DC Police Union backs new House resolution seeking to roll back liberal DC crime laws

The Washington D.C. Police Union supported a joint resolution introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday, claiming the resolution fixes a city policy that is “anti-victim and pro-criminal.”

The union said all of its nearly 3,500 members support the resolution and urged Congress and the White House to support it as well. The resolution, introduced by Reps. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), seeks to overturn reforms passed by the D.C. City Council in December as part of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022.

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“The introduction of the new House Joint Resolution today is necessary to protect public safety in our Nation’s Capital,” D.C. Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton said in a news release. “This Act is laced with bad policies with real-world consequences that delay justice for families and victims. This pro-criminal policy is now a public safety crisis that has stifled recruitment and caused an unprecedented spike in resignations and early retirements.”

Staffing in D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department has hit historic lows recently, despite high crime rates in the district. Since 2020, the department has lost over 1,100 officers and replaced 700 of them, leaving it in a deficit.

The new resolution targets laws that were aimed at reforming the police department and the district’s justice system in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, who died at the hands of law enforcement officers in Minnesota in 2020. Several of those reforms focused on prohibiting the use of neck restraints, increasing access to body camera footage, and revising officer discipline procedures.

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The resolution comes a day after the Senate passed a separate resolution to repeal the district’s revised criminal code, which would have reduced penalties for certain violent criminal offenses, including carjackings, robberies, and homicides. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) vetoed the city council’s bill on Jan. 4, but the council overrode the veto on Jan. 17. The bill passed the House last month, and it now heads to President Joe Biden, who will sign it into law.

The resolution passed on Wednesday marks the first time in 30 years that Congress has overridden a law passed by the D.C. Council. Congress has the authority to overturn legislation in the district through its Home Rule Act.