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Good morning everyone. I would like to call to order

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this public hearing of the judiciary committee on the

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judiciary and public safety. I am council member brooke pinto

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representing ward two and chairwoman of the committee.

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the time is 9:54 a.m. On wednesday, april 29th, 2026.

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we are conducting this hearing in person in room 412 of the

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john wilson building and streaming virtually on the dc

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council's website and youtube, and x at at brooke pinto.

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today, the committee will continue its review of mayor

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bowser's proposed fiscal year 2027 budget and financial plan

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with a round of hearings on agency budgets.

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today, we're discussing the office of unified communications

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and the metropolitan police department.

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first, we're going to hear from our public witnesses to discuss

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the office of unified communications, or ouc.

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after we hear and then we're going to hear from our public

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witnesses to discuss mpd. After we hear from all of our

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public witnesses for both agencies, we'll then turn to

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director heather mcgaffin of ou c, ou c is responsible for

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providing fast, professional and cost effective response to

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emergency and non-emergency calls in the district.

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ouc was established in 2005 to combine the emergency 911

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non-emergency and 311 call activities from the metropolitan

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police department, fire and emergency medical services and

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customer service operations. The mayor's proposed fy 2027

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operating budget provides ouc with approximately $60.2

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million, which is a 4.5 million or 7% decrease from the fy 26

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approved budget. The agency's capital budget also

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decreases from 13.8 million to 9.4 million, just over 31%

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reduction. At the same time, the budget

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reduces total agency ftes from 425 to 413 shifts, a significant

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number. Of vacancy savings.

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these are crucial and difficult jobs.

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uc's call takers and dispatchers, supervisors and

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technical staff are responsible for maintaining the district's

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emergency and non-emergency communication system every hour

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of every day. I was concerned to read in

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recent office of the inspector general report that was released

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earlier this month, that we still have several ongoing

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issues in the agency related to chronic absenteeism, lack of

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cross training for mpd and ems operations, and improving

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quality assurance. Since some of these concerns

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also have a budget nexus. I'll be curious today to learn

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about whether the agency is equipped to meet and improve

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these ongoing concerns. I look forward to discussing

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with director mcgaffin how his budget will give the agency what

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it needs to maintain service levels, continue filling

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vacancies, support retention and ensure that the 911 call center

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is fully and reliably staffed. To address some of the outlining

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issues identified in the oig report.

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I also want to discuss the proposed reductions and shifting

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within nine one and 311 operations, including what

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impact, if any, those changes will have on call wait times,

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dispatch capacity, overtime and staff workload.

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finally, I look forward to discussing the mayor's proposed

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subtitles and the broader fund shifts recommended in this

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budget, including the movement of personnel costs from local

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funds to special purpose revenue funds, and the impacts that

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would be make on our hotel fee. We will then hear from the

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metropolitan police department or mpd.

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mpd's mission is to safeguard the district of columbia and

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protect its residents and visitors with the highest regard

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for the sanctity of human life. Mpd strives to accomplish its

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mission with a focus on service, integrity and fairness by

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upholding the district's motto, justitia omnibus justice for

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all. Currently, mpd sworn officer

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numbers remain at a 50 year staffing low.

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I'm eager today to hear about how the proposed fy 27 budget

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supports continued efforts to bolster our recruitment and

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retain our quality sworn officers for the department.

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we must continue the successful efforts to drive down violent

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crime like the one that we've seen.

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the overall decrease of 29% from 2024 to 2025, and overall, 53%

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decrease we've seen over the last two years.

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the proposed budget has an overall increase in funding for

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mpd, but no additional ftes allocated, largely due to more

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accurately funding for overtime. I look forward to hearing about

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how this funding will support the department's ongoing

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initiatives that continue to result in reduced levels of

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violent crime, support our staffing and include a notable

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43% decrease in homicides in 2026 so far compared to this

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time last year. Concerningly though, we've seen

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a 35% increase in assaults with a dangerous weapon, and we've

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seen increases in domestic violence cases.

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it's also vital to ensure that mpd facilities are properly

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maintained and updated to serve all corners of the district.

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I look forward to asking interim chief carol about the capital

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projects related to these efforts, and how the financial

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plan supports the continued investments we need to pursue

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public safety. I also want to note that we have

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had a particularly violent month, including children who

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were shot just last night. And as we look at this budget,

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we have to ensure that all of our public safety agencies have

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the funding that they need to play their role in keeping

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everyone safe. And so when we continue to push

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on the staffing levels at mpd, that is an important piece of

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the puzzle and ensuring that not only everyone can be safe, but

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we're also not overworking our officers, which then leads to

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burnout. And then more overtime.

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first, we're going to hear today from our public witnesses.

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for oh, you see, as a reminder, all of our public witnesses will

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have three minutes to present their testimony.

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and for our virtual public witnesses, when I call your name

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as a reminder to please accept our invitation to join as a

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panelist. All right.

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with that, we will turn to our public witnesses.

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lisa abrams. Veronica mosqueda.

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chairperson, troop d patel and makayla deming.

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welcome to you all. And we will begin with lisa

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abrams, vice president of government affairs for the hotel

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association of washington, d.c. Good morning.

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chairperson pinto and members and staff of the committee.

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I'm lisa abrams, vice president of government affairs of the

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hotel association, washington, d.c. I'm here to testify in

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opposition to title three, subtitle a of the fiscal year

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2027 budget support act, which is the public services hotel

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occupancy fee amendment act of 2025.

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this subtitle seeks to impose a tax upon all hotels of $0.80 per

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room or suite rental per night. Hotels already contribute

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heavily to the district's coffers, including already

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paying into the e-911 special purpose revenue fund, with a tax

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on all of their landlines, as well as for each cell phone that

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it has for their employees. This is the fifth time that the

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mayor has proposed this tax on our industry.

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first, in 2017, again in 2019, 2024 and 2025, and now this

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year. Our opposition to this tax

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remains unchanged. As we have continuously stated,

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it is not clear why the hotel industry has been repeatedly

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targeted to impose this tax. The correlation between the

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proposed bed tax and our industry continues to be murky.

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the e-911 special purpose revenue fund was created to help

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defray 911 technology and equipment costs for ouc.

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however, the agency has continuously used the fund for

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non-technology purposes, such as personnel travel, training and

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contractual costs. Moreover, the mayor's intent to

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have the monies for this additional tax deposited into

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the general fund to use for other purposes.

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this clearly is not what the fund was created for.

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it is also unreasonable to burden the hotel industry with a

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tax to support a government agency whose core function is

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not related to travel. The proposed tax will have a

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significant impact on group bookings and make the district

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less competitive against other destinations.

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the hotel industry is one of the highest taxed industries in the

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district by far. Last fiscal year, at a tax rate

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of 15.95%, the hotel tax generated $408 million.

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this makes up 19.5% of all sales tax collections for the

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district. Travelers to the city spend

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billions of dollars, creating a significant amount of tax

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revenue for the district. We are at a crucial point in our

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political landscape where federal rhetoric and policies

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are creating barriers to travel to the district.

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the city has experienced a downturn in tourism, and the

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city should be implementing policies that would attract

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visitors, attracting more visitors.

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visitors means more visitors spending and more money for the

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district. If the district wants to be the

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premier global convention, tourism and special events

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destination, the taxes imposed on transient rentals should not

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be arbitrary. This tax could serve to have a

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negative impact, causing decreased revenue for the city.

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thank you. Thank you very much.

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veronica mosqueda, organizer, decrim poverty.

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dc. Hi.

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good morning. My name is veronica mosqueda and

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I am here as co-founder of seating stories, an anchor

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organization of the decrim poverty coalition.

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I am here to urge the council to invest in a comprehensive

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non-police crisis response system that prioritizes care,

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dignity and a public health over carceral responses.

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decrim poverty's core mission is to replace carceral systems with

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harm reduction oriented systems of care that promote the

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dignity, autonomy and health of all people pushed to the margins

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and dc. Personally, I come from a social

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work background, a direct service provider background.

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like I said, I'm a community organizer and I'm an active

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community member. I have been on the front lines

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of crisis response, crisis, mental health crisis responses.

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and what I can tell you is that police officers are often the

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default responders to mental health crises, despite not being

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trained clinicians or health professionals.

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the consequences of this are that people with serious mental

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illness are almost 12 times more likely to experience police use

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of force. 1 in 4 individuals with mental

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health conditions has a history of arrest.

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both of these exacerbate mental health symptoms and systemic

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inequality, especially for black and brown people in our city.

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redirecting funds toward crisis response teams for mental health

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crises and drugs and drug use will create real safety and a

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healthier city for us all. We urge the dc council to direct

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funds toward evidence based programs, not towards systems

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that incarcerate, traumatize and harm community members.

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our coalition has data and recommendations to share on

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crisis response teams, but I want to speak on how dc currents

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model over relies on police due to a flawed 911 diversion

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system. The research highlights that the

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ways that 911 operators classify and route calls determines

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outcomes, and on the ground in dc, 911, calls are not even tied

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to crisis response teams, so there isn't an opportunity to

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divert calls directly. That would be better handled by

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crt instead of police. We can see out of the 1.4

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million calls to 911, only 870 were diverted to 988 last year.

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the consequences of calling the wrong responder can be deadly

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and has been deadly, as was the case for clifford brooks, who

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was shot and killed during a mental health crisis in 2024.

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interactions with the police perpetuate trauma and what

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people experiencing mental health crises and their loved

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ones need is agency, professional support and

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responsive and well-funded programs in their care.

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additionally, we need to follow the evidence and authorize 24

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over seven harm reduction centers.

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that includes safe consumption and drug checking programing.

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this would offer people a safe place to receive life saving

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services that are evidence to help people access life changing

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services, while avoiding preventable overdose deaths.

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when allocating resources, we need to invest in community

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based, responsive, comprehensive and harm reduction centered

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models that give people agency over their bodies and their care

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plan. In dc, several nonprofit

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organizations are well positioned to lead our partner

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in this work. Grassroots organizations are

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connected to the community that will also support.

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and. These groups already have

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trusted relationships and cultural competence that

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government systems lack. Dc has an opportunity to lead

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the nation in building a crisis response and harm reduction

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system that reflects our values care over punishment, health

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over enforcement and community over coercion.

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thank you very much. Chairperson patel, commissioner

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from a and c to a good morning. Chair pinto, members of the

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committee on judiciary and public safety.

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thank you for holding this performance oversight hearing

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and for the opportunity to enter my testimony into the official

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record. My name is patel, and I'm a

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fourth term advisory neighborhood commissioner

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representing single member district 203 in the historic

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foggy bottom. And I serve as the chair of anc

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two. A.

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I am testifying regarding the performance of the metropolitan

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police department during 2025 and into 2026.

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I want to be clear, at the onset, effective policing

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depends not only on enforcement but on public trust, data

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integrity and accountability. Over the past year, all three

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have been seriously tested. A police department cannot

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function effectively when integrity is subordinated to

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optics. As mpd moves forward under new

247
00:20:38,187 --> 00:20:40,623
leadership, this committee must assess whether reforms are

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00:20:40,623 --> 00:20:44,360
structural or merely cosmetic. These concerns are especially

249
00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:48,531
urgent given the scale of public investment under the mayor's fy

250
00:20:48,531 --> 00:20:53,331
2027 proposed budget, mpd is slated to receive approximately

251
00:20:53,904 --> 00:20:58,104
$688.5 million in gross funds, including roughly $674.5 million

252
00:20:59,108 --> 00:21:03,313
in local funds, representing a significant increase over prior

253
00:21:03,313 --> 00:21:06,490
years. Let me be clear, councilwoman.

254
00:21:06,490 --> 00:21:10,687
the slogan you hear in the streets no justice, no peace.

255
00:21:10,687 --> 00:21:13,823
the venerable monk broke it down.

256
00:21:13,823 --> 00:21:17,459
he said that we wouldn't have to say that if communities actually

257
00:21:17,459 --> 00:21:20,930
felt a sense of peace. Communities don't feel a sense

258
00:21:20,930 --> 00:21:24,201
of police with police there because they're not protecting

259
00:21:24,201 --> 00:21:25,735
them. They're agitating them.

260
00:21:25,735 --> 00:21:29,238
they're harming them. So to increase the funding to an

261
00:21:29,238 --> 00:21:33,142
instrument using my tax dollars, where communities are harmed is

262
00:21:33,142 --> 00:21:35,812
not acceptable. I call for a reallocation of

263
00:21:35,812 --> 00:21:38,314
services. Critical core agencies at such

264
00:21:38,314 --> 00:21:42,885
as ouc and mpd have not been effective, and it's been a real

265
00:21:42,885 --> 00:21:45,855
disappointment to see my tax dollars being used that way.

266
00:21:45,855 --> 00:21:49,292
we already are occupied by the national guard.

267
00:21:49,292 --> 00:21:53,762
once again, taxpayers are paying over $1 million a day to feel

268
00:21:53,762 --> 00:21:56,132
safe. We don't feel safer in our city.

269
00:21:56,132 --> 00:21:59,535
if anything, we're just made to feel more unwanted in the place

270
00:21:59,535 --> 00:22:04,730
we call home. And so I want to end that.

271
00:22:04,730 --> 00:22:07,410
public safety is strongest when communities view police as

272
00:22:07,410 --> 00:22:10,410
legitimate partners, not unaccountable institutions.

273
00:22:10,980 --> 00:22:13,783
rebuilding trust will require honest data.

