we will make sure we highlight
32:03where people can have access to services, including the vet, um, services that we medic medical services
32:14that we offer. All of our employees have access to an employee assistance program as well.
32:20Thank you. Um, uh, there are a couple of other written questions that all have the same theme.
32:27It's about the faith community. Uh, and Samir, the question is how can the faith community help
32:31during this space where folks feel like they're being in receivership?
32:38Um, I don't know what, what does that mean?
32:40I think the gist of his question is how can the faith community help, uh, uh, support and protect the
32:48community right now? Well, I think the faith community knows best what they can do in the
32:53community that they're in. Um, I don't know that I have a, you know, everybody does this thing,
33:02but if you're in a community where, you know, young people need a safe place, do that. If you know,
33:07you're in a community where moms need support, uh, do that. Uh, if you're in a community where the
33:14violence interrupters can have a rest place, um, then do that. If you have a, a wide network where
33:22you can talk about the democracy issues facing the district, the intrusion on our autonomy, um,
33:29the impact on other cities, then, then do that. But what you shouldn't do is wait for me to tell you
33:37what to do. This is a time where community needs to jump in. Um, and we all need to, to do what we
33:47can in our space, in our lane to protect our city, uh, and to protect our autonomy, to protect our home
33:56rule and get to the other side of this guy and make sure we elect the democratic house so that we have a
34:04backstop to this, uh, their authoritarian push. Can I add one thing, mayor? Just so one of the
34:11things that, so many who know me, I have a Christian faith system. The Bible says seek
34:16peace and pursue it. And oftentimes, you know, um, we talk about violence interrupters and all these
34:21various government things, but where churches really can help is you are peacemakers. And, um,
34:26I just heard Ms. Taylor talk about the anxiety and stress people are feeling and where can they go to
34:30get resources? And we said, we'll put out a list of government resources, but as churches in
34:36communities, this is, if ever there was a time for you all to throw, open the doors of the churches.
34:41I saw, um, from, um, Dion Bussy reader, well, we were talking about where can kids go that they can feel
34:47safe. Well, while your churches and you all many, um, are the people who can be in community walking,
34:54who can be, um, opening the doors of your churches now. So as places of peace, um,
35:00and also I think you can be tone setters that there are many things that, um, you know, um,
35:07can be a frightening to people, but I, I offer that oftentimes, you know, in our talks about
35:14community peace scene with MPD, that as you engage positively with, um, law enforcement, they engage
35:20with you as well. And I, and I would posit maybe there is some of those things that you as faith
35:24leaders and communities who, um, believe you have the perfect protection of the Lord can help to be
35:29bridge builders with some of these federal law enforcement, um, folks who, um, some are, are from
35:34DC or regularly serve here. And so helping, um, them to understand the communities where they are
35:40currently, like you can really be a large part of that and helping to really bring peace, um, into
35:46a situation where we know a lot of people feel anxiety and you are the peacemakers and the peace
35:51bringers. So we could certainly use some of that support and prayer, always prayer.
35:55Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Uh, Will Crane, uh, your line is unmuted.
36:00Hi, Madam Mayor. This is Will Crane with Puggy Bottom Association, ANC 2A. Um, I appreciate you
36:09organizing this event so quickly and a shout out to the EOM for getting us all connected. Um, I think
36:18my question relates to the homeless encampments and engagement through DMHHS and I appreciate what,
36:25uh, the city administrator was saying that the last count was four months ago. Um,
36:33Foggy Bottom is in a unique situation. We're kind of tucked in between State Department,
36:40the Institute of Peace. We have a lot of highways traversing. And I think that a lot of federal
36:46officials go through our area and see this and take that to be indicative of the city as a whole.
36:55Um, I know that myself, several community members have been reaching out to D-A-D-M-H-H-S
37:02trying to get the word out about the spike in homeless encampments in our area and trying to
37:08get some engagement and information. And I've had no luck over the course of the last seven days to
37:15get any response from them. So perhaps if the city administrator could reach out and engage civic
37:24associations, I think that those of us that live and work and experience this neighborhood every day
37:32could be a resource. Um, so that's not really a question, but I appreciate it all the same.
37:38No, no, it's very helpful. And, um, as Kevin mentioned, we are focused on
37:47really getting people to come into shelter as we always are, but with, with some intensity, um,
37:54because we can't say for certain what the federal approach is. Um, and we do know what our approach is.
38:02And so we really want people to come into shelter. So we've made available more shelter space and our,
38:10what we're seeing as a very successful, so far bridge program, um, we'll be able to add another
38:18building, um, in, in the coming days. So that that's also good news for our capacity.
