Metropolitan Police Department: Joint Public Hearing on Bill 15-572 "Metropolitan Police Department School Safety and Security Act of 2004"

Joint Public Hearing on Bill 15-572 "Metropolitan Police Department School Safety and Security Act of 2004"

Testimony of Winston Robinson Jr.
Assistant Chief, Regional Operations Command-East
Metropolitan Police Department

Assistant Chief Winston Robinson Jr. delivered the following statement to the Committee on the Judiciary, the Honorable Kathy Patterson, Chair, Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation, Honorable Kevin Chavous, Chair, Council of the District of Columbia on March 29, 2004, at the Council Chamber, John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

Chairpersons Patterson and Chavous, members of the Committees, staff and guests–my name is Winston Robinson, and I am the Assistant Chief in charge of the Metropolitan Police Department's Regional Operations Command-East. I thank you for the opportunity to present this opening statement, updating the Committees on the MPD’s recent school safety activities and providing our perspective on the proposed school safety legislation that is now before you. The text of my prepared statement is posted on the MPD’s website: mpdc.dc.gov.

Chief Ramsey was summoned for jury duty today, and regrets that he is unable to be here. He has asked that I represent the Department at this hearing. As Assistant Chief for ROC-East, my area of command includes Ballou Senior High School, where many of our recent school safety efforts have been focused. In addition, I have been actively involved in the discussions around broader school safety issues affecting the District.

Before looking at the larger issues around school safety, I did want to update the Committees on the situation at Ballou. As you know, Mayor Williams, in his State of the District Address, directed the Metropolitan Police Department to draft a school safety plan for Ballou, in the aftermath of the James Richardson homicide. Our Department completed the draft plan within the 10-day deadline established by the Mayor. We shared our plan with Ballou High and other DC Public Schools officials, and we posted the draft on our website for review by the community at large. In our plan, we tried to be as broad and comprehensive as possible–looking at areas such as security staffing, facility and technology improvements, prevention and intervention activities, and school policies that impact on safety. The plan also included recommendations to DCPS.

We have begun to implement those recommendations over which our Department has control, and we have been working with the school and other entities on those areas that are outside our immediate scope. For example, we temporarily increased from two to six the number of sworn MPD members assigned to the school; there are now five MPD officers and one sergeant at Ballou. In addition, entry control to the building, and security at both the north and south parking lots, have been enhanced by stationing more personnel at these locations.

Working with DCPS security staff and a team of experts from Sandia National Laboratories, MPD staff has reviewed and revised the security technology recommendations in the Ballou plan. Sandia is a recognized leader in this area. It has operated a federally funded program for the past 11 years to research and disseminate information about the appropriate and effective use of security technologies in schools. As part of this review, we submitted a cost estimate to the Mayor for needed technology improvements at Ballou. These include improvements to the metal detection system, cameras, and burglar alarm system; installation of delay egress doors; signage, and visitor and temporary badges – at an estimated cost of $250,000 dollars. According to DCPS, the delay egress doors alone will cost $160,000 dollars.

In addition to these physical security enhancements, our Department has intensified its intervention and prevention efforts at Ballou. Conflict Resolution Teams from our Office of Youth Violence Prevention have been visiting the school on a consistent, almost daily basis – both to solicit information about emerging conflicts and to mediate those disagreements before they escalate. We are working closely with the Alliance of Concerned Men on our conflict resolution activities. Also, we have partnered with the East of the River Clergy-Police-Community Partnership on a number of initiatives to address the underlying causes of youth violence. For example, we jointly hosted a "Girl Talk" conference this past Saturday, and our Policing for Prevention Division is working to bring community policing to Ballou through its Youth Problem Solving Partnership program. Our Office of Youth Violence Prevention is also developing a "parent awareness" brochure that will help parents and guardians throughout the District recognize and respond to warning signs of trouble with their children.

As you can see, we have made progress on some of the key recommendations contained in the Ballou School Safety Plan. Many of the recommendations, however, require additional action by DCPS and other agencies. We continue to work with these entities on prioritizing those recommendations, analyzing costs and determining how to move forward.

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