274
00:22:13,783 --> 00:22:16,183
independent, independent verification, transparent

275
00:22:16,319 --> 00:22:19,919
discipline processes, and transparent and sustained

276
00:22:20,556 --> 00:22:22,959
engagement, especially in communities most impacted by

277
00:22:22,959 --> 00:22:25,462
crime and policing. In closing, I urge this

278
00:22:25,462 --> 00:22:28,331
committee and the council, the district of columbia, to demand

279
00:22:28,331 --> 00:22:31,901
the four things independent verification of crime data and

280
00:22:31,901 --> 00:22:34,337
reporting practices, clear accountability for misconduct

281
00:22:34,337 --> 00:22:37,607
and mismanagement, full transparency in complaint

282
00:22:37,607 --> 00:22:40,510
handling and discipline, and measurable budget linked

283
00:22:40,510 --> 00:22:43,480
progress toward rebuilding public trust oversight is not

284
00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,249
anti-police. It's pro accountability, pro

285
00:22:46,249 --> 00:22:48,351
transparency, and essential to effective public safety.

286
00:22:48,351 --> 00:22:51,554
thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I'm happy to answer

287
00:22:51,554 --> 00:22:53,256
any questions. And I'd rather you allocate the

288
00:22:53,256 --> 00:22:55,158
funding to the office of attorney general for the

289
00:22:55,158 --> 00:22:58,940
divisions of worker rights and consumer protection.

290
00:22:58,940 --> 00:23:01,694
thank you. Thank you, chair patel.

291
00:23:02,264 --> 00:23:05,535
michaela deming, policy director, dc coalition against

292
00:23:05,535 --> 00:23:07,637
domestic violence. Thank you, chair pinto and staff

293
00:23:07,637 --> 00:23:09,872
for the opportunity to testify. My name is michaela deming.

294
00:23:09,872 --> 00:23:12,776
I'm the policy director with the dc coalition against domestic

295
00:23:12,776 --> 00:23:14,845
violence, the federally recognized statewide coalition

296
00:23:14,845 --> 00:23:18,114
of domestic violence service providers here in dc that serve

297
00:23:18,114 --> 00:23:20,983
upwards of a thousand victims of domestic violence on any given

298
00:23:20,983 --> 00:23:23,286
day across all eight wards of the district.

299
00:23:23,286 --> 00:23:26,522
we must sustain core programing and services for survivors of

300
00:23:26,522 --> 00:23:29,225
domestic violence and feel critical funding gaps for

301
00:23:29,225 --> 00:23:31,294
survivors and targeted communities.

302
00:23:31,294 --> 00:23:34,864
survivors need more resources and services, not less, but

303
00:23:34,864 --> 00:23:37,199
proposed cuts to domestic violence and victim services is

304
00:23:37,199 --> 00:23:39,202
reduced. Survivors access to life saving

305
00:23:39,202 --> 00:23:42,305
services and housing at a time. As you mentioned, when domestic

306
00:23:42,305 --> 00:23:45,908
violence homicides have spiked despite violent crime and

307
00:23:45,908 --> 00:23:49,312
homicide dropping across d.c., the district cannot afford to

308
00:23:49,312 --> 00:23:51,114
abandon survivors and their families at this time.

309
00:23:51,114 --> 00:23:54,170
their lives depend on these essential services.

310
00:23:54,170 --> 00:23:56,752
the mayor stated that funding for public safety must be

311
00:23:56,752 --> 00:23:58,654
preserved to keep up the overall progress.

312
00:23:58,654 --> 00:24:02,925
to drive down crime citywide. We urge council to do just that.

313
00:24:02,925 --> 00:24:06,462
restore the $6.3 million in cuts to domestic violence and victim

314
00:24:06,462 --> 00:24:11,100
services and ofsted and dhs, and provide an additional 4.4

315
00:24:11,100 --> 00:24:14,137
million over fy 26 levels to sustain current services and

316
00:24:14,137 --> 00:24:17,306
fill critical gaps for survivors and targeted communities.

317
00:24:17,306 --> 00:24:20,243
as federal policies continue to create concern for many and

318
00:24:20,243 --> 00:24:22,646
threaten the safety and stability of our most vulnerable

319
00:24:22,646 --> 00:24:24,713
communities. Adequate local funding is

320
00:24:24,713 --> 00:24:27,750
necessary to fill critical gaps for our marginalized neighbors,

321
00:24:27,750 --> 00:24:31,287
including immigrants, people of color, lgbtq plus individuals,

322
00:24:31,287 --> 00:24:33,790
unhoused individuals, those reentering from periods of

323
00:24:33,790 --> 00:24:35,925
incarceration and their families.

324
00:24:35,925 --> 00:24:39,729
the broader social safety net is also a lifeline for survivors in

325
00:24:39,729 --> 00:24:41,544
crisis. Yet the budget includes

326
00:24:41,544 --> 00:24:45,470
devastating cuts to child care subsidies and workers pay, paid

327
00:24:45,470 --> 00:24:48,718
family leave and medical leave, snap and tanf benefits, legal

328
00:24:48,718 --> 00:24:52,888
representation, emergency rental assistance, removing the very

329
00:24:52,888 --> 00:24:54,957
resources necessary for domestic violence survivors and their

330
00:24:54,957 --> 00:24:58,270
families to become independent from their abusers, puts lives

331
00:24:58,270 --> 00:25:01,630
at risk and undermines broader community safety.

332
00:25:01,630 --> 00:25:04,899
in contrast, mpd sees a 15% larger budget than the mayor's

333
00:25:04,899 --> 00:25:07,269
proposal, an increase of over 89 million.

334
00:25:07,269 --> 00:25:09,672
we could achieve greater community safety by preserving

335
00:25:09,672 --> 00:25:14,472
and investing that $89 million into $10 million for victim

336
00:25:16,780 --> 00:25:18,614
services, 1.9 million to fill critical gaps for domestic

337
00:25:18,614 --> 00:25:22,814
violence services, 27.3 million for access to justice, 685,000

338
00:25:23,519 --> 00:25:26,321
to restore cuts to the dhs line for domestic violence.

339
00:25:26,321 --> 00:25:30,592
and we'd still have nearly $40 million left over to fund more

340
00:25:30,592 --> 00:25:33,729
essential services like restoring all of the cuts to dhs

341
00:25:33,729 --> 00:25:36,265
economic security programs, or restoring all the cuts to family

342
00:25:36,265 --> 00:25:39,101
services and homeless services and dhs.

343
00:25:39,101 --> 00:25:44,139
we join the van request to fund victim services at 59.6 million

344
00:25:44,139 --> 00:25:47,410
and protect the entire ofs portfolio and stand in

345
00:25:47,410 --> 00:25:50,812
solidarity with a fair budget coalition, lgbtq plus budget

346
00:25:50,812 --> 00:25:53,615
coalition and the dc justice lab in their platforms.

347
00:25:53,615 --> 00:25:56,850
despite the recent press conference calling attention to

348
00:25:56,850 --> 00:25:58,421
increasing lethal domestic violence, no movement has been

349
00:25:58,421 --> 00:26:01,424
made to ensure all survivors have equal access to law

350
00:26:01,424 --> 00:26:03,824
enforcement. D.c. Code.

351
00:26:05,270 --> 00:26:07,262
section 24-211.07 must be amended to protect victim and

352
00:26:07,262 --> 00:26:09,631
witness information from immigration enforcement threats.

353
00:26:09,631 --> 00:26:12,668
until that happens, immigrant and immigrant survivors will

354
00:26:12,668 --> 00:26:15,638
continue to feel unsafe. Calling mpd or benefiting from

355
00:26:15,638 --> 00:26:18,407
any of the over half billion dollars their budget includes.

356
00:26:18,407 --> 00:26:22,778
thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I'm happy to answer

357
00:26:22,778 --> 00:26:23,245
questions. Great.

358
00:26:23,245 --> 00:26:25,480
thank you very much, miss deming.

359
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:26,615
thank you all for your testimony.

360
00:26:26,615 --> 00:26:31,415
appreciate it. We're going to call our next

361
00:26:32,821 --> 00:26:35,821
panel, gregory pemberton. Joey ferguson.

362
00:26:39,610 --> 00:26:41,461
gregory sakas. Ashley anderson.

363
00:26:54,476 --> 00:26:56,780
great. Welcome to you all.

364
00:26:56,780 --> 00:26:59,140
thank you. We will begin with gregory

365
00:26:59,140 --> 00:27:02,510
pemberton, president of the dc police union.

366
00:27:02,510 --> 00:27:05,540
thank you, chair chairwoman. Good afternoon, members of the

367
00:27:05,540 --> 00:27:07,220
committee, thank you for this opportunity to testify as

368
00:27:07,220 --> 00:27:08,257
president of the dc police union.

369
00:27:08,257 --> 00:27:11,930
I speak on behalf of approximately 2800 sworn police

370
00:27:11,930 --> 00:27:13,763
officers, detectives and sergeants who serve this

371
00:27:13,763 --> 00:27:15,898
community as members of the metropolitan police department.

372
00:27:15,898 --> 00:27:18,234
I've been providing testimony in these hearings for years

373
00:27:18,234 --> 00:27:20,736
highlighting the alarming decrease in staffing year over

374
00:27:20,736 --> 00:27:23,305
year and the exponential increases in overtime usage to

375
00:27:23,305 --> 00:27:26,275
make up for these shortages. My testimony today is that the

376
00:27:26,275 --> 00:27:29,778
mpd remains in dire condition. The mandatory overtime usage is

377
00:27:29,778 --> 00:27:32,113
beyond abusive members. Days off are regularly canceled

378
00:27:32,113 --> 00:27:35,517
with little or no notice, and unexpected holdovers have become

379
00:27:35,517 --> 00:27:39,117
the norm. Mpd facilities are disrepair

380
00:27:39,688 --> 00:27:42,891
with nonfunctional bathrooms, mold infested locker rooms, and

381
00:27:42,891 --> 00:27:44,527
dilapidated buildings that endanger officer health and

382
00:27:44,527 --> 00:27:46,395
morale. Compounding these issues, our

383
00:27:46,395 --> 00:27:48,630
fleet of vehicles and more specifically, the lack of

384
00:27:48,630 --> 00:27:51,400
urgency at our repair shop is impeding our operations even

385
00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,235
further. These vehicle shortages and

386
00:27:53,235 --> 00:27:56,400
availability issues directly impact response times, officer

387
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,273
safety and operational effectiveness across every

388
00:27:58,273 --> 00:28:00,576
district. Staffing losses mpd have

389
00:28:00,576 --> 00:28:03,212
experienced have predictably continued in the past six years.

390
00:28:03,212 --> 00:28:08,612
the mpd has gone from 3800 officers to 3150 every year

391
00:28:08,617 --> 00:28:10,352
since 2019. The average net loss of sworn

392
00:28:10,352 --> 00:28:13,890
members is more than 100 this fiscal year.

393
00:28:13,890 --> 00:28:15,290
the most recent reporting period.

394
00:28:15,290 --> 00:28:17,827
mpd continues to lose far more officers than it has hired.

395
00:28:17,827 --> 00:28:20,620
the union believes the most pressing matter for the

396
00:28:20,620 --> 00:28:22,498
council's awareness is that the cba between the union and the

397
00:28:22,498 --> 00:28:24,366
city is set to expire in september.

398
00:28:24,366 --> 00:28:27,103
the council must consider potential wage increases for the

399
00:28:27,103 --> 00:28:29,637
officers, as they are the most crucial aspect to increase

400
00:28:29,637 --> 00:28:31,573
staffing back to appropriate levels.

401
00:28:31,573 --> 00:28:33,976
the way the mpd is forced to handle these critically low

402
00:28:33,976 --> 00:28:37,346
staffing numbers is through mandatory overtime assignments.

403
00:28:37,346 --> 00:28:39,983
since 2021, the department has regularly exceeded 1,000,000

404
00:28:39,983 --> 00:28:44,783
hours of overtime every year. With 2024 seeing 1.8 million

405
00:28:44,854 --> 00:28:47,690
hours. 2025 ended with more than 1.7

406
00:28:47,690 --> 00:28:50,580
million hours. And while data for fy 26 is

407
00:28:50,580 --> 00:28:53,128
limited, they show similarly unsustainable levels early in

408
00:28:53,128 --> 00:28:56,799
the year, relying this heavily overtime rather than hiring and

409
00:28:56,799 --> 00:28:59,768
retaining full time officers cost the taxpayer tens of

410
00:28:59,768 --> 00:29:02,471
millions annually. Dc police union strongly

411
00:29:02,471 --> 00:29:05,841
supports the mayor's proposed fy 27 mpd budget.

