- 1 year ago
On Wednesday, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser held a press briefing after President Trump announced a crackdown on crime using federal law enforcement.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00They reported to school on Monday, and our kids start school on the coming Monday, August 25th.
00:09So I'm happy to answer a few questions.
00:12Yes.
00:12If you could respond to this, could you respond to the Justice Department investigation
00:20into whether the Metropolitan Police Department allegedly manipulated crime stat data?
00:28I'm happy to respond, and I'll just say this.
00:32Whatever questions were asked or inquiry, we will respond, and we will cooperate with any investigation.
00:42We know that crime has gone down in our city, and it has gone down precipitously over the last two years
00:51because of the hard work, changes to our public safety ecosystem, including changes to the law.
01:00And we know that those facts don't comport to what some people are saying, but those are the facts.
01:07So any questions about data from DOJ, we will happily answer.
01:12A follow-up to that question, in regards to the allegations, there also are people against your office
01:21and what's being done are speaking, talking about the fact that in May you also did have a commander
01:27who was placed on administrative leave on similar suspicions.
01:31That was done in May.
01:31Can you update us on that investigation?
01:34And I'll ask another question after that.
01:36I don't really have an update to that investigation, but I will say that was an investigation initiated by the chief,
01:44and I'm not sure if it's concluded, but I'll ask the chief to talk about that.
01:50So I'll start by saying that it was an investigation that was initiated by me,
01:56and I'll close by saying we have not yet completely finalized the investigation.
02:01As most of you know, we don't talk about open investigations until it's complete.
02:04So the suspicion of manipulating numbers is not new.
02:12In 2018, Fox 5 also reported on similar accusation, going through several FOIA requests and a lot of data as well.
02:20My question to you is, what's the plan here?
02:23How do you show the federal government that you're on tap and on top of and able to respond to what's going on?
02:28I think we can respond pretty simply.
02:31I'm not sure yet what questions we've gotten, so I'll just leave it as saying that we will cooperate and answer their questions.
02:38You were next, I think.
02:39Do you have any reaction to the Attorney General tweeted out this morning that the U.S. Marshals Service is now offering $500 to anyone who gives information that leads to an arrest in the district?
02:49Do you have any reaction to that?
02:50I don't have a reaction.
02:52We have a rewards program here for information that leads to prosecutions and certain crimes, and we have a very active program, and that has worked.
03:03Do you think that they're putting resources in the right places in the city?
03:06I think that that is something that we evaluate daily.
03:12Yep.
03:12Arthur Jones, a second with ABC News.
03:14Do you worry about students' attendance on Monday with the president's federal takeover?
03:21And also, is local...
03:22Let me stop you there.
03:23There has been no takeover.
03:27The president's surge and crackdown.
03:29Okay, so with the federal surge in the city, part of what we just talked to educators about, we're on a campus on this hill where three schools attend,
03:43so we had, you know, probably a little over 100 teachers represented today.
03:49What I want to be clear to all of them about is our children deserve and will get a joyful start to their school year.
03:57So all the adults in our building, all of the people in our government are focused on making sure that that happens.
04:05I'm also asking D.C. residents whether they have kids in school or not.
04:10This is a tradition that we have for many years, but I think it would be great if D.C. residents line corridors and clap.
04:21We call it clap the kids into school.
04:23So tell them that we're with them.
04:26We want them to have a great school year, and we're all going to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them.
04:34The police department worked with the federal agencies.
04:38Any communication there to help kids get to school?
04:42We don't need federal agencies to help get kids to school.
04:46So we have many programs, including a kids' ride-free program where all of our children have a free pass to ride free back and forth to school in their school activities.
05:00We have a program called Safe Passage where we have non-law enforcement officials that line various school routes.
05:09They will all have on a jacket that identifies them as part of D.C. government, one of our violence interruption programs.
05:18We have another program called School Connect where families can let us know if there are particular circumstances that they're concerned about with their neighborhood where they can get a ride to school.
05:33So we will take care of getting our kids to school.
05:37Yeah, I'm not going to come back to you right now because other questions are out there.
