Washington, DC, councilmembers opposed a so-called “stop and frisk” proposal this week to curb soaring crime brutalizing taxpaying residents.
The proposed measure is one of the latest initiatives to encourage law and order in the crime-ridden district some residents call a war zone. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Matthew Graves, requested the council adopt the measure.
The measure would give authorities the right to stop individuals already convicted or charged with gun crimes at any time or for any reason, “without a warrant to search for guns if they are out on the street on parole, probation, or pretrial supervised release,” WUSA9 CBS reported this week.
“Any proposal that would allow the police to stop anyone, at any time at random is dangerous, particularly for young black residents,” Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker said during hearings about the bill.
Graves, whose office failed to prosecute 56 percent of those arrested in 2023, said the initiative would not be a “stop and frisk” measure.
“You could only be searched if you were under court supervision. This is not random stopping of individuals on the streets,” he told reporters.
Graves has long blamed the D.C. Court of Appeals for failing to put those arrested behind bars. Graves claimed that 90 percent of gun offenders end up released by the judges.
“You have individuals going back to the same place where they were arrested in the first instance, engaging in the exact same conduct. And what we are telling you is that law enforcement does not have the tools to effectively make sure that these individuals are not rearming themselves,” Graves said.
A thief attempts to break into a vehicle (Stock photo via Getty).
Follow Wendell Husebø on “X” @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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