412
00:29:05,841 --> 00:29:08,610
significant enhancements for personnel services, overtime

413
00:29:08,610 --> 00:29:11,460
alignment, contractual services, fleet maintenance and facility

414
00:29:11,460 --> 00:29:13,882
related investments represent a critical and overdue step

415
00:29:13,882 --> 00:29:17,860
towards stabilizing our workforce, improving retention

416
00:29:17,860 --> 00:29:19,254
and addressing deplorable conditions in our members face

417
00:29:19,254 --> 00:29:21,490
every day. By fully funding these

418
00:29:21,490 --> 00:29:23,559
increases, the council can send a clear message that the

419
00:29:23,559 --> 00:29:25,694
district values its police officers and is committed to

420
00:29:25,694 --> 00:29:27,696
restoring the strength and readiness of the metropolitan

421
00:29:27,696 --> 00:29:29,298
police department. The union asked for the council

422
00:29:29,298 --> 00:29:31,967
to give deep consideration when making decisions that affect the

423
00:29:31,967 --> 00:29:35,203
ability to hire and retain our best employees, specifically,

424
00:29:35,203 --> 00:29:37,973
legislation affecting employee rights as well as budgetary

425
00:29:37,973 --> 00:29:41,511
decisions to support staffing, facility upgrades and fleet

426
00:29:41,511 --> 00:29:43,780
modernization. These issues are at the heart of

427
00:29:43,780 --> 00:29:45,314
mpd's ability to provide exceptional service to residents

428
00:29:45,314 --> 00:29:47,383
and visitors. Thank you for the opportunity to

429
00:29:47,383 --> 00:29:48,984
testify. I welcome any questions the

430
00:29:48,984 --> 00:29:51,984
committee may have. Thank you.

431
00:29:53,922 --> 00:29:59,661
joey ferguson, de flock, dc. Miss joey, I'm a ward 7 resident

432
00:29:59,661 --> 00:30:03,198
and proud washingtonian. I represent de flock dc, a

433
00:30:03,198 --> 00:30:06,100
growing collective of dc residents who are opposed to use

434
00:30:06,100 --> 00:30:09,404
of automatic license plate readers and similar surveillance

435
00:30:09,404 --> 00:30:11,673
technologies. We are here today to vehemently

436
00:30:11,673 --> 00:30:14,176
oppose the expansion of this technology in our city.

437
00:30:14,176 --> 00:30:17,312
the mayor's proposed budget slashes slashes the kinds of

438
00:30:17,312 --> 00:30:20,382
basic services that keep washingtonians safe in favor of

439
00:30:20,382 --> 00:30:24,653
paying private companies to spy on us on behalf.

440
00:30:24,653 --> 00:30:27,923
alpers, our street cameras that log your license plate as you

441
00:30:27,923 --> 00:30:31,760
drive by, whether you are suspected of a crime or not.

442
00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,930
flock logs this data in a searchable, nationwide database

443
00:30:34,930 --> 00:30:39,901
that any flock user can access, including federal agents.

444
00:30:39,901 --> 00:30:44,873
df.loc dc sees this practice for what it is real time warrantless

445
00:30:44,873 --> 00:30:50,587
tracking of every driver in dc. The proposal gives mpd an

446
00:30:50,587 --> 00:30:52,789
additional 7 million for contractual services, which

447
00:30:52,789 --> 00:30:56,192
includes the expansion of alpers and mpd.

448
00:30:56,192 --> 00:31:00,563
forecast recently called for up to 5 million to expand flock

449
00:31:00,563 --> 00:31:02,565
cameras in the downtown corridor.

450
00:31:02,565 --> 00:31:05,100
it sounds like they're getting their wish.

451
00:31:05,100 --> 00:31:08,380
while washingtonians not only lose critical services, but also

452
00:31:08,380 --> 00:31:12,108
their privacy. For example, the the proposed

453
00:31:12,108 --> 00:31:16,946
budget cuts 6.1 million from the school based behavioral health

454
00:31:16,946 --> 00:31:18,782
program. For what.

455
00:31:18,782 --> 00:31:23,953
or what about the 5.6 million cut from victim services, or the

456
00:31:23,953 --> 00:31:27,553
2.5 million from dc's youth homelessness system?

457
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,860
I could go on, but they only give me three minutes.

458
00:31:30,860 --> 00:31:35,498
why does the mayor and mpd insist on insist we divest from

459
00:31:35,498 --> 00:31:39,690
programs that address crime at its root, so we can pay flock

460
00:31:39,690 --> 00:31:43,306
safety for more? Alpers maybe it's because the

461
00:31:43,306 --> 00:31:47,544
former chief information officer of mpd now works as strategic

462
00:31:47,544 --> 00:31:51,548
relations at flock safety, but I digress.

463
00:31:51,548 --> 00:31:54,484
I have been a software developer for more than ten years now.

464
00:31:54,484 --> 00:31:58,154
there's a common phrase amongst tech companies that I've heard

465
00:31:58,154 --> 00:32:01,570
before move fast and break things.

466
00:32:01,570 --> 00:32:04,794
I have unfortunately seen that recklessness come at all our

467
00:32:04,794 --> 00:32:08,264
expense and flock safety is no exception.

468
00:32:08,264 --> 00:32:11,267
their product, their products violate privacy rights,

469
00:32:11,267 --> 00:32:14,704
disregard the fourth amendment and create and create critical

470
00:32:14,704 --> 00:32:16,873
security risks for washingtonians.

471
00:32:16,873 --> 00:32:19,742
not only is flock software riddled with vulnerabilities,

472
00:32:19,742 --> 00:32:22,812
but it also serves as a data pipeline leading straight to

473
00:32:22,812 --> 00:32:25,315
federal agencies like ice and sea.

474
00:32:25,315 --> 00:32:28,618
we have no idea how frequently these agencies run searches on

475
00:32:28,618 --> 00:32:32,289
our data, because mpd stopped responding to our foia request

476
00:32:32,289 --> 00:32:35,892
from last year. In conclusion, we are demanding

477
00:32:35,892 --> 00:32:40,163
our tax dollars be used to help children, neighbors, and friends

478
00:32:40,163 --> 00:32:43,900
rather than spying on them. Doing so will simultaneously

479
00:32:43,900 --> 00:32:48,171
restore community services. Our privacy and our rights.

480
00:32:48,171 --> 00:32:53,109
I'm happy to answer questions and I love this city and the

481
00:32:53,109 --> 00:32:55,109
occupation. Thank you.

482
00:32:55,979 --> 00:32:57,979
thank you. Gregory.

483
00:32:59,149 --> 00:33:02,686
public witness. Hello, my name is gregory.

484
00:33:02,686 --> 00:33:05,255
and if you could turn your microphone on.

485
00:33:05,255 --> 00:33:07,190
hello, my name is gregory sarkis.

486
00:33:07,190 --> 00:33:11,661
I'm a ward 7 resident, a member of de flock dc and a fair budget

487
00:33:11,661 --> 00:33:14,130
coalition member. As a heads up for anyone

488
00:33:14,130 --> 00:33:16,599
listening, this budget will kill people, and I'm going to talk

489
00:33:16,599 --> 00:33:19,569
about it. I am upset.

490
00:33:19,569 --> 00:33:22,806
I am angry that we are continuing to over police dc

491
00:33:22,806 --> 00:33:25,675
residents when we know that it doesn't actually lead to anybody

492
00:33:25,675 --> 00:33:27,943
safety. I'm disappointed in our mayor

493
00:33:27,943 --> 00:33:31,481
and this council for year after year, ignoring evidence that

494
00:33:31,481 --> 00:33:34,651
shows that taking care of our people through investment in

495
00:33:34,651 --> 00:33:37,755
social service programs is the most effective way to reduce

496
00:33:37,755 --> 00:33:39,589
crime and increase quality of life.

497
00:33:39,589 --> 00:33:43,359
and I am deeply sad for all of those who will suffer and even

498
00:33:43,359 --> 00:33:46,629
lose their lives at the hands of this budget.

499
00:33:46,629 --> 00:33:49,399
I'd like to use a moment of my time to honor.

500
00:33:49,399 --> 00:33:53,300
to honor all those who will be affected by this budget,

501
00:33:53,300 --> 00:33:55,705
including our unhoused neighbors who will continue to perish

502
00:33:55,705 --> 00:33:57,974
because they didn't have a safe place to sleep at night.

503
00:33:57,974 --> 00:34:00,377
for the children who are suffering because they don't

504
00:34:00,377 --> 00:34:02,812
have access to mental health services.

505
00:34:02,812 --> 00:34:06,182
for all those who will die of treatable afflictions, because

506
00:34:06,182 --> 00:34:08,118
this budget will take away their health care.

507
00:34:08,118 --> 00:34:11,287
and for all the people who have been and will be killed at the

508
00:34:11,287 --> 00:34:13,923
hands of the metropolitan police department in dc.

509
00:34:13,923 --> 00:34:20,730
safe and beautiful task force. If I wasn't clear yet, I will

510
00:34:20,730 --> 00:34:23,266
lay it out. This budget is an act of

511
00:34:23,266 --> 00:34:26,102
violence being committed by this government against its people.

512
00:34:26,102 --> 00:34:30,140
let me ask you what logical conclusions you would want me to

513
00:34:30,140 --> 00:34:32,509
make. When we have massive cuts in our

514
00:34:32,509 --> 00:34:36,120
social safety net just to fund the violence of the metropolitan

515
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:38,548
police department, what should I think about this government's

516
00:34:38,548 --> 00:34:40,483
priorities then? What does it say about how the

517
00:34:40,483 --> 00:34:43,487
mayor and this council feels about our most vulnerable

518
00:34:43,487 --> 00:34:46,723
neighbors? As I mentioned, I'm a member of

519
00:34:46,723 --> 00:34:49,626
of de flock. Dc flock is the perfect example

520
00:34:49,626 --> 00:34:52,962
of the kind of reckless police spending that, in the end, makes

521
00:34:52,962 --> 00:34:56,232
us all unsafe. This kind of dragnet

522
00:34:56,232 --> 00:34:58,369
surveillance is nothing but dangerous.

523
00:34:58,369 --> 00:35:01,471
if dc continues to fund companies like flock, it is only

524
00:35:01,471 --> 00:35:03,974
a matter of time before there is direct violence.

525
00:35:03,974 --> 00:35:07,510
as a result of this technology. In dc, there have already been

526
00:35:07,510 --> 00:35:10,980
cases of hacking, stalking and other abuses of these cameras

527
00:35:10,980 --> 00:35:13,783
across the country. Why are we allowing dc to suffer

528
00:35:13,783 --> 00:35:15,952
at the hands of this technology as well?

529
00:35:15,952 --> 00:35:20,456
surely we can find a better use for the $5 million that is

530
00:35:20,456 --> 00:35:24,127
forecasted to be spent on more flock cameras, sources for

531
00:35:24,127 --> 00:35:27,630
everything that I'm saying are going to be included in my

532
00:35:27,630 --> 00:35:29,666
written testimony, including recommendations from fair

533
00:35:29,666 --> 00:35:32,102
budget, on how we can adequately, more adequately

534
00:35:32,102 --> 00:35:36,339
appropriate these funds, like using $100 million from mbt over

535
00:35:36,339 --> 00:35:39,576
mpd overtime funds to fund erap pinto.

536
00:35:39,576 --> 00:35:43,120
I highly recommend you read the full thing, especially if you

537
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:48,840
still do not understand that funding schools and housing not

538
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:50,587
increase policing is how we keep our children safe.

539
00:35:50,587 --> 00:35:54,357
I am begging you and your fellow council members to do your job

540
00:35:54,357 --> 00:35:57,160
and write a budget that prioritizes all the residents of

541
00:35:57,160 --> 00:35:59,160
dc. Thank you.

542
00:36:01,164 --> 00:36:04,764
thank you. Ashley anderson, policy counsel,

543
00:36:04,901 --> 00:36:08,304
dc justice lab. Good morning, chairwoman pinto

544
00:36:08,304 --> 00:36:10,840
and members of the committee. My name is ashley anderson and

545
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:12,975
I'm a policy counsel at dc justice lab.

546
00:36:12,975 --> 00:36:15,545
and I'm also a resident of ward 6.

547
00:36:15,545 --> 00:36:18,281
today I'm going to talk about the mayor's proposed budget for

548
00:36:18,281 --> 00:36:21,652
mpd, which includes substantial increases in funding for

549
00:36:21,652 --> 00:36:24,720
overtime in addition to funding expanding surveillance

550
00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:26,656
technology. Both are disconnected from an

551
00:36:26,656 --> 00:36:28,925
evidence informed public safety approach.

552
00:36:28,925 --> 00:36:31,461
the last nine months have shown that expanding law enforcement

553
00:36:31,461 --> 00:36:34,697
in a way that contradicts local evidence and crime trends and

554
00:36:34,697 --> 00:36:37,660
actual public safety needs, leads to higher costs.

555
00:36:37,660 --> 00:36:40,204
without a public safety benefit and, more importantly, real life

556
00:36:40,204 --> 00:36:44,700
harm to residents. The mayor's proposed budget

557
00:36:44,700 --> 00:36:46,642
increases the unchecked use of surveillance technology.

558
00:36:46,642 --> 00:36:50,130
the proposed budget includes an increase of about $7 million

559
00:36:50,130 --> 00:36:53,683
across multiple bureaus to support various contractual

560
00:36:53,683 --> 00:36:56,819
obligations, including but not limited to cctv, camera

561
00:36:56,819 --> 00:36:58,554
maintenance and license plate readers.

562
00:36:58,554 --> 00:37:02,197
the district has continued to fund an increase in pd

563
00:37:02,197 --> 00:37:04,966
surveillance technology without evaluating the encroachment into

564
00:37:04,966 --> 00:37:08,503
residents and visitors privacy. Meaningful interrogation of the

565
00:37:08,503 --> 00:37:11,773
utility, and mixed uses of this technology, and without

566
00:37:11,773 --> 00:37:13,975
meaningful communication or engagement with concerns raised

567
00:37:13,975 --> 00:37:16,778
by community members. And this is particularly

568
00:37:16,778 --> 00:37:19,147
concerning given that at this year's performance oversight

569
00:37:19,147 --> 00:37:21,450
hearing, multiple people expressed worries about the

570
00:37:21,450 --> 00:37:24,120
district's use of surveillance technology by law enforcement

571
00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:26,755
and other jurisdictions have already sounded the alarm about

572
00:37:26,755 --> 00:37:28,457
its harms. And it's even more concerning

573
00:37:28,457 --> 00:37:30,659
given that surveillance technologies are used more

574
00:37:30,659 --> 00:37:34,196
often, where a majority of the residents are black.