05:42Yeah.
05:42Mayor, but follow-up, I mean, there are checkpoints happening across the city with the federal partners.
05:46There's also people that are getting stopped 24-7 with immigration enforcement.
05:50I think it's just a follow-up of how do you address those concerns that a parent who is dropping their kid off might be detained by immigration officials?
05:57I think people who have that concern for themselves personally and for all of us who are concerned for them in their safety are making adjustments.
06:10Yep.
06:11Madam Mayor and administration, I have three questions.
06:14First question, what latitude do teachers have to explore the political, social, and historic context of the situation in the classroom?
06:21Second question, what safeguards are in place to prevent an overzealous response to physical altercations on school grounds, you know, given what we see currently with the federal infringement?
06:33And finally, we're going to take it to Ward 4, how is MPD preventing Officer Sutton and Lieutenant Zabaski and others who have been penalized in the past from repeating what they have done in terms of just their negative interactions with residents?
06:49Okay, your first question, I'm sorry.
06:52My first question is in regards to teachers.
06:55So what latitude do they have to explore?
06:56Oh, yeah, yeah.
06:57So one thing I just emphasize to teachers that there's only one person in D.C. government authorized to do politics, and that's me.
07:06And teaching, however, they have the same latitude to instruct as they always have.
07:11But as far as the curriculum, can someone speak to that?
07:13There's no change to their curriculum.
07:15But what is in place for them to talk about this in the current context, you know, historically?
07:21Let me ask the chancellor how the public schools approach this.
07:27Yeah, thank you, Sam, for that question.
07:29So no changes to our curriculum.
07:31The same expectations that we've had previously.
07:34We have actually a new curriculum for math this year for our elementary-age students.
07:39Teachers do incorporate current events in some courses.
07:41They still have the latitude to do that, but we expect teachers to adhere to our curriculum as written.
07:48And as far as the physical altercations on campus, I've done reporting in the past.
07:52Students have complained about altercations on this campus.
07:56We wrote about BARD as well.
07:58What guarantee or, I guess, what safeguards are in place to prevent an overzealous response from local forces as well as federal in response to students fighting on campus?
08:08Yeah, so our staff is trained to intervene if there are any altercations on campus.
08:13We don't expect that.
08:15The educators, school administrators have been working hard over the summer to create an environment that is welcoming.
08:20And we equip students with tools to deal with issues as they come up.
08:26We've had a big emphasis on, for example, restorative justice strategies that have been proven to be effective.
08:32And if you look at violent acts among students in schools, and DCPS specifically, we've seen a decline in those events that are happening on our campuses.
08:42So we anticipate the response from administrators will be the same, and they'll be prepared for day one on Monday.
08:49And in regards to the two officers that were pardoned, just very curious about their status, very curious.
08:55And this is my final question, of course, but for the time being.
08:58So at their status, one is no longer a member of the Metropolitan Police Department.
09:03And as I've stated before, the other member of our police department is in a non-right now he's going through the appropriate training.
09:12Which one's no longer a member?
09:14The lieutenant.
09:15Yep.
09:16Yep.
09:19I have a few questions.
09:20I'll try to get through them efficiently.
09:21First, for you, Mayor Bowser, and for you, Chief Smith, you were at 7-D last night with Terry Cole and with Stephen Miller.
09:30What did you all discuss amongst each other and also with the officers there at 7-D?
09:37Well, I will say, and I won't be very specific about our discussion with the officers,
09:43but we did a lot of listening about concerns that they have about policing and making sure that they have the tools that they need to do their job.
09:53We listened to concerns that they have about the areas that they're policing and other feedback.
10:01And we listened to them about other ways that I can support them as their big boss.
10:07And I think the chief would say similar.
10:11With regard to a short pull-aside that we have with the federal officials, I would just say that we discuss shared priorities.
10:23Just a couple more on immigration enforcement and the police department.
10:27We're hearing a bit that officers are looking for more guidance on how to be interacting with or in the same space when they are with ICE.
10:35And I want to bring up a specific example so we can, like, you know, to be specific here.
