Metropolitan Police Department: Oversight Hearing on Proposed FY2001 Budget

We have hired 23 new communications personnel—7 full-time and 16 part-time. We recently installed a new computer-aided dispatch system that is allowing us to collect more information, more quickly, than ever before. And this year we will be installing new mobile data computers, which are connected to the CAD system, in 300 police scout cars.

3-1-1 became operational in September 1999, and the system underwent vigorous testing over the next four months. In January, we kicked off a public education campaign that is encouraging residents to "make the right call— 3-1-1 for police non-emergencies." You may have seen our posters on Metro buses and trains, or heard our radio commercials, or seen the information on our Web site. We also have informational and promotional materials that could be made available to your offices and to community groups.

However, continued improvements to both 9-1-1 and 3-1-1 will depend on the adequacy and availability of funds. Right now, emergency telephone fees are collected by Bell Atlantic as a part of the regular billing for residential phone service. Bell Atlantic also controls the expenditure of these funds for 9-1-1 service, equipment and upgrades. Legislation that would transfer control of these fees to the District government is now pending before the Council. This legislation is a critical step in allowing our Department to make further improvements to our 9-1-1 and 3-1-1 systems.

Another Policing for Prevention initiative is training. Last year, we instituted a mandatory, 40-hour annual training course for all of our sworn members. Included in this training is a two-hour class on Policing for Prevention, which I personally teach on Monday afternoons every chance I get. Other courses cover problem solving and team building. This year, lieutenants and above will receive managerial training to help them meet their new responsibilities for PSA planning and other activities.

Training, however, does not stop with our officers. During FY99, we launched a unique program of community policing training for the community. Called "Partnerships for Problem Solving," this training was pilot-tested last summer in the six Capital Community open-air drug markets. We have since expanded this training to include 34 PSAs located throughout all seven police districts. Our goal is that by mid-2001, all 83 PSAs will have completed this training and have organized active problem-solving groups. Forming these groups is central to the neighborhood partnership aspect of "Policing for Prevention."

We have also initiated various systemic prevention efforts. For example, we are working with the United States Attorney's Office, the Corporation Counsel, the courts and victim advocates to research and develop a family violence prevention model. This model will be further refined and tested in the Seventh District, which has the highest incidence of domestic violence in the city.

Youth programs are another systemic prevention priority. We are adding new programs at the Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Clubs, including GED classes, adolescent parenting classes, mentoring and other programs geared at teenagers and young adults.

In addition, we continue to work with the schools, the churches, the business community and other city agencies on youth crime prevention. Earlier this month, we celebrated the third anniversary of the Benning Terrace truce, a remarkable feat that we are working to replicate in other parts of the city. As you may know, I recently promoted Rodney Monroe to Assistant Chief, and charged him (along with Margaret Poethig on my staff) to oversee youth violence prevention and other systemic prevention efforts.

And, of course, our Capital Communities initiative is an example of a comprehensive Policing for Prevention approach. In these six distressed communities, we have undertaken a variety of focused law enforcement, neighborhood partnership and systemic prevention projects—from aggressive patrols and neighborhood clean-ups, to building renovations and the opening of a Police Resource Center in the Lincoln Heights public housing complex. So far, these six communities have experienced a 15 percent reduction in reported crime, slightly higher than the citywide level.

In closing, I want to thank the committee for its continued support, direction and, yes, oversight of MPDC operations. This type of scrutiny is healthy and helpful. And it will remain helpful as we continue to expand Policing for Prevention in the District of Columbia.

Working together, I believe we have come a long way in a very short period of time. This is evident when you think back to where our Department was just two years ago—in terms of our operational capacity, our training, our infrastructure, even our ability to provide the Council and the community with accurate information about our operations. I also ask you to consider our crime numbers, then and now.

We have come a long way. And we have gotten there by adopting a new ethic of standards, accountability and results. In the nearly two years I have been chief, I have not asked any of our members to do anything more than the jobs they were hired to do. I have only demanded that they do their jobs -- and do them well on a consistent basis.

Admittedly, a very small minority of our members has become upset with this "no more business as usual" approach. Their unease has resulted in some very serious and potentially damaging charges being leveled against members of my command staff and me. I recognize that these types of statements and allegations often come with the territory. But I also recognize that they do not represent the feelings of the vast, vast majority of our members, who are as committed as I am to rebuilding this Department, reducing crime and, above all, serving and protecting the community.

I will not let these types of incidents distract me from the important business at hand. There is simply too much at stake. We have a job to do—to make Washington, DC, the safest major city in America by making Policing for Prevention a national model of community policing. This new mission of crime prevention and safe and healthy neighborhoods is reflected in the spending priorities I outlined for you today. I pledge to continue using our resources to further our mission and improve our Department.