575
00:37:34,196 --> 00:37:36,998
in addition, npd's pattern of overspending, especially on

576
00:37:36,998 --> 00:37:39,234
overtime, is a waste of resources.

577
00:37:39,234 --> 00:37:44,340
the mayor's proposal allocates $81 million for overtime, a

578
00:37:44,272 --> 00:37:47,843
substantial increase from 39 million for fiscal year 2026.

579
00:37:47,843 --> 00:37:51,713
and their disclaimer is, quote, while the agency works to use

580
00:37:51,713 --> 00:37:54,215
overtime judiciously, it is a critical and largely inevitable

581
00:37:54,215 --> 00:37:56,551
function of police work. But it's contradictory to say

582
00:37:56,551 --> 00:37:59,489
that the agency is using this overtime judiciously, when for

583
00:37:59,489 --> 00:38:01,857
years there have been a consistent increase in the use

584
00:38:01,857 --> 00:38:05,495
of overtime, district leaders need to ask when our city

585
00:38:05,495 --> 00:38:08,970
diverts money to cover police overtime, what communities lose

586
00:38:08,970 --> 00:38:11,501
access to those funds, and are we essentially subsidizing

587
00:38:11,501 --> 00:38:14,703
overpolicing at the expense of housing, violence prevention or

588
00:38:14,703 --> 00:38:17,239
reentry services? And at what point does district

589
00:38:17,239 --> 00:38:20,374
leadership say that this isn't working, and instead use those

590
00:38:20,374 --> 00:38:24,112
funds to invest in community led public safety solutions in

591
00:38:24,112 --> 00:38:26,582
partnership with nearly 30 organizations, dc justice lab

592
00:38:26,582 --> 00:38:29,718
produced a public safety agenda that shared what community

593
00:38:29,718 --> 00:38:33,210
members and expert demands. This includes expanding and

594
00:38:33,210 --> 00:38:35,323
improving dc. S non-law enforcement responses

595
00:38:35,323 --> 00:38:38,727
to people in behavioral health crises, authorizing and funding

596
00:38:38,727 --> 00:38:41,597
24 over seven harm reduction centers, and increasing funding

597
00:38:41,597 --> 00:38:45,199
for the office of victim services and justice grants to

598
00:38:45,199 --> 00:38:46,802
close. The district does not need to

599
00:38:46,802 --> 00:38:49,705
invest more resources into policing and surveillance of our

600
00:38:49,705 --> 00:38:52,174
residents, but support social services and community led

601
00:38:52,174 --> 00:38:54,710
public safety solutions. Thank you for the opportunity to

602
00:38:54,710 --> 00:38:58,880
speak with you all. Thank you very much.

603
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:00,615
thank you all for your testimony.

604
00:39:00,615 --> 00:39:03,150
appreciate it. Rebecca strauss.

605
00:39:06,540 --> 00:39:08,540
talib, kareem. Talib.

606
00:39:10,325 --> 00:39:13,925
kareem, are you here? Bill mefford.

607
00:39:25,273 --> 00:39:27,673
secondly, gray. Frankie seabron.

608
00:39:40,555 --> 00:39:42,955
all right. Welcome everyone.

609
00:39:42,958 --> 00:39:46,161
we are going to begin with rebecca strauss director of

610
00:39:46,161 --> 00:39:49,161
economic initiatives, federal city council.

611
00:39:50,465 --> 00:39:53,535
thank you for having me. And I wanted to thank you,

612
00:39:53,535 --> 00:39:56,338
council member pinto, for everything that you've done to

613
00:39:56,338 --> 00:40:01,138
make the city safer and your work on.

614
00:40:01,276 --> 00:40:04,913
legislation in the past, and also to fight for.

615
00:40:04,913 --> 00:40:06,982
a juvenile curfew zones. Really appreciate it.

616
00:40:06,982 --> 00:40:11,552
something that my organization supports, I would say about the

617
00:40:11,552 --> 00:40:14,880
budget. We generally support what mayor

618
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,893
bowser's tried to do. It's a really difficult budget

619
00:40:17,893 --> 00:40:21,493
year. You know that and difficult

620
00:40:22,565 --> 00:40:28,704
decisions must be made. What I would say about the mpd

621
00:40:28,704 --> 00:40:32,974
budget is that it's not clear to us that there is going to be a

622
00:40:32,974 --> 00:40:36,144
lot of investment in dealing with the number one challenge

623
00:40:36,144 --> 00:40:39,744
facing the force, which is manpower.

624
00:40:40,782 --> 00:40:46,210
and we had chief carroll at an event a few weeks ago, and he

625
00:40:46,210 --> 00:40:49,524
was very clear about the challenges that they face and

626
00:40:49,524 --> 00:40:54,324
recruitment and retention. And it's a very competitive

627
00:40:54,396 --> 00:40:55,798
environment right now for law enforcement.

628
00:40:55,798 --> 00:41:00,168
as you know, a lot of federal agencies hiring up, offering

629
00:41:00,168 --> 00:41:05,568
extremely generous benefits. And in the suburbs as well.

630
00:41:06,241 --> 00:41:11,847
and there's nothing really in the budget that is making the

631
00:41:11,847 --> 00:41:14,283
value proposition better for joining the mpd versus all the

632
00:41:14,283 --> 00:41:17,619
other law enforcement agencies. And something that chief carroll

633
00:41:17,619 --> 00:41:22,657
brought up a lot was the state of facilities for police.

634
00:41:22,657 --> 00:41:26,896
and I know that the police union has called facilities

635
00:41:26,896 --> 00:41:29,164
deplorable. Now, the mayor's budget does

636
00:41:29,164 --> 00:41:33,436
have money for public safety facilities, and that's

637
00:41:33,436 --> 00:41:36,838
important. But to my knowledge, there's no

638
00:41:36,838 --> 00:41:40,800
new money for actual police facilities.

639
00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:42,911
and that's just going to be a growing problem.

640
00:41:42,911 --> 00:41:48,480
so I encourage you to think about is there any more money

641
00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:51,648
that could go towards those priorities?

642
00:41:51,986 --> 00:41:56,186
because otherwise. It's going to get worse.

643
00:41:57,759 --> 00:42:00,159
thank you. Thank you.

644
00:42:04,933 --> 00:42:08,169
bill mefford, executive director of the festival center.

645
00:42:08,169 --> 00:42:11,139
good morning. Thanks for allowing me to

646
00:42:11,139 --> 00:42:13,308
testify. Preparing for today.

647
00:42:13,308 --> 00:42:15,543
I reflected on where we are at this moment in time.

648
00:42:15,543 --> 00:42:20,849
in the 36 years I've spent in full time christian ministry, I

649
00:42:20,849 --> 00:42:23,785
have never had a more challenging year than this.

650
00:42:23,785 --> 00:42:27,622
one central reason for this is simple it's the constant threat

651
00:42:27,622 --> 00:42:31,559
of terror for the continued collaboration between mpd and

652
00:42:31,559 --> 00:42:35,563
ice, and the continued refusal of our elected leaders to hold

653
00:42:35,563 --> 00:42:37,963
each other accountable. So.

654
00:42:39,167 --> 00:42:42,704
but yet we continue not just to fund them, but to spend even

655
00:42:42,704 --> 00:42:45,540
more money just seems like madness.

656
00:42:45,540 --> 00:42:49,811
at the festival center, our primary concern is safety, and

657
00:42:49,811 --> 00:42:53,447
we know that safety comes from investment over enforcement.

658
00:42:53,447 --> 00:42:56,518
so what does safety look like when we consider the budget

659
00:42:56,518 --> 00:42:59,387
before us? I think it would include fully

660
00:42:59,387 --> 00:43:02,991
funding the domestic violence and victim services, fully

661
00:43:02,991 --> 00:43:06,828
funding paid family leave, fully funding all oag programs to

662
00:43:06,828 --> 00:43:09,965
educate workers and domestic workers of their rights,

663
00:43:09,965 --> 00:43:13,869
replacing carceral systems with crisis response systems that

664
00:43:13,869 --> 00:43:18,240
emphasize care over punishment, fully funding the access to

665
00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:22,844
justice program, fully funding the emergency rental assistance

666
00:43:22,844 --> 00:43:26,982
program, increased funding for temporary assistance to needy

667
00:43:26,982 --> 00:43:31,182
families, unify and fund violence interruption services

668
00:43:31,253 --> 00:43:34,790
and encampment clearings while funding storage options.

669
00:43:34,790 --> 00:43:38,994
and the list goes on and on. So how do we accomplish this?

670
00:43:38,994 --> 00:43:42,664
well, I'm so glad you asked that question.

671
00:43:42,664 --> 00:43:47,200
in short, reining in the spending of mpd who are getting

672
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:50,906
a 15% increase from last year's budget despite crime being at

673
00:43:50,906 --> 00:43:54,142
record lows, and the department and the department having

674
00:43:54,142 --> 00:43:58,513
vacancies that it cannot fill, and losing 67 sworn officers

675
00:43:58,513 --> 00:44:02,918
last year, the department is increasing staff pay and

676
00:44:02,918 --> 00:44:08,318
benefits by $44 million and is doubling its overtime budget

677
00:44:09,224 --> 00:44:11,893
from 40,000,000 in 2025 to over 80 million this year.

678
00:44:11,893 --> 00:44:16,198
that's the whole ballgame. The department has secured over

679
00:44:16,198 --> 00:44:18,834
$100 million to invest in surveillance systems.

680
00:44:18,834 --> 00:44:22,471
as my colleague mentioned and described before.

681
00:44:22,471 --> 00:44:26,675
and yet we are still in one of the most surveilled and heavily

682
00:44:26,675 --> 00:44:30,479
policed cities in the world. Further areas of cutting include

683
00:44:30,479 --> 00:44:34,830
denying any overtime pay associated with collaborating

684
00:44:34,830 --> 00:44:39,555
with each I, h, s I and other federal agencies harming d.c.

685
00:44:39,555 --> 00:44:43,692
residents that we would harm the very people who are causing

686
00:44:43,692 --> 00:44:46,692
terror is beyond my understanding.

687
00:44:46,862 --> 00:44:50,365
I urge you to also take a critical look at mpd signing

688
00:44:50,365 --> 00:44:53,770
bonuses and the amount of money being given to mpd officers for

689
00:44:53,770 --> 00:44:56,238
housing. When housing for the most

690
00:44:56,238 --> 00:45:00,242
vulnerable is such an all time low.

691
00:45:00,242 --> 00:45:02,430
that's. I'm going to stop there because

692
00:45:02,430 --> 00:45:05,213
if I keep going, I'm going to go over and I'm going to get really

693
00:45:05,213 --> 00:45:09,885
frustrated, but I really want to encourage us and encourage you

694
00:45:09,885 --> 00:45:12,988
to provide to look at what real public safety is and not fund

695
00:45:12,988 --> 00:45:17,125
the same old, tired, effective and ineffective and failed

696
00:45:17,125 --> 00:45:19,125
programs. Thank you.

697
00:45:19,928 --> 00:45:24,128
thank you. Mr. Gray, council member and

698
00:45:25,267 --> 00:45:27,603
members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to

699
00:45:27,603 --> 00:45:29,204
speak. My name is gray.

700
00:45:29,204 --> 00:45:33,508
I am a native washingtonian, a proud mother of four amazing

701
00:45:33,508 --> 00:45:36,945
young men, and a community organizer with dc gospel

702
00:45:36,945 --> 00:45:39,281
justice. I'm testifying today because I'm

703
00:45:39,281 --> 00:45:42,384
deeply concerned about the ways in which metropolitan police

704
00:45:42,384 --> 00:45:44,519
department shows up in my community.

705
00:45:44,519 --> 00:45:49,224
having more police on the street does not create a safer dc.

706
00:45:49,224 --> 00:45:52,728
despite increased investments in policing communities, especially

707
00:45:52,728 --> 00:45:56,665
communities of color, continue to experience harm, fear and

708
00:45:56,665 --> 00:46:00,235
instability rather than safety. There is a lack of transparency

709
00:46:00,235 --> 00:46:03,505
when incidents occur in our communities of color, families

710
00:46:03,505 --> 00:46:05,774
are often left without answers or accountability.

711
00:46:05,774 --> 00:46:09,378
when. When harm is done, the lack of

712
00:46:09,378 --> 00:46:12,581
transparency erodes trust and deepens the divide between

713
00:46:12,581 --> 00:46:15,183
residents and those who are meant to serve them.

714
00:46:15,183 --> 00:46:18,853
I'm also concerned about mpd's collaboration with federal

715
00:46:18,853 --> 00:46:22,157
authorities, which has led to unlawful targeting, harassment

716
00:46:22,157 --> 00:46:25,270
and arrest of d.c. Residents of color.

717
00:46:25,270 --> 00:46:29,640
this only adds to over and criminalization already

718
00:46:29,640 --> 00:46:31,330
experienced in our neighborhoods.