10:40I think one of the concerns we're hearing is that perhaps, right, routine moped enforcement that MPD has been focused on, right,
10:47like unregistered mopeds, things like that, normally before this federal surge and ICE agents accompanying MPD officers in certain spaces,
10:57that would have been that traffic violation or whatever it was, and then immigration enforcement would not be part of, you know, MPD officers doing that job.
11:07Now, how do you respond to the concern that those kinds of stops could be a pretext then for immigration enforcement
11:13and any officers' concerns about sort of how to behave and how to do that enforcement if they feel uncomfortable that it's inviting ICE?
11:22I think that we are exploring any additional guidance that our officers need.
11:29We do know that the question was posed to the courts that hasn't ruled on that claim,
11:38and we continue to look for any final legal statement.
11:45We do know that the presidential executive order and subsequent orders address these issues,
11:54and we will always have resource constraints with MPD,
11:58and we want to make sure that our enforcement is focused on violence and violent offenders.
12:03Can you go to follow up there?
12:04Mayor Bowser, we reported that you weren't aware of Chief Smith's executive order last week
12:12adjusting some of the guidance on immigration enforcement.
12:16What was your reaction when you saw that guidance, and, Chief Smith,
12:19can you give some insight into what led you to issue that new order?
12:22What led to your decision to do that?
12:26Sure. I'll turn to the chief in a moment.
12:29And it's not unusual that the chief has the authority to amend orders that she thinks are necessary.
12:40And I think her guidance from her legal department was that she was trying to give some more direction to the officers.
12:50So I think that's what led to it.
12:54But I think the bottom line for me is that what is governing here is likely the presidential executive order.
13:05Okay. Okay. Yep.
13:08Okay. Yep.
13:11For the chief, the city went to court last week to make sure that you stay in control of the police department.
13:18I'm curious about your federal partners.
13:22Do you have any coordination with them at this point as into moving resources from the FBI,
13:29from any of those federal partners that are in the city right now and the surge that's come in?
13:35Do you have any control over where they're going, or are you only directing resources of MPD at this point?
13:41Thank you, Paul. Thank you for that question.
13:45So I think I want to, if you don't mind, allow me to take a step back.
13:50The federal partners came in on Thursday before last.
13:55I met with them this Sunday just to talk about a strategy and a way where we can make sure that resources are placed around our city.
14:06Number one, because we look at our data and our intelligence, and it drives where we see violent crime happening across our city.
14:13But we also have heard from many of you here in this room, as well as community members, about different patterns of crime in certain areas.
14:21And so what we wanted to do was to be collaborative in this approach because it was an executive order.
14:26And so we have met with our federal partners.
14:29We've given them different areas across the city where we would like to see resources allocated.
14:33And today, I will tell you, it's been a cohesive process.
14:39We speak every single day.
14:41I mean, things do happen in our city.
14:43Let's not be kind of oblivious to the fact that things do not happen.
14:47They do.
14:48But I have a responsibility to make sure that even if we didn't have a federal surge, that I have resources placed around the city.
14:56And again, my role right now is to ensure that I continue to drive down crime.
15:01We have the resources here, and we're going to utilize them to the best of our ability.
15:05If I could follow up with two other things.
15:08Terry Cole has been, we've been told that he's whatever his position is.
15:14Are you in constant contact with him, and is he suggesting ways that you police the city?
15:20My relationship with Terry Cole has been very, very congenial.
15:24It's been very collaborative.
15:25He has actually asked me about different ways in which we can collaborate and have resources around the city.
15:32It is not contentious at all.
15:35I met with him yesterday.
15:37I met with him the day before.
15:38So we look forward to working with our partners in this space during this federal surge.
15:44And then the last question I had is on the investigation we're hearing that the U.S. Attorney's Office is going to conduct into crime stats.
15:54Have you been contacted by the DOJ, and are you aware of any subpoenas that have been issued?
16:02I have not been contacted, but I am aware that there may be or will be subpoenas issued.
16:07I don't know to whom, but that's all I know at this point.