38:24Mayor, if I could just add, um, and for the caller, um, I let's make sure we definitely connect after
38:31this. I want to make sure, um, we are empowering you with all the information you need. Um, the,
38:37the, the, you're, you're right that there is, um, in terms of visibility to the federal buildings,
38:44your area is, is particularly prominent. Uh, it also just has more encampments in that area. So
38:49it's why we start at the Aston, our first, uh, building that really is dedicated to having services
38:56on site, um, in your community. Um, we expanded capacity recently at that building. Uh, in addition
39:03to that over the weekend, as I mentioned, we got additional bed capacity. Uh, the encampments in
39:08that area were a particular focus throughout today. Um, uh, I, I mentioned I was out for, uh, uh, some time
39:18with the deputy mayor's team was actually, we were at, in one of the encampments that you're
39:22referencing. Um, and the folks that were engaging were individuals that are part of DC government,
39:28uh, who know them by name, who the homeless residents also know by name back. Uh, and they're
39:36both encouraging and offering services for shelter that we've made available. Um, we also offer services
39:43through department of human services called project reconnect that allows for someone who's homeless to
39:48reconnect with someone that, uh, may be able to provide them with shelter or a bed that's known
39:53to them, a friend, a family member. Um, and at the same time, we're, um, going person by person,
39:59really informing them sometimes somewhat bluntly about, um, the space we're in right now. Um,
40:04and that message is coming from a trusted voice, um, uh, so that we make sure we're giving them
40:11all the information that we have at our disposal, um, about what's happening now, as well as the
40:17opportunities to get shelter. So let's make sure we connect after this, and I appreciate your
40:22attention and engagement on the issue.
40:28Thank you, CA. Our next question is going to go to Terry Goins.
40:34Um, good evening, Mayor Bowser and your staff. Uh, praise God for how y'all been conducting
40:40yourself and caring yourself during this time. Um, I guess it's more of a comment more than a question.
40:46Um, do y'all think that this is a good time? I know when I was going to school, they had this
40:52course called DC government. I believe that if we educate our kids about DC government, how DC government
41:01operate, they will best understand this situation if it was to arrive again, or even to help, um,
41:09us becoming the state, you know, um, so that's one of the things I want to talk about. Okay.
41:16And, uh, yes, I think that all manner of civic education, uh, formal in our schools. Um, and I,
41:25I also think that there's a role that community can play in teaching kids the history, making sure they
41:31understand, um, why we need to become the 51st state, why they need to vote, um, and why they
41:40need to participate in civic life is, is a very important lesson. So let's figure out how we can
41:46support some community activities to get that done. Thank you. Uh, next question is going to come
41:53from Shirley Smith. Go ahead. Your line is unmuted.
42:00From Ward 5. Mayor, you know, we've always been supportive, and this is the time for the citizens
42:06to support you. It is our city. You are our leader. And the fact is, I like you, what you're doing today,
42:13but you've got to keep us informed. However you'll, whoever is the police department, whoever it is,
42:20I've got to talk to the citizens so we can tell our community. Like kids going back to school,
42:24we used to have a block thing where if you were going to school, everybody in the block would watch
42:29children go to school and make sure when they come home, their parents at work, they could come home
42:34safely. So we're going to have to go back and look after each other and pay attention. This man has given
42:39us the opportunity with his evil kind of way of thinking, has given us the opportunity to go back and be
42:45the kind of citizens that we should be to each of them. We've always been in our community.
42:50So thank you for today's meeting. And whatever we can do, we're more than willing to help you.
42:56Okay. Thank you. Thanks, Shirley. Thank you.
43:03Sorry. The next question is going to come from Emily Lucio. Go ahead. Your line is unmuted.
43:09Thank you so much. Good evening, Mayor Bowser.
43:12My question is more specifically related to what you've heard from Attorney General Pam Bondi in
43:19terms of her plans to deploy the National Guard. We have a pretty, we have various areas of the city,
43:27and some have obviously more crime than others. You know, the Navy Yard has more crime than,
43:31you know, maybe perhaps Cleveland Park or other areas. And so I'm just curious if you have any more
43:36specifics from the Attorney General or from the White House in terms of where specifically they
43:43plan to deploy the National Guard. My expectation, though it can change,
43:49is that they will deploy the Guard on federal properties. That includes parks, monuments, federal
43:54buildings. My expectation for the higher incident areas that you mentioned would be for where the
44:03federal surge officers would go. So they're law enforcement officers, not National Guard.
44:10Thank you. And again, everyone on the phone, if you press zero, we can load you into the queue. I'm
44:19going to go to another written question. And there's several questions you're asking about the cost and
44:25if there are any cost of the surge that will be laid to the district, especially in light of the billion
44:31dollars from the, that the Congress is holding from district resources.