719
00:46:31,330 --> 00:46:34,636
recently, the approval of the youth curfew allows police to

720
00:46:34,636 --> 00:46:37,138
threaten and arrest young children as young as 12 years

721
00:46:37,138 --> 00:46:39,841
old. At the same time, there has been

722
00:46:39,841 --> 00:46:43,479
a narrative that places that places blame solely on parents

723
00:46:43,479 --> 00:46:49,284
for what has been labeled teen takeovers, which, while crucial

724
00:46:49,284 --> 00:46:52,821
social programs that families rely on, continue to be cut.

725
00:46:52,821 --> 00:46:54,757
the approach criminalizes our youth.

726
00:46:54,757 --> 00:46:58,493
instead of investing in them, we should be asking deeper

727
00:46:58,493 --> 00:47:01,630
questions why are young people not going home after school?

728
00:47:01,630 --> 00:47:06,101
could it be due to unstable housing or housing conditions

729
00:47:06,101 --> 00:47:08,304
under in under-resourced communities?

730
00:47:08,304 --> 00:47:12,240
why are they outside at night? Are they avoiding circumstances

731
00:47:12,240 --> 00:47:14,409
at home that are beyond their control?

732
00:47:14,409 --> 00:47:16,912
why are they gathering in large numbers?

733
00:47:16,912 --> 00:47:20,515
could it be because their need for safe spaces, programing and

734
00:47:20,515 --> 00:47:24,115
support has continually, continuously been underfunded?

735
00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:27,455
our youth are the future of our city.

736
00:47:27,455 --> 00:47:30,593
they deserve to feel supported, valued and safe, not

737
00:47:30,593 --> 00:47:33,862
surveillance and criminalized in our communities of color.

738
00:47:33,862 --> 00:47:38,800
we know when police are called or show up, situations often

739
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:43,672
escalate rather than resolved. This is why we say we keep us

740
00:47:43,672 --> 00:47:47,272
safe. The public safety, true public

741
00:47:47,709 --> 00:47:50,979
safety comes from strong communities, not overpolicing.

742
00:47:50,979 --> 00:47:54,750
at the same time, mpd continues to receive increased funding

743
00:47:54,750 --> 00:47:59,154
year after year crucial programs that actually support safety and

744
00:47:59,154 --> 00:48:02,457
stability are being cut. The access to justice program,

745
00:48:02,457 --> 00:48:05,493
which helps residents face facing eviction and unsafe

746
00:48:05,493 --> 00:48:07,795
housing conditions, is being gutted without.

747
00:48:07,795 --> 00:48:11,599
if families are at greater risk of displacement and exploitation

748
00:48:11,599 --> 00:48:14,168
by landlords, the office of attorney general, worker's

749
00:48:14,168 --> 00:48:16,571
rights outreach program is being defunded.

750
00:48:16,571 --> 00:48:20,376
the progra plays a crucial role in educating workers about their

751
00:48:20,376 --> 00:48:23,178
rights and connecting them to legal support when they

752
00:48:23,178 --> 00:48:26,470
experience wage theft or workplace abuse.

753
00:48:26,470 --> 00:48:30,418
without it, many workers will not file complaints, leading to

754
00:48:30,418 --> 00:48:33,555
deeper financial instability. Potential housing laws and

755
00:48:33,555 --> 00:48:36,891
increased reliance on already strained social services.

756
00:48:36,891 --> 00:48:41,129
there are programs that truly keep our community safe and

757
00:48:41,129 --> 00:48:43,531
stable, yet there are being that they are being cut.

758
00:48:43,531 --> 00:48:48,503
while mpd continues to operate with over a half $1 billion

759
00:48:48,503 --> 00:48:52,474
budget, we have the resources to invest in real safety.

760
00:48:52,474 --> 00:48:56,311
the question is, if we have the. We have the will to prioritize

761
00:48:56,311 --> 00:49:00,581
people over policing. I urge the council to consider

762
00:49:00,581 --> 00:49:04,652
these budget priorities, invest in youth programs, housing

763
00:49:04,652 --> 00:49:07,550
stability, worker protections, and community based solutions

764
00:49:07,550 --> 00:49:09,624
that address the root causes of harm.

765
00:49:09,624 --> 00:49:12,294
reduce over surveillance on policing and ensure

766
00:49:12,294 --> 00:49:15,294
accountability and transparency for mpd.

767
00:49:15,330 --> 00:49:18,400
the committee specifically has the opportunity to fund programs

768
00:49:18,400 --> 00:49:21,389
like access to justice and the workers rights program.

769
00:49:21,389 --> 00:49:24,859
that's by taking very little funding from mpd's budget.

770
00:49:24,859 --> 00:49:27,194
thank you for the opportunity to speak, and I look forward to

771
00:49:27,194 --> 00:49:30,194
answering any questions. Thank you.

772
00:49:30,899 --> 00:49:32,200
frankie. Brian.

773
00:49:32,200 --> 00:49:35,136
free dc and harriet's wildest dreams.

774
00:49:35,136 --> 00:49:37,939
my name is frankie. I'm a third generation

775
00:49:37,939 --> 00:49:42,243
washingtonian, a mother of two children who attend the d.c.

776
00:49:42,243 --> 00:49:45,746
today I'm here representing free dc and heritage dreams in a year

777
00:49:45,746 --> 00:49:49,684
of quote unquote, tough choices and supposedly unavoidable,

778
00:49:49,684 --> 00:49:53,555
unavoidable cuts, the mayor is requesting 89 million more of

779
00:49:53,555 --> 00:49:57,492
our tax dollars for mpd. If I do my job poorly, I don't

780
00:49:57,492 --> 00:49:59,961
get rewarded. It seems that whether police do

781
00:49:59,961 --> 00:50:03,865
a good job or a bad job, the response is always give them

782
00:50:03,865 --> 00:50:06,167
more money. Since the start of last year,

783
00:50:06,167 --> 00:50:12,440
all of us in dc have had a front row seat to the slow creep of up

784
00:50:12,440 --> 00:50:13,908
of authoritarianism in the capital.

785
00:50:13,908 --> 00:50:17,712
as this committee was focused on establishing surveillance zones

786
00:50:17,712 --> 00:50:22,417
for for dc's youth and paving, paving the way for trump with

787
00:50:22,417 --> 00:50:25,186
secure d.c., we've seen mpd following trump's lead.

788
00:50:25,186 --> 00:50:29,457
we've seen them helping the trump, the trump regime to choke

789
00:50:29,457 --> 00:50:32,660
off home rule and inch their project forward.

790
00:50:32,660 --> 00:50:36,531
we've seen our communities with this safe and safe and beautiful

791
00:50:36,531 --> 00:50:39,100
task force essentially be terrorized.

792
00:50:39,100 --> 00:50:42,637
and specifically, when we talk about the youth and these curfew

793
00:50:42,637 --> 00:50:48,900
zones, I myself sent my own 16 year old to the dpr event.

794
00:50:48,900 --> 00:50:51,479
they went inside, had a great time, but they were met with a

795
00:50:51,479 --> 00:50:54,682
line of police officers on either side when they were

796
00:50:54,682 --> 00:50:57,519
exiting. That is not safety, that is a

797
00:50:57,519 --> 00:51:01,456
bloated police budget. And to sit behind a desk and

798
00:51:01,456 --> 00:51:06,494
sign paperwork that essentially leads to murdering of people is

799
00:51:06,494 --> 00:51:10,832
is you are complicit. And so if budgets are moral

800
00:51:10,832 --> 00:51:14,169
documents, you have to put your values where you say they are.

801
00:51:14,169 --> 00:51:19,574
if you say you want to represent dc and protect dc, do that with

802
00:51:19,574 --> 00:51:21,643
your actions and not just your words.

803
00:51:21,643 --> 00:51:26,648
we've seen mpd reinstate officers convicted of murder and

804
00:51:26,648 --> 00:51:28,850
and conspiracy in a slew of other things.

805
00:51:28,850 --> 00:51:31,319
it's not fear mongering. This is not hysteria.

806
00:51:31,319 --> 00:51:35,590
this is not vague. We we we've lived this dc is

807
00:51:35,590 --> 00:51:37,392
still occupied. Meanwhile, the budget seeks to

808
00:51:37,392 --> 00:51:42,192
take away other things. 127 million from from from

809
00:51:42,197 --> 00:51:46,201
future pay increases for government workers, 95 million

810
00:51:46,201 --> 00:51:50,805
from from universal paid leave. 60 million from child pay

811
00:51:50,805 --> 00:51:54,242
equity, 33 million from services and public safety programs.

812
00:51:54,242 --> 00:51:55,945
4.5 million from youth engagement.

813
00:51:55,945 --> 00:51:59,147
4 million from family and survivor support.

814
00:51:59,147 --> 00:52:02,351
all of the things that we actually need to be safe to be

815
00:52:02,351 --> 00:52:04,953
whole. Our social safety networks have

816
00:52:04,953 --> 00:52:08,560
been cut, and yet more money continues to go to things that

817
00:52:08,560 --> 00:52:12,827
we know do not work. And let's not forget that this

818
00:52:12,827 --> 00:52:17,832
is happening, as 46% of dc's wealth is held by less than half

819
00:52:17,832 --> 00:52:21,936
a percent of tax units. Truth is, dc can address this

820
00:52:21,936 --> 00:52:24,936
budget deficit with progressive taxes.

821
00:52:25,540 --> 00:52:30,940
322 million from a business business activity tax up to 174

822
00:52:31,212 --> 00:52:36,284
million from raising capital gains tax, 121 million from a

823
00:52:36,284 --> 00:52:38,753
wealth proceeds tax. And that's just a start.

824
00:52:38,753 --> 00:52:42,925
there is so much wealth in this city that is not paying its fair

825
00:52:42,925 --> 00:52:45,560
share. But rather than address that

826
00:52:45,560 --> 00:52:49,531
gap, the mayor and y'all would rather cut services and give

827
00:52:49,531 --> 00:52:54,680
more money to an agency that continues to violate residents

828
00:52:54,680 --> 00:52:59,107
rights, undercut dc's autonomy and side against democracy at

829
00:52:59,107 --> 00:53:03,907
every turn. Live up to your values, brooke.

830
00:53:04,579 --> 00:53:09,684
thank you. Thank you all very much for your

831
00:53:09,684 --> 00:53:11,684
testimony. James stroud.

832
00:53:12,854 --> 00:53:15,854
tanya gulash bosa. Mr. Ringler.

833
00:53:19,961 --> 00:53:24,161
feni gandhi. And then keisha foster, we're

834
00:53:29,638 --> 00:53:35,380
going to add a fifth chair to this panel.

835
00:53:37,578 --> 00:53:40,182
or you know what. We'll do it after just it'll

836
00:53:40,182 --> 00:53:43,918
just be you on that panel. But it'll be okay.

837
00:53:43,918 --> 00:53:45,453
rather. Okay.

838
00:53:45,453 --> 00:53:47,853
good idea. All right.

839
00:53:48,656 --> 00:53:52,527
james stroud, public witness. I'm james stroud, and I'm here

840
00:53:52,527 --> 00:53:55,397
to testify against the mayor's ridiculous budget.

841
00:53:55,397 --> 00:53:58,466
when the overall budget has shrunk by 4% and the federal

842
00:53:58,466 --> 00:54:01,368
government is aggressively cutting jobs, slashing social

843
00:54:01,368 --> 00:54:04,205
safety nets and creating record breaking government shutdowns,

844
00:54:04,205 --> 00:54:07,775
it makes zero sense for us to be increasing mpd's budget by 15%.

845
00:54:07,775 --> 00:54:11,312
while so many live in precarity, I think it's critical for for us

846
00:54:11,312 --> 00:54:14,182
to invest in our social safety net, to stop people from falling

847
00:54:14,182 --> 00:54:16,317
into homelessness, which is incredibly difficult to escape

848
00:54:16,317 --> 00:54:19,870
from and puts a strain on our city's resources.

849
00:54:19,870 --> 00:54:21,889
investing more in things like the emergency rental assistance

850
00:54:21,889 --> 00:54:24,625
program is not just the humane thing to do, but also the

851
00:54:24,625 --> 00:54:27,625
financially responsible thing to do.

852
00:54:27,895 --> 00:54:32,950
between 2016 and 2024, mpd spent $41 million on surveillance

853
00:54:32,934 --> 00:54:35,403
technology, 6.6 million of that went to sound thinking

854
00:54:35,403 --> 00:54:37,472
incorporated, formerly shotspotter incorporated, who

855
00:54:37,472 --> 00:54:40,374
provide technology they claim detects whether a gunshot was

856
00:54:40,374 --> 00:54:43,745
fired in an area in order to dispatch law enforcement.

857
00:54:43,745 --> 00:54:48,950
a study of over 4000 shotspotter dispatches in chicago showed 86%

858
00:54:48,950 --> 00:54:51,586
of dispatches resulted in no crimes of any kind.

859
00:54:51,586 --> 00:54:54,555
other studies have shown that shotspotter has no impact on

860
00:54:54,555 --> 00:54:57,358
reducing crime. Not only is shotspotter a waste

861
00:54:57,358 --> 00:55:00,862
of $500,000 a year, but the false alarms are a waste of

862
00:55:00,862 --> 00:55:03,599
police resources. If we cancel shotspotter, we

863
00:55:03,599 --> 00:55:06,735
wouldn't be the first to do it. Chicago, charlotte and san

864
00:55:06,735 --> 00:55:08,936
antonio are just a few of the cities to have canceled

865
00:55:08,936 --> 00:55:12,540
shotspotter, while atlanta, portland and seattle outright

866
00:55:12,540 --> 00:55:14,308
rejected shotspotter as junk science.