16:11Yes, sir.
16:11Chief Smith, just two quick questions.
16:15One, since the surge, thank you, are the federal law enforcement officers making arrests that are non-immigration, non-federal arrests?
16:26Yes.
16:27Yes.
16:27So not in the presence of the MPD?
16:31I would assume yes.
16:34They're making presence without MPD presence.
16:36And two, is the MPD making arrests in the last two weeks that they would not have otherwise been making had this new environment we're in, this federal surge hadn't been happening, to make arrests that they otherwise would not have been making?
16:54I don't think so.
16:55No, I mean, our officers are very well versed on D.C. law and D.C. code.
17:02With respect to this surge, let me say this also.
17:06We work with our federal partners all the time.
17:08We have a capital area regional task force where we have marshals, ATF, DEA, MPD embedded in those spaces.
17:16A violent crime suppression division, same thing.
17:19We have federal officers engaged in executing search warrants around our city on a regular basis.
17:27This isn't anything new.
17:28I think what the difference is, is that there's just an enhanced presence.
17:32So the same types of arrests, the same types of contact, the same types of operation riot rights, the operations that we continue to do on a daily basis, the new initiatives that we launched when I first came in here, we just have an enhanced presence in that space.
17:49And, again, our goal is to ensure that we drive down crime while our partners are here, and we will continue to do that.
17:57Okay, I'm going to take a few more here.
17:59One, two.
18:00I'm sorry if we could just keep them to, like, one question, not five questions.
18:05Can I get two?
18:06Okay.
18:07For the chief, I know we've been asking all week, and we're told that you had been talking to federal partners about the agents having masks on.
18:14Have you gotten any clarity or direction about what they can and can't do?
18:19Well, what I'll say is this.
18:20You know, I've spent 20-something years on the federal side, and the concern is from some of our federal partners with the mask.
18:28I have not gotten clarity on it.
18:29Let me be clear about that.
18:30It's under DHS, if I'm not mistaken.
18:33But for a certain type of backcountry, if you will, or different types of events or marijuana eradication, some of our federal partners do have the ability to kind of cover their faces.
18:49And it's really about making sure that there are no threats coming to them once they've cleared the area.
18:53And so in this particular case, I have no clear guidance on the why and the how come, but I can only put on my federal hat from back in the day to say that I think that's what's happening.
19:08So let me just add to that.
19:11We believe in our environment, an urban environment, that there's no reason for any official to wear a mask.
19:17And we believe that it's not a law enforcement or just people that are in the umbrella of the Justice Department, you don't see them doing that.
19:28I think this is a good question for the Congress to prohibit law enforcement agencies that are going to be working in an urban environment from wearing masks.
19:40And just lastly for you.
19:41Oh, okay.
19:42So I know we've been seeing videos.
19:44Sorry, I can't see it, Chief.
19:45For example, last night, members in Columbia Heights kind of heckling and yelling for federal agents and ICE to leave the area.
19:53We've seen that in other spots.
19:54So I'm just wondering if you have any concerns about how this is going to affect community relations that MPD is building with its community members, all of this.
20:03And so I've had conversations specifically with our federal partners with regards to that.
20:07We've come a long way in establishing positive relationships with our community.
20:11And what I want to be able to do is to ensure our community that we are working with our federal partners in that space.
20:19We do a lot of community engagement with our federal partners.
20:22This isn't new.
20:23So we want to try to see how we can enhance that and build upon that.
20:27But what we don't want is for community members to interfere and get involved in things that is a police-related matter.
20:35This is either.
20:39Thank you, Mayor.
20:40Josh Chapin from Channel 7.
20:41You had said the other day about the need for 500 more officers on the street.
20:47What are you doing at this point to sort of set the table for that?
20:50And in the interim, you've talked about this a little bit, but can the feds help?
20:56You have all these sort of trained law enforcement professionals, but maybe the...
21:01Uh-oh, I hope that's not one of you.
21:06I know.
21:07Maya, I have a D.C. tag.