44:36Um, I, I'm going to say no. Um, but we do, we will, as we always do, be focusing on our homeless
44:49outreach. We'll be focused on our clean and safe activities that are DPW related. Um, I will say
44:57that the deputy may, that the DC National Guard, though not our guard, we, we coordinate tightly
45:03with them and they're not funded for this. So they're going to have to get federal funding. Um, and I have
45:09not, it has not been confirmed to me that that has happened yet.
45:16Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, Bishop Gray, you had a question earlier. We tried to get you, you're back on now.
45:21No, I'm sorry. I'm, I'm good with my question. I think it was answered. Thanks a lot.
45:28Thank you, Bishop. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, Jimmy Williams. We have a question for you guys.
45:38Yes. Um, my question is about, um, protections for out of school youth ages 18 to 24
45:45and also non-English speaking immigrants. Um, two target groups that I think are
45:50most likely to have some kind of incursion, um, with this, uh, current state. So I'm asking
45:57how can nonprofits and others work best to help protect these groups, educate them, and ensure
46:03that they know how to act accordingly, comply as well as protect themselves? Um, well, we fund a number
46:11of groups, uh, in this space. All of our victim services, um, groups, uh, have district funding and
46:18their, like, well-respected nonprofits throughout the city. Um, all of our, um, immigrant legal
46:25services grantees are funded to talk to people about their rights, um, right now. And they have
46:32been actively working in this space for months.
46:38I, I would also note, Mayor, like I was thinking about access to justice in this, in this instance,
46:43that the district funds very significant amounts of, um, legal services through access to justice,
46:50and that encompasses a whole range of legal nonprofits. So to the extent you're talking
46:55about kind of the, the gamut of, um, of, um, need for legal information or, um, services, the access to
47:06justice through the DC bar is, um, is a place where people can get a lot of information and services
47:11funded by the government. Thank you. Uh, next question is from Charles Lockett. You can go
47:17ahead to your lines and meet it. Okay. Mayor Bowser, Charles Lockett,
47:22North Michigan Park. How are you today? Well, thank you. Okay. A question, not a question.
47:29Just the other day when this is, this went down, I have two grandsons. One, you took a picture with
47:36at Faith United. Ah, and when they left to go out to work that morning, one worked for you,
47:44the other one does a summer, summer program. I literally had to give them something I never
47:49thought I'd have to say to them. If you are encountered with these individuals, the law
47:55enforcement, stop the car, put your hands up, let the window down, and let them do their job.
48:01And kind of, it, it, it, it bothers me to know that there are other black gentlemen, young men out
48:08there who will probably come with that same encounter. My worry is that an accident, something
48:17accidentally happened and it throw this city into chaos because there's something crazy like that.
48:23That's all. Thank you. And I appreciate, um, that sentiment and I know those types of conversations
48:30happen all the time in our households, uh, making sure that our young people, uh, know how to respond
48:39to lawful law enforcement orders, um, and that they know how to come home. And I think that we still
48:48have to have those conversations, uh, even more intensely because there is an expectation. I think
48:55that a lot of stops will happen. Um, and so that, that would remain the area that I have a lot of
49:04concern about people, law enforcement that are, aren't used to making stops, making stops.
49:11And, uh, what we want all of like, like I said at the top of this, everybody is expected to follow
49:18the law and, um, and, um, and the police are expected to police in a constitutional way, whether
49:25there are police or federal police. So, uh, I, I would continue to have those conversations
49:32with, with young people, especially who may, you know, sometimes we think that they understand,
49:39they may not understand. They watch a lot of TV. They're on these social media apps. They, they,
49:45they, they just may not understand the severity of the situation we're in. Uh, and then I'll,
49:52I'll also just mention, cause we've talked about kids a lot and making sure kids know their rights.
49:58Um, but you've heard me talk about youth a lot in the last several months, um, especially youth who
50:06are participating in really destructive, disruptive behavior with these kinds of youth takeovers.
50:14Some of them are our kids. Some of them are coming across the region, uh, to descend on places like
50:21the Navy yard. Uh, so parents need to really, this is not the first time you've heard me say this,
50:28but you really need to know where your kids are. Um, we, I think we have some really, you know,
50:35kids that are not criminals, but they are getting together in big groups and causing some really,
50:42um, they're causing destruction. And so this is the type of thing that makes for good TV.
50:49All right. And to be candid, that's, that's part of the motivation I think is to get some good TV
50:57and arrest in DC. So don't let your kids be a part of that, like know where your kids are and make
51:05sure they're not grouping together. Um, because they, they will be a target.
51:14Yeah. Uh, thank you. Um, well, one more, one more live question and one more written question.