867
00:55:14,308 --> 00:55:16,411
and this is not just about shotspotter.

868
00:55:16,411 --> 00:55:19,714
the council needs to be more critical of all of mpd's

869
00:55:19,714 --> 00:55:23,160
invasive surveillance technology like cellebrite and automatic

870
00:55:23,160 --> 00:55:27,816
license plate readers. Last year, mpd paid out $134

871
00:55:28,690 --> 00:55:30,776
million overtime. In the last 12 months of

872
00:55:30,776 --> 00:55:34,376
available data, mpd stopped over 77,000 people.

873
00:55:35,414 --> 00:55:38,414
meanwhile, nypd made just 25,000 stops.

874
00:55:38,551 --> 00:55:42,550
new york city has 12 times our population, but their police

875
00:55:42,550 --> 00:55:45,525
made three times fewer stops. This practice is not only

876
00:55:45,525 --> 00:55:48,327
wasteful, but there's years of data and aclu reports showing

877
00:55:48,327 --> 00:55:52,310
that these stops are incredibly discriminatory to black people.

878
00:55:52,310 --> 00:55:57,336
nypd went from making over 500,000 annual stops to just

879
00:55:57,336 --> 00:56:00,405
11,000 in the span of two years. After their use of stop and

880
00:56:00,405 --> 00:56:02,341
frisk was deemed unconstitutional.

881
00:56:02,341 --> 00:56:05,678
in that time span, the murder rate and other types of crimes

882
00:56:05,678 --> 00:56:08,681
only decreased, showing that this racist, wasteful practice

883
00:56:08,681 --> 00:56:11,450
doesn't keep us safe. Scaling down these incredibly

884
00:56:11,450 --> 00:56:15,421
excessive stops would reduce the workload of mpd officers and the

885
00:56:15,421 --> 00:56:18,423
bloated overtime spending. One other ridiculous part of the

886
00:56:18,423 --> 00:56:22,161
budget is adding an extra person to an already bloated mpd

887
00:56:22,161 --> 00:56:23,929
communications team. The budget calls for increasing

888
00:56:23,929 --> 00:56:27,330
the size of the comms team from 23 to 24.

889
00:56:27,330 --> 00:56:30,970
for reference, nypd has ten times more officers in dc, and

890
00:56:30,970 --> 00:56:33,806
their comms team is less than four times bigger.

891
00:56:33,806 --> 00:56:36,509
chicago pd has four times more officers, and their comms team

892
00:56:36,509 --> 00:56:38,511
is just two times larger than ours.

893
00:56:38,511 --> 00:56:41,447
why are we hiring a pr person for the police in such a

894
00:56:41,447 --> 00:56:44,182
constrained budget? How are pr people keeping us

895
00:56:44,182 --> 00:56:46,152
safe at all? If anything, we should be

896
00:56:46,152 --> 00:56:48,587
cutting from here. Invest in programs that support

897
00:56:48,587 --> 00:56:51,390
people through these rough times instead of institutions that

898
00:56:51,390 --> 00:56:54,527
lock people up and put them in vicious cycles of poverty and

899
00:56:54,527 --> 00:56:58,127
homelessness. Thank you, thank you, tanya

900
00:57:00,700 --> 00:57:03,336
gulash, public witness. Good morning, chair pinto.

901
00:57:03,336 --> 00:57:07,730
my name is doctor tanya golesh. I was born and raised in ward 4.

902
00:57:07,730 --> 00:57:10,142
I'm a professor of sociology and the executive director of the

903
00:57:10,142 --> 00:57:12,778
university of california, washington center.

904
00:57:12,778 --> 00:57:17,416
I'm here to urge you not to increase the budget of the

905
00:57:17,416 --> 00:57:21,221
metropolitan police department. We do not need additional police

906
00:57:21,221 --> 00:57:24,123
officers. We do not need to pay police

907
00:57:24,123 --> 00:57:26,959
officers overtime to pay to patrol the streets.

908
00:57:26,959 --> 00:57:31,230
I say this based on what I see every day in wards one and four,

909
00:57:31,230 --> 00:57:35,401
where I spend time walking on kennedy street, 14th street and

910
00:57:35,401 --> 00:57:38,637
georgia avenue. What I see as nuisance policing,

911
00:57:38,637 --> 00:57:42,108
quality of life, policing, police officers and federal

912
00:57:42,108 --> 00:57:45,711
agents harassing black and latino residents over expired

913
00:57:45,711 --> 00:57:50,248
tags, temporary plates, tinted windows, open containers and

914
00:57:50,248 --> 00:57:52,250
marijuana. Not long ago, I saw a young

915
00:57:52,250 --> 00:57:55,588
black man get pulled over. He had just bought an infiniti

916
00:57:55,588 --> 00:57:58,791
from the dealership. He had recently secured a job,

917
00:57:58,791 --> 00:58:01,260
saved his money, and bought himself a car.

918
00:58:01,260 --> 00:58:05,330
he was on his way to pick up his daughter, thinking about how

919
00:58:05,330 --> 00:58:08,668
excited she would be to see the new car.

920
00:58:08,668 --> 00:58:11,837
then mpd pulled him over alongside a caravan of six

921
00:58:11,837 --> 00:58:16,375
federal agents, turning a traffic stop into an

922
00:58:16,375 --> 00:58:17,943
intimidating, multi-agency scene.

923
00:58:17,943 --> 00:58:21,447
it turned out the dealership had not properly registered the

924
00:58:21,447 --> 00:58:24,650
temporary plates that may have been the dealership's fault, but

925
00:58:24,650 --> 00:58:27,554
this young man paid the price. His car was taken.

926
00:58:27,554 --> 00:58:29,754
he had to go to the police station.

927
00:58:29,754 --> 00:58:33,960
he had to navigate the costs. Paperwork, lost time and stress

928
00:58:33,960 --> 00:58:37,430
of getting his car back, and he had to figure out who was going

929
00:58:37,430 --> 00:58:40,866
to pick up his daughter. That is not public safety.

930
00:58:40,866 --> 00:58:45,371
that is punishment. I have seen multiple car

931
00:58:45,371 --> 00:58:49,441
impoundments in my neighborhood. These are not responses to

932
00:58:49,441 --> 00:58:53,410
violence. They are armed operations over

933
00:58:53,479 --> 00:58:56,949
registration issues. They create fear, trauma and

934
00:58:56,949 --> 00:58:58,918
financial strain. They can mean losing the ability

935
00:58:58,918 --> 00:59:02,921
to get to work, take children to school, care for elders, and pay

936
00:59:02,921 --> 00:59:05,324
rent. The people who have been

937
00:59:05,324 --> 00:59:08,761
targeted that I've witnessed on the street are exclusively black

938
00:59:08,761 --> 00:59:11,296
and latino. This is racial profiling.

939
00:59:11,296 --> 00:59:13,766
it's also bad public safety policy.

940
00:59:13,766 --> 00:59:18,170
the research does not support the claim that increasing police

941
00:59:18,170 --> 00:59:23,776
budgets makes cities safer. A recent study of 61 large u.s.

942
00:59:23,776 --> 00:59:27,613
cities found no significant association between police

943
00:59:27,613 --> 00:59:30,215
spendings and community firearm violence.

944
00:59:30,215 --> 00:59:34,920
the research also shows that aggressive order maintenance,

945
00:59:34,920 --> 00:59:39,692
policing, the kind focused on low level disorder and minor

946
00:59:39,692 --> 00:59:41,560
violations, does not reduce crime.

947
00:59:41,560 --> 00:59:44,229
we have to be honest about what we are funding.

948
00:59:44,229 --> 00:59:49,268
more money for mpd means more stops, more armed encounters,

949
00:59:49,268 --> 00:59:53,205
more opportunities for fatal encounters, and more chances for

950
00:59:53,205 --> 00:59:56,410
d.c. Residents to be pulled into the criminal legal system

951
00:59:56,410 --> 00:59:59,244
because of poverty, race or immigration status.

952
00:59:59,244 --> 01:00:03,916
this does not make us safe. Public safety is produced by

953
01:00:03,916 --> 01:00:08,716
housing, good jobs, strong schools, mental health care,

954
01:00:09,288 --> 01:00:11,423
violence interruption, youth programs and stable families.

955
01:00:11,423 --> 01:00:16,962
I urge the council to not increase the budget to end mpd

956
01:00:16,962 --> 01:00:21,332
participation and joint patrols to require mpd to release stop

957
01:00:21,332 --> 01:00:22,668
data. I know they you just passed the

958
01:00:22,668 --> 01:00:25,871
act, but they haven't released the data and also invest in

959
01:00:25,871 --> 01:00:28,340
violence prevention, housing, youth unemployment, youth

960
01:00:28,340 --> 01:00:31,100
employment, mental health care, and community based safety.

961
01:00:31,100 --> 01:00:34,610
thank you very much. Thank you.

962
01:00:35,147 --> 01:00:37,147
mr. Ringler. Hello.

963
01:00:37,916 --> 01:00:41,516
good evening, mr. Pinto. Good morning.

964
01:00:43,989 --> 01:00:48,160
this mpd budget reflects money that we desperately, desperately

965
01:00:48,160 --> 01:00:50,629
need elsewhere. I'm just going to run through a

966
01:00:50,629 --> 01:00:54,966
quick list, echoing many of my colleagues sound thinking

967
01:00:54,966 --> 01:00:56,568
$500,000. Also formerly known as

968
01:00:56,568 --> 01:00:59,505
shotspotter, we've already spent $6.6 million on this.

969
01:00:59,505 --> 01:01:02,410
houston council last year decided to cancel the contract.

970
01:01:02,410 --> 01:01:04,420
let's cancel it. Let's take that money back and

971
01:01:04,420 --> 01:01:07,379
spend it elsewhere. As folks have said, it doesn't

972
01:01:07,379 --> 01:01:09,548
make us safer and it wastes mpd time.

973
01:01:09,548 --> 01:01:11,717
we're concerned about overtime. Great.

974
01:01:11,717 --> 01:01:13,918
let's reduce what they're doing. Flock cameras.

975
01:01:13,918 --> 01:01:17,560
we have a 1 to $5 million contract pending.

976
01:01:17,560 --> 01:01:19,124
let's cut it. It's invasive.

977
01:01:19,124 --> 01:01:21,593
it doesn't help us. Cellebrite and pathfinder.

978
01:01:21,593 --> 01:01:24,196
more digital surveillance. It's also an israeli company.

979
01:01:24,196 --> 01:01:26,598
these tools make everyone's data vulnerable.

980
01:01:26,598 --> 01:01:28,734
given mpd's relationship with federal agents, you weren't able

981
01:01:28,734 --> 01:01:30,836
to get any straight answers from their oversight hearing.

982
01:01:30,836 --> 01:01:34,673
the best way to make sure that this data doesn't get in the

983
01:01:34,673 --> 01:01:38,256
hands of the federal government is to not collect it whatsoever.

984
01:01:38,256 --> 01:01:41,250
in addition, israel is committing genocide, and we

985
01:01:41,250 --> 01:01:44,996
should not be having contracts with israeli companies.

986
01:01:44,996 --> 01:01:48,499
the communications department, the mayor's budget wildly calls

987
01:01:48,499 --> 01:01:51,770
for a 25th mpd communication staff member.

988
01:01:51,770 --> 01:01:54,739
in the time that we're cutting budgets for food, housing and

989
01:01:54,739 --> 01:01:57,509
healthcare, I'm going to say we certainly need food, housing and

990
01:01:57,509 --> 01:01:59,678
health care before they get number 25.

991
01:01:59,678 --> 01:02:01,579
in fact, let's cut eight positions.

992
01:02:01,579 --> 01:02:05,950
go back to the 2024 rates where mpd had 16 staff members.

993
01:02:05,950 --> 01:02:11,220
and finally, overtime, fewer mpd officers equal mpd doing less.

994
01:02:11,220 --> 01:02:14,626
it does not mean fewer mpd officers, does not mean mpd gets

995
01:02:14,626 --> 01:02:17,462
to run up 20, 30, 40 million in overtime.

996
01:02:17,462 --> 01:02:19,665
we need to be serious. When there's fewer teachers.

997
01:02:19,665 --> 01:02:21,133
those teachers don't get unlimited checks.

998
01:02:21,133 --> 01:02:23,601
when there's fewer firefighters, those firefighters don't get

999
01:02:23,601 --> 01:02:26,471
unlimited checks. Mpd needs to really hear from

1000
01:02:26,471 --> 01:02:27,939
council. They don't have an infinite tap

1001
01:02:27,939 --> 01:02:29,774
on money. In fact, they have to stop.

1002
01:02:29,774 --> 01:02:32,276
and what's obscene is that we are you guys are saying they

1003
01:02:32,276 --> 01:02:35,130
have infinite tap because they've they have 40 million.

1004
01:02:35,130 --> 01:02:37,820
now you're saying they get 80 next year.

1005
01:02:37,820 --> 01:02:39,552
it's wild that they get to spend overtime up and then turn around

1006
01:02:39,552 --> 01:02:42,354
and ask for more officers. What needs to happen to make

1007
01:02:42,354 --> 01:02:46,240
that balanced is they do less. For example, stop and frisk, as

1008
01:02:46,240 --> 01:02:48,227
my colleague just said, stop stopping people.