21:09Yes, so how can we tap into a federal surge is the way that we're thinking about it,
21:15and under what conditions would we want to tap into a federal surge?
21:19So we're answering those questions within.
21:23And with the 500 more officers, how do you set the table for that?
21:27Well, I think that we want to be known as the place where everybody wants to work.
21:34There are some policy concerns among our current officers about the policing environment in the city,
21:42and we know that's going to require some changes to the law.
21:45So those are conversations I will have with members of the council, with police representatives as well.
21:53Yep.
21:54Rebecca with 7 News.
21:55Yep.
21:55Thank you, Janelle.
21:56A quick question, if I could, to the school leaders.
21:59We have back-to-school starting next week.
22:03And with the surge in town, do you think having more of these federal agents out and about,
22:10could that make it safer for back-to-school?
22:12Could that complement safe passage?
22:14As I already answered the question about our preparation for our kids,
22:22and we feel strongly that we're very prepared.
22:26Okay.
22:26And if we can ask, too, if the chief or if the mayor,
22:31the White House is saying there have been more than 400 arrests since the surge here.
22:36Do we know what percentage are NPD, and do we know how many of those NPD arrests have to do with immigration enforcement?
22:45So, you know, we've been talking about this quite a lot because we have ways that we introduce NPD data on weekly or monthly basis.
22:53And I think we're likely to stick with the way that we have been reporting.
22:59And I can't tell you exactly what they report or how they report or coordinate their number.
23:07I don't think we're going to do that.
23:09I think we're going to stick to how we report data and get it out more frequently.
23:13Has the federal presence helped NPD, or has it made things a little bit more challenging?
23:21So it's twofold, right?
23:23I hear from the officers on the streets.
23:24Some of them have found it to be very helpful.
23:27Some people in community have found it to be very helpful.
23:30I think that the intent, what people have to understand, is that with an additional 500 more officers,
23:35you're going to have more arrests.
23:37You're going to have more traffic stops and those types of things.
23:39So we have to anticipate that because we have an influx of police presence.
23:44If I can create the message from school leaders with back to school,
23:47what's your message to parents in light of everything happening?
23:50It's business as usual.
23:51We have prepared for this moment.
23:55We're ready to receive students.
23:56Our teachers, our educators, staff, school leaders have been working hard this week and our pre-service week.
24:02You saw that earlier today.
24:03The energy in the room was very positive.
24:06That's going to carry into the first day of how we welcome our students back to campuses.
24:10You heard from the mayor.
24:11We're asking the community to clap in our students on the first day.
24:14I think surrounding our students in this first day of school, it's a great strategy.
24:19Hopefully, the next week.
24:20But we want our students to know that the schoolhouse continues to be the safest place for our young people
24:26and we'll continue to hold it high.
24:27The fire department said this morning that a person had to be extricated from a vehicle after a crash with a military vehicle of some sort.
24:44First, who is responsible for this and have you spoken with the administration about this situation?
24:49I actually haven't gotten a readout on that collision yet, other than I know we had a person, I believe, one person transported for medical attention.
25:01So I can't really say more.
25:02And then how has your relationship with the administration changed since the beginning of this federal crackdown, shall we say?
25:09Are you planning on being more conciliatory, more adversarial with President Trump and other federal officials?
25:13My plan is to represent the district and navigate us out of this emergency, the president's emergency.
25:27Thank you, Mayor.
25:28Andrew S. Battaglia with News Nation.
25:31Vice President J.D. Vance and Pete Hegseth are about to speak at Union Station thanking the National Guard troops.
25:37Do you think placing the troops at major transit hubs or monuments is the most strategic deployment instead of, say, high crime areas?
25:47I don't think the National Guard should be used for law enforcement.
25:51And I don't, I think calling men and women from their homes and their jobs and their families,
25:58they have to be used on their, you know, on mission-specific items that benefit the nation.
26:06I don't think you have an armed militia in the nation's capital.
26:12All right.
26:14I've done one complete round, and I'm going to have to wrap up.
26:17Yes, school?
26:18School related.