51:20So the next question is going to come from Tony Lewis. Hello everybody. Um, hi, Madam Mayor. Um,
51:31we really appreciate your leadership in this moment. Um, Hey Steve, Hey, Lindsay, Kev, I like your haircut.
51:37Um, so I'm gonna be real quick. Um, um, as, as, as relates to what you just stated, uh, Madam Mayor,
51:45is there any, um, uh, hopes to, to modify some of the programming out of like DPR, DOES, ONES, DHS,
51:54DBH, MORCA, or any of the agencies, or even if it's not necessarily modifications, but, um, you know,
52:00to, to, to be more direct in marketing of the programming that exists. Cause I think in this moment,
52:05as we're telling, uh, requesting our residents and cautioning them what to not to do, um, I think
52:12would be also great to accompany that with things that they can do. Um, and so, and we want to be
52:16helpful and I know I speak for, you know, the community in general in any way that you can use
52:22us to share that information. Um, you know, please, you know, uh, you know, encourage the agencies to
52:28share the information with us so that we can get it to, you know, the community.
52:32Okay. Absolutely. And we're, we're open to ideas, Tony. And so we don't want to fund these programs,
52:41staff these programs, promote these programs if they're not connecting. So like, give us some
52:48ideas about what you think would be better. I will tell you one thing that we did this summer.
52:53Um, to your point, we put in a juvenile curfew. We created late night hypes across the city.
52:59We made Banneker field a bit open and available and safe for kids as a, another kind of convening place.
53:07Um, we, we're, you know, we're mostly satisfied with how those came out. Uh, and we put a lot of
53:15money and attention on making sure that they were engaging, uh, for young people. Um, so we will,
53:23we will try new things and we, we look to the community to help us, um, figure those things out.
53:30But we fund it. We're funding a lot of programs that are meant to draw people in. Some of it is
53:37for recreation and engagement. Other programs are for job training. Others are for mental health support.
53:46Others are subsidized employment. So we have a lot of programming, um, that we are, that we are offering.
53:54Um, but if the right people aren't connecting to it, that's a problem. Um, so we know our violence
54:01interrupter network, um, is helpful. Our safe passage is helpful, um, at connecting, especially
54:10individuals that we know, um, are at risk for being recruited into violence. We want to get them,
54:18uh, into one of these programs. And mayor, I'll, I'll just add, and I, I do appreciate Tony often
54:25give a suggestion in the form of a question. So I always appreciate when you do that. The,
54:30you know, we've talked about the beginning of school and, uh, the mayor mentioned, we have robust
54:37funding for programs. We want to make sure connect to people. This is also the time when a lot of
54:42programs transition to a new cycle. So, uh, after school programs start anew, uh, in a few weeks,
54:50DPR programs start anew in a few weeks. Even some of the adult job training programs honestly have
54:56some of the same cycle of having a fall spring opportunity. So, uh, I appreciate the raising the
55:04suggestion, um, between the adult job programs, programs that are at our schools or rec centers
55:10that are nonprofits do. Uh, I think it's a good challenge to make sure they're fully booked.
55:15They're fully connected to both young people and adults. And this is really the window of time to
55:20make that transition because come early September, a lot of them will start up again. Uh, and it's a
55:26good time to be able to focus on it. Okay. Thanks for that, Tony. And I just have one more, um, request
55:33of everybody. Um, because I know one thing that has everybody pretty mad, especially me is the
55:42characterization of our city and our residents. Um, and we have a beautiful city. We have 700,000
55:52proud Americans who call DC home. Um, and while we're not without our challenges, we take care of our own
56:01business and we take care of our own people. Um, so I think sharing your DC story, whether it's on your
56:08social media with colleagues, um, is important, um, that we're, we're telling people we don't live in a
56:16dirty city. We are not 700,000 scumbags and punks. Um, and, uh, we don't, we don't have neighborhoods
56:25that should be bulldozed. So like we have to be clear about our story, who we are, um, and what we
56:35want for our city. So please get out there and, and share, uh, and reach out to us with any information,
56:43any concerns and recommendations, like we've, like we've heard, uh, like we've heard today.
56:50And so I just want to kind of be clear with everybody that I have a very, um, my, my jobs
56:57are many right now. And part of it is just managing us, practically managing us through this crisis.
57:03But I'm also really ticked off, um, about the intrusion on the district's autonomy
57:11and the characterization of the good work that we do in this city, um, to make it beautiful,
57:18to have excellent services, to attract millions of tourists, to have a growing school system,
57:25to have a growing city, um, with new residents showing up every day. So that's the real Washington.
57:31And I'm counting on you to make sure the world knows that as well. All right. Good evening, everybody.
57:38Thank you, everyone. If you have additional questions,
57:41feel free to email us at eom at dc.gov. Thank you very much.
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