1009
01:02:48,227 --> 01:02:50,895
great. You've just saved hundreds and

1010
01:02:50,895 --> 01:02:53,832
hundreds of hours of mpd time. Pull mpd out of schools.

1011
01:02:53,832 --> 01:02:56,634
we had legislation about that. Great.

1012
01:02:56,634 --> 01:02:58,503
stop participating in federal task forces.

1013
01:02:58,503 --> 01:03:01,840
how much are we paying for mpd officers to collaborate with the

1014
01:03:01,840 --> 01:03:03,408
feds? You have the power.

1015
01:03:03,408 --> 01:03:06,578
council member pinto to say, no, you will not get a single dollar

1016
01:03:06,578 --> 01:03:08,647
to collaborate with the feds. And that's power that you have

1017
01:03:08,647 --> 01:03:11,984
in your hands. And now what do we do with all

1018
01:03:11,984 --> 01:03:13,517
that money? We just had a great list of all

1019
01:03:13,517 --> 01:03:16,121
the things we are going to cut. One, we're going to fund

1020
01:03:16,121 --> 01:03:18,189
emergency rental assistance program because guess what?

1021
01:03:18,189 --> 01:03:21,326
if people are housed, there's fewer crimes happening.

1022
01:03:21,326 --> 01:03:25,263
we're going to fund health care. So many of my friends lost

1023
01:03:25,263 --> 01:03:29,601
medicaid on january 1st because dc dropped their medicaid rates

1024
01:03:29,601 --> 01:03:32,337
from 200% above poverty level to about 180.

1025
01:03:32,337 --> 01:03:35,607
that's obscene. And there's a gap, council added

1026
01:03:35,607 --> 01:03:38,209
some programs, some funding, but there's a set of people in that

1027
01:03:38,209 --> 01:03:40,546
gap that no longer have health care people.

1028
01:03:40,546 --> 01:03:42,347
we need health care, mental illness.

1029
01:03:42,347 --> 01:03:47,147
we need non mpd crisis response, legal services.

1030
01:03:47,252 --> 01:03:49,921
it's obscene that we're giving mpd more money to violate

1031
01:03:49,921 --> 01:03:51,556
people's rights, and we're taking away the very lawyers

1032
01:03:51,556 --> 01:03:54,250
that help those people. When mpd violates those rights

1033
01:03:54,250 --> 01:03:57,528
programing for kids on curfews, you're saying that kids need

1034
01:03:57,528 --> 01:04:00,164
more resources, and yet we're cutting dps budget.

1035
01:04:00,164 --> 01:04:04,502
and finally foia requests. We're supposed to have access to

1036
01:04:04,502 --> 01:04:06,938
mpd disciplinary records. But that bill has never been

1037
01:04:06,938 --> 01:04:10,800
funded before. We get a comms person, I want

1038
01:04:10,800 --> 01:04:12,276
the legislation that we have saying that I should be able to

1039
01:04:12,276 --> 01:04:17,760
foia, mpd officers to be funded. Thank you.

1040
01:04:19,317 --> 01:04:22,720
thank you. Thank you all very much.

1041
01:04:22,720 --> 01:04:26,320
feni gandhi and jt foster. Hi.

1042
01:04:43,410 --> 01:04:45,576
all right. We will begin with feni gandhi,

1043
01:04:45,576 --> 01:04:48,576
public witness. Good morning all.

1044
01:04:50,281 --> 01:04:53,840
my name is feni gandhi. I'm a current second year law

1045
01:04:53,840 --> 01:04:56,487
student at the udc. David, a clark school of law.

1046
01:04:56,487 --> 01:05:00,910
thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding the mpd

1047
01:05:00,910 --> 01:05:02,627
proposed budget and its relationship to the juvenile

1048
01:05:02,627 --> 01:05:04,696
curfew policy. There are many moments when

1049
01:05:04,696 --> 01:05:07,265
policy sounds convincing convincing in theory, but falls

1050
01:05:07,265 --> 01:05:09,901
apart in practice. The district's juvenile curfew

1051
01:05:09,901 --> 01:05:12,570
is one of those moments in the committee markup.

1052
01:05:12,570 --> 01:05:14,571
you. Council member pinto emphasized

1053
01:05:14,571 --> 01:05:18,176
that no one has been arrested for violating curfew, but that

1054
01:05:18,176 --> 01:05:20,978
framing misses reality. Even if young people are not

1055
01:05:20,978 --> 01:05:24,282
formally charged with curfew violations, they're still being

1056
01:05:24,282 --> 01:05:26,617
stopped, questioned and arrested for related conduct.

1057
01:05:26,617 --> 01:05:29,487
these are unnecessary interactions with law

1058
01:05:29,487 --> 01:05:31,522
enforcement that would not occur otherwise.

1059
01:05:31,522 --> 01:05:34,492
the harm is happening regardless of how it's labeled.

1060
01:05:34,492 --> 01:05:37,362
the logic behind the curfew is deceptively simple.

1061
01:05:37,362 --> 01:05:40,265
fewer young people outside at night means fewer crimes

1062
01:05:40,265 --> 01:05:45,650
involving young people. As one critique explains, the

1063
01:05:45,336 --> 01:05:47,500
assumption. The assumption is that there

1064
01:05:47,500 --> 01:05:49,940
won't be crimes involving juveniles if there are no

1065
01:05:49,940 --> 01:05:52,810
juveniles. But this reasoning ignores the

1066
01:05:52,810 --> 01:05:56,714
root cause of youth crime, poverty, lack of opportunity and

1067
01:05:56,714 --> 01:05:59,750
a limited access to safe, supportive environments.

1068
01:05:59,750 --> 01:06:02,687
a curfew does not solve these problems, it merely pushes them

1069
01:06:02,687 --> 01:06:05,556
out of sight. More importantly, the curfew

1070
01:06:05,556 --> 01:06:08,459
represents a poor use of public resources.

1071
01:06:08,459 --> 01:06:12,659
mpd's proposed budget increase increases by approximately $89

1072
01:06:12,796 --> 01:06:14,766
million, with much of that increase being driven by

1073
01:06:14,766 --> 01:06:19,270
personnel costs and a dramatic rise in overtime spending.

1074
01:06:19,270 --> 01:06:22,440
enforcing curfew zones requires significant police presence at

1075
01:06:22,440 --> 01:06:26,444
night, and the district is relying on overtime to sustain

1076
01:06:26,444 --> 01:06:30,480
that presence. This is a reactive approach, not

1077
01:06:30,480 --> 01:06:33,151
a preventative one. Rather than continuing to invest

1078
01:06:33,151 --> 01:06:36,721
in strategy that has not produced meaningful results, the

1079
01:06:36,721 --> 01:06:40,192
district should reconsider how these funds are allocated,

1080
01:06:40,192 --> 01:06:42,727
redirecting even a portion of these resources towards

1081
01:06:42,727 --> 01:06:45,620
prevention would far greater benefits.

1082
01:06:45,620 --> 01:06:48,660
what young people in the city consistently point to is a lack

1083
01:06:48,660 --> 01:06:51,336
of safe, accessible, safe spaces to gather.

1084
01:06:51,336 --> 01:06:54,710
the problem is not simply that youth are outside, it's that

1085
01:06:54,710 --> 01:06:58,476
they have nowhere else to go. D.c. D.c. Should invest in third

1086
01:06:58,476 --> 01:07:01,212
spaces, community centered environments outside of homes

1087
01:07:01,212 --> 01:07:05,450
and schools where young people can build relationships, access,

1088
01:07:05,450 --> 01:07:07,485
access, support and spend time safely.

1089
01:07:07,485 --> 01:07:11,289
the department of parks and recs rec have already demonstrated

1090
01:07:11,289 --> 01:07:13,624
the value of this approach through structured youth

1091
01:07:13,624 --> 01:07:16,894
programing during school breaks. Expanding these efforts,

1092
01:07:16,894 --> 01:07:19,664
particularly during evening hours, would address the

1093
01:07:19,664 --> 01:07:22,834
underlying conditions that gave rise to the gatherings and

1094
01:07:22,834 --> 01:07:24,669
curfew gatherings. The curfew seeks to control.

1095
01:07:24,669 --> 01:07:28,600
if the district is serious about reducing harm and improving

1096
01:07:28,600 --> 01:07:31,909
public safety, it must move beyond policies that prioritize

1097
01:07:31,909 --> 01:07:34,912
enforcement over investment. The question is not to how to

1098
01:07:34,912 --> 01:07:38,820
how to keep young people off the streets, but how to create a

1099
01:07:38,820 --> 01:07:39,717
city where they have somewhere better to be.

1100
01:07:39,717 --> 01:07:43,287
thank you for your time and consideration.

1101
01:07:43,287 --> 01:07:46,887
thank you, keisha foster, public witness.

1102
01:07:49,338 --> 01:07:52,140
good morning, chairperson pinto and members of the committee.

1103
01:07:52,140 --> 01:07:55,911
my name is jt foster and I am in my second year of law school at

1104
01:07:55,911 --> 01:07:57,679
the university of the district of columbia.

1105
01:07:57,679 --> 01:08:01,549
david, a clark school of law. And I'm here today to ask this

1106
01:08:01,549 --> 01:08:05,953
committee a crucial question. Why are we protecting economic

1107
01:08:05,953 --> 01:08:08,357
convenience by criminalizing our youth?

1108
01:08:08,357 --> 01:08:11,293
because that is exactly what the current juvenile curfew is

1109
01:08:11,293 --> 01:08:13,695
doing. When we implement curfew zones

1110
01:08:13,695 --> 01:08:18,567
in navy yard, noma and u street corridor, the proposed increase

1111
01:08:18,567 --> 01:08:22,437
in patrol funding is directly relevant to the juvenile curfew

1112
01:08:22,437 --> 01:08:26,775
enforcement, because patrol services are often the primary

1113
01:08:26,775 --> 01:08:31,575
mechanism to enforce a curfew, policies, increased patrol

1114
01:08:31,579 --> 01:08:34,583
capacity means the district is responding to young people

1115
01:08:34,583 --> 01:08:36,651
through enforcement rather than engagement.

1116
01:08:36,651 --> 01:08:41,990
and this is why I urge the committee to reconsider the

1117
01:08:41,990 --> 01:08:45,600
proposed $21.5 million increase for patrol services and instead

1118
01:08:45,600 --> 01:08:48,530
direct those funds toward prevention by investing them in

1119
01:08:48,530 --> 01:08:51,967
the youth and family engagement division, more commonly known as

1120
01:08:51,967 --> 01:08:55,700
the yfd. If the council were to

1121
01:08:55,700 --> 01:08:58,140
reallocate the proposed increase to the yfd, the district would

1122
01:08:58,140 --> 01:09:01,476
be able to accomplish the outcomes we say we want, which

1123
01:09:01,476 --> 01:09:07,215
is to reduce of violence the promote of community safety.

1124
01:09:07,215 --> 01:09:10,850
this allocation to the yfd would strengthen relationships between

1125
01:09:10,850 --> 01:09:14,356
young people and public safety systems, rather than expanding

1126
01:09:14,356 --> 01:09:17,592
patrol capacity, the district should strengthen the

1127
01:09:17,592 --> 01:09:22,392
infrastructure that prevents harm before it even occurs.

1128
01:09:22,698 --> 01:09:26,234
a $21.5 million investment in yfd could expand youth

1129
01:09:26,234 --> 01:09:31,539
programing and increase violence prevention, support and create a

1130
01:09:31,539 --> 01:09:34,750
safe space and meaningful engagement opportunities for

1131
01:09:34,750 --> 01:09:39,381
youth across the district. A public safety should not be

1132
01:09:39,381 --> 01:09:43,184
solely defined by enforcement capacity, but should also

1133
01:09:43,184 --> 01:09:47,656
include sustained investments in systems that make communities

1134
01:09:47,656 --> 01:09:51,426
safer. So dc and this committee has a

1135
01:09:51,426 --> 01:09:52,994
choice. Continue funding responses

1136
01:09:52,994 --> 01:09:56,730
centered on overpolicing and criminalization of youth, or

1137
01:09:56,730 --> 01:10:00,680
make deeper investments in prevention and youth development

1138
01:10:00,680 --> 01:10:04,172
to ensure community safety. And I respectfully ask this

1139
01:10:04,172 --> 01:10:09,770
committee to choose the former by redirecting the proposed

1140
01:10:09,770 --> 01:10:12,714
$21.5 million increase in patrols to and redirect them to

1141
01:10:12,714 --> 01:10:16,151
the youth and family engagement division and demonstrate through

1142
01:10:16,151 --> 01:10:20,655
this budget that prevention is a core public safety strategy.

1143
01:10:20,655 --> 01:10:23,550
thank you. Thank you.

1144
01:10:23,858 --> 01:10:26,627
thank you both. Thank you to all of our public

1145
01:10:26,627 --> 01:10:28,564
witnesses who have joined us in person today.

1146
01:10:28,564 --> 01:10:32,701
I appreciate you all being here. We are going to turn to our

1147
01:10:32,701 --> 01:10:35,837
public witnesses who are joining us virtually.

1148
01:10:35,837 --> 01:10:41,276
as a reminder, please accept your invitation to join as a

1149
01:10:41,276 --> 01:10:45,476
panelist, jonah goodman. Dave statter, paula edwards,

1150
01:10:45,947 --> 01:10:50,747
commissioner paul edwards, ty hobson, powell ojeifo anyanwu,

1151
01:10:51,886 --> 01:10:56,686
caroline pryor, scott goldstein, devon montgomery, john payne,

1152
01:10:59,594 --> 01:11:01,594
l'oreal. Hawk.