26:19First time that we're going back to school with the cell phone ban fully in place in legislation,
26:26I've heard that you've already seen some positive outcomes in terms of the implementation in some of these areas.
26:32Can you give us some more insight into that, Chancellor?
26:34Thank you for the school question.
26:35So, this is our first year of cell phone-free environment for all D.C. public schools.
26:43Last two years, we've had a phone-free environment for our middle schools.
26:47We've seen great results from that.
26:49We did focus groups, surveys, gathering feedback from both families, students, and our educators and staff,
26:56and overwhelmingly has been positive and supportive of this.
26:58I had some focus group myself with some middle school students who said they were resistant at first,
27:05but they found themselves to be better connected with their peers, less distracted in the classroom.
27:10So, we believe this is going to be a strong approach to ensure that our students continue to thrive.
27:15Our school leaders have been engaging with families and their school communities over the summer about their individual plans,
27:22and they've communicated with their families about what to expect first day.
27:26We'll be launching an effort in our central services team out in schools to help them with logistics the first day.
27:33It will look different for campus to campus, but I think the important note is the majority of our schools have already had these practices in place,
27:42and this will be new for a portion of our schools and primarily for our high schools.
27:47Just the reassurance to parents.
27:49I know that was the biggest concern, right?
27:50Parents are like, if there is an emergency, I want to get in touch with my kids.
27:53It was the ongoing debate that we heard time and time again.
27:56Just hear what you tell parents.
27:57Yeah, it's a great question.
27:58I think we've helped families understand that if there's an emergency, the last thing we want students to do is to be on their cell phone, right?
28:05We want them to be focused on the guidance and directions that they're receiving from adults in emergency situations,
28:12and so I believe that that's clear.
28:15We also have a history of responding to emergency situations with schools that are cell phone free,
28:20and I believe that muscle is strong, and we train staff on how to respond,
28:25and so families should know in emergency situations.
28:28We're going to up them with just-in-time information so they can respond accordingly,
28:33but we believe that students should be focused on directions from adults in emergency situations.
28:39Now, Mayor, can you go down a little bit more on your meetings with Stephen Miller and Terrence Cole?
28:43Were there any agreements?
28:45I've said all I'm going to say about that.
28:47I do want to ask the superintendent to talk a little bit more about school transportation.
28:52Good morning, everyone.
28:56OSI, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education,
28:59transports students with disabilities who are eligible for transportation to and from school every day.
29:07We have a parent portal that is available at parent.ossi.dc.gov.
29:15Parents of students with disabilities who are eligible for transportation can go to this portal and make a selection.
29:23The first selection is telling us that you do not need transportation.
29:27The second selection is the parent stipend program in which we will provide a stipend of $400 per month
29:35for parents to transport their children to school every day.
29:39And the third option is OSI DOT transportation.
29:43If you have not yet signed up for this transportation
29:47and you have a child with a disability who is eligible for this transportation,
29:52please, once again, go to the parent portal at parent.ossi.dc.gov and sign up.
29:59Thank you very much.
30:00All right.
30:00So that is, if you haven't signed up, sign up.
30:07Don't rely on the school to sign you up.
30:09So sign up.
30:10If you want to elect to drive your eligible child to school instead of putting your child in the bus,
30:19there's an incentive program to do that as well.
30:24And you may tell us that we don't need transportation after all.
30:28Maybe we got it last year.
30:29We don't need it this year.
30:30We don't need to tell us that.
30:31That saves, you don't want to know how much the city saves by not sending a bus to a home
30:37where we don't need a ride.
30:39The final thing that I will say is a reminder to all families that your child has a kids ride free card.
30:50Metro is also allowing the children to download the card to their phone.
30:55It is required to access the system, both the metro rail system and the metro bus system.
31:06So to parents, remind your children, do not jump the fare gate.
31:11Remind them they cannot follow behind their friends.
31:15They cannot go through the side gate.
31:16They need to tap.
31:18They can use their card.
31:19The cards that they had last year at school, they work throughout the month of September,
31:25and they can download the app to their phones.
31:30So with that, have a great school year, D.C.
Comments