1153
01:11:15,777 --> 01:11:19,977
jonah goodman, are you here? Great, yes.

1154
01:11:20,681 --> 01:11:22,681
go ahead. Yeah.

1155
01:11:23,318 --> 01:11:25,955
thank you. I have three requests.

1156
01:11:25,955 --> 01:11:28,590
this is for office of unified communications.

1157
01:11:28,590 --> 01:11:32,960
today in 2025, you see hearings. Chairperson pinto, you mentioned

1158
01:11:32,960 --> 01:11:36,331
that usc does not have resources to investigate every unc

1159
01:11:36,331 --> 01:11:39,330
dispatch mistake they made while the mayor and director talk

1160
01:11:39,330 --> 01:11:41,837
about how ouc now answers more calls in the first 15 seconds,

1161
01:11:41,837 --> 01:11:44,372
they don't mention that ouc continues to make significant

1162
01:11:44,372 --> 01:11:47,410
dispatch errors and worse, that they're hiding this claim,

1163
01:11:47,410 --> 01:11:49,144
saying they don't have the resources to investigate.

1164
01:11:49,144 --> 01:11:51,646
and worse, we know that individuals are seriously

1165
01:11:51,646 --> 01:11:54,816
injured, potentially dying as life saving help is sent to

1166
01:11:54,816 --> 01:11:57,385
non-existent addresses or wrong quadrants.

1167
01:11:57,385 --> 01:12:00,540
the problem is so pervasive. I've been emailing this

1168
01:12:00,540 --> 01:12:02,590
committee and director mcgaffin with numerous mistakes every

1169
01:12:02,590 --> 01:12:05,930
week. I've sent you all recordings of

1170
01:12:05,930 --> 01:12:08,663
ouc dispatch traffic showing the mistake, reports sent to ouc of

1171
01:12:08,663 --> 01:12:12,200
the mistake, and ouc responding, saying they've received the

1172
01:12:12,200 --> 01:12:14,200
report yet. Ouc investigates none of these

1173
01:12:14,200 --> 01:12:16,137
and this committee has done nothing about it.

1174
01:12:16,137 --> 01:12:19,374
every 13th since committee recording of error with eight

1175
01:12:19,374 --> 01:12:22,911
minutes last time, february 20th, I sent the confirmation

1176
01:12:22,911 --> 01:12:25,580
dispatch area of cardiac arrest that sent the wrong address.

1177
01:12:25,580 --> 01:12:28,850
february 27th I sent this committee recording of dispatch

1178
01:12:28,850 --> 01:12:31,619
error where they mishandled dispatch and lost 26 minutes.

1179
01:12:31,619 --> 01:12:34,689
every week. There's one of these going on

1180
01:12:34,689 --> 01:12:38,590
trevor's and pinto in your 2025 ouc oversight hearing.

1181
01:12:38,590 --> 01:12:41,363
you admitted that, quote, it's a matter of time and resources to

1182
01:12:41,363 --> 01:12:43,632
investigate these issues. And if they don't have the

1183
01:12:43,632 --> 01:12:46,601
caller's phone number, even when you have a recording of the

1184
01:12:46,601 --> 01:12:48,737
radio traffic, you see make a mistake.

1185
01:12:48,737 --> 01:12:53,341
the report with the time, the date, the location, and ouc has

1186
01:12:53,341 --> 01:12:55,810
confirmed that they have these reports.

1187
01:12:55,810 --> 01:12:59,580
this doesn't get investigated. So asking for budget to give ouc

1188
01:12:59,580 --> 01:13:01,182
ability to actually investigate all this.

1189
01:13:01,182 --> 01:13:04,190
we know how pervasive this this issue is.

1190
01:13:04,190 --> 01:13:06,988
it shouldn't take a citizen like me documenting these issues and

1191
01:13:06,988 --> 01:13:11,292
send them over to the committee to review this.

1192
01:13:11,292 --> 01:13:14,229
director gaffen in january 2026, oversee oversight hearings,

1193
01:13:14,229 --> 01:13:18,867
said, quote, everything we receive is reflected on that

1194
01:13:18,867 --> 01:13:22,570
dashboard, but we know that's absolutely not true, given that

1195
01:13:22,570 --> 01:13:25,373
director, council member pinto and director gaffen, you have

1196
01:13:25,373 --> 01:13:28,810
emails with this documentation of these errors of the radio

1197
01:13:28,810 --> 01:13:31,680
traffic, and nothing gets put in.

1198
01:13:31,680 --> 01:13:34,849
these written response to this committee on april 14th are

1199
01:13:34,849 --> 01:13:37,886
somewhat of a joke. When you ask about mistakes,

1200
01:13:37,886 --> 01:13:41,560
they keep saying, after you hear from a concerned resident, oh,

1201
01:13:41,560 --> 01:13:43,292
uc recommends the committee refer them back to the website

1202
01:13:43,292 --> 01:13:45,360
to ensure details and allegations provided for the

1203
01:13:45,360 --> 01:13:48,280
review. But the director actually has

1204
01:13:48,280 --> 01:13:50,499
all of these in her inbox and is doing nothing about it.

1205
01:13:50,499 --> 01:13:54,370
so our recommendation here get ouc resources or find resources

1206
01:13:54,370 --> 01:13:57,638
outside of usc to independently review continuation of mistakes

1207
01:13:57,638 --> 01:14:00,384
and what's happening so we can learn from them.

1208
01:14:00,384 --> 01:14:04,320
second, request funding for usc to comply with laws around foia

1209
01:14:04,320 --> 01:14:06,656
requests. We know council member pinto,

1210
01:14:06,656 --> 01:14:08,859
I've sent you multiple emails on this.

1211
01:14:08,859 --> 01:14:12,129
uc denies foia requests. The mayor's office legal counsel

1212
01:14:12,129 --> 01:14:15,332
comes back. Ouc refuses to talk with them.

1213
01:14:15,332 --> 01:14:17,834
olc sides with the people assuming foia requests.

1214
01:14:17,834 --> 01:14:21,772
ouc then denies it and says they won't report it.

1215
01:14:21,772 --> 01:14:26,900
I asked for a foia director mcgaffin for records of her

1216
01:14:26,900 --> 01:14:28,679
receiving a confirmation of an error and oucs response, saying

1217
01:14:28,679 --> 01:14:31,314
they had it. We have that documentation.

1218
01:14:31,314 --> 01:14:32,216
councilman pinto, I sent it to you.

1219
01:14:32,216 --> 01:14:34,785
you have it, I have it. And director mcgaffin said they

1220
01:14:34,785 --> 01:14:36,754
cannot find it and they're not going to comply with foi

1221
01:14:36,754 --> 01:14:39,356
requests. So looking for independent

1222
01:14:39,356 --> 01:14:43,260
resources so that we can comply with foia requests.

1223
01:14:43,260 --> 01:14:46,300
and lastly, and again, late on time, just this is adjacent to

1224
01:14:46,300 --> 01:14:47,964
it. But I know officer chief

1225
01:14:47,964 --> 01:14:50,767
technology council, if we can ask them for funds, one of

1226
01:14:50,767 --> 01:14:52,869
things I'm running with this committee a lot is council

1227
01:14:52,869 --> 01:14:54,710
members having a lot of technical issues.

1228
01:14:54,710 --> 01:14:56,573
every time I ask why is there a mistake not being investigated,

1229
01:14:56,573 --> 01:14:59,376
I get answers that, oh, the emails lost, they can't find it.

1230
01:14:59,376 --> 01:15:01,110
council members can't understand a response.

1231
01:15:01,110 --> 01:15:03,714
I know this is never on the council members, so let's get

1232
01:15:03,714 --> 01:15:05,115
octa to come in and help you understand.

1233
01:15:05,115 --> 01:15:07,117
and the committee members, what's happening to your emails

1234
01:15:07,117 --> 01:15:10,119
and why you can't respond to these issues of documented

1235
01:15:10,119 --> 01:15:12,622
mistakes. Thank you so much.

1236
01:15:12,622 --> 01:15:16,459
thank you. Dave statter, staten island one

1237
01:15:16,459 --> 01:15:18,459
communications. Good morning.

1238
01:15:19,429 --> 01:15:22,899
5:29 a.m. Last december, second engine 11.

1239
01:15:22,899 --> 01:15:25,201
the communications. Did you get anybody on the call

1240
01:15:25,201 --> 01:15:26,136
back? No.

1241
01:15:26,136 --> 01:15:28,136
answer. 530 engine 11 communications.

1242
01:15:30,640 --> 01:15:34,240
no answer. 22 seconds later, engine 11 to

1243
01:15:34,810 --> 01:15:36,810
communications. No answer.

1244
01:15:37,547 --> 01:15:39,547
532. Engine 11 communications.

1245
01:15:40,417 --> 01:15:42,817
no answer. 14 seconds later.

1246
01:15:42,952 --> 01:15:45,952
engine 11 to communications. No answer.

1247
01:15:46,856 --> 01:15:48,856
533. Medic 21 to communications.

1248
01:15:50,393 --> 01:15:52,793
no answer. 19 seconds later.

1249
01:15:53,997 --> 01:15:56,997
engine 11 communications. Still no answer.

1250
01:15:57,233 --> 01:16:00,870
seven times in four minutes. Dispatchers didn't answer the

1251
01:16:00,870 --> 01:16:03,673
radio during a cardiac arrest call.

1252
01:16:03,673 --> 01:16:07,110
despite that fact, on april 14th, in her third response to

1253
01:16:07,110 --> 01:16:11,815
you about this call, heather mcgaffin refused to admit that

1254
01:16:11,815 --> 01:16:14,317
her dispatchers didn't answer the radio.

1255
01:16:14,317 --> 01:16:17,320
now, on the positive side, a call taker did a great job

1256
01:16:17,320 --> 01:16:22,580
keeping the phone line open even after the caller home alone

1257
01:16:22,580 --> 01:16:25,161
stopped responding. But this crucial information

1258
01:16:25,161 --> 01:16:30,367
wasn't relayed to fire and ems until 19 minutes into the call.

1259
01:16:30,367 --> 01:16:32,869
so who does? Director mcgaffin blame?

1260
01:16:32,869 --> 01:16:34,869
not her. Dispatchers.

1261
01:16:34,904 --> 01:16:38,608
instead, she wrote, the call taker continued to update the

1262
01:16:38,608 --> 01:16:43,246
dispatch notes, which were apparently not seen by fems.

1263
01:16:43,246 --> 01:16:46,249
so how could the firefighters and medics not see it?

1264
01:16:46,249 --> 01:16:49,753
well, they were outside the apartment door doing their job,

1265
01:16:49,753 --> 01:16:53,356
poised to break in. What she didn't explain is why

1266
01:16:53,356 --> 01:16:56,960
her dispatchers didn't see such an important message, and then

1267
01:16:56,960 --> 01:17:01,231
relay it to those crews. After all, that's their job.

1268
01:17:01,231 --> 01:17:05,680
despite these outrageous and unfortunately, very common dc

1269
01:17:05,680 --> 01:17:08,972
911 mistakes, the director wrote to you, appropriate action was

1270
01:17:08,972 --> 01:17:12,242
taken by all involved. Oh, you see, personnel.

1271
01:17:12,242 --> 01:17:17,280
and if that's not absurd enough, director mcgaffin also wrote

1272
01:17:17,280 --> 01:17:20,249
fems asked oh, you see, for authorization to breach the

1273
01:17:20,249 --> 01:17:22,385
door. However, the agency does not

1274
01:17:22,385 --> 01:17:25,187
make such decisions. That just didn't happen.

1275
01:17:25,187 --> 01:17:28,858
there's no evidence of it. It's fantasy.

1276
01:17:28,858 --> 01:17:30,995
this mcgaffin had listened to the radio traffic.

1277
01:17:30,995 --> 01:17:34,497
she would have heard the officer of engine 11 say, and I quote,

1278
01:17:34,497 --> 01:17:37,467
I'm prepared to force entry. I'm ready to force entry.

1279
01:17:37,467 --> 01:17:41,405
we just want to make sure we're forcing entry into the correct

1280
01:17:41,405 --> 01:17:44,507
department. It's five months after an

1281
01:17:44,507 --> 01:17:48,378
extremely botched high priority medical call, and after three

1282
01:17:48,378 --> 01:17:51,581
requests, you still can't get straight answers.

1283
01:17:51,581 --> 01:17:55,585
mcgaffin failure to take responsibility and instead point

1284
01:17:55,585 --> 01:17:58,288
fingers tells you all you need to know why the bill to give the

1285
01:17:58,288 --> 01:18:02,359
dc fire and ems medical directory director authority

1286
01:18:02,359 --> 01:18:06,230
over ems protocols and quality assurance must pass.

1287
01:18:06,230 --> 01:18:09,967
as I wrap up, I beg you to ask director mcgaffin these

1288
01:18:09,967 --> 01:18:12,340
questions. What were dispatchers doing?

1289
01:18:12,340 --> 01:18:15,505
instead of answering the radio or reading and relaying the call

1290
01:18:15,505 --> 01:18:18,241
takers priority message, their cameras on the operations floor,

1291
01:18:18,241 --> 01:18:22,120
she can find that answer. Where did mcgaffin get the

1292
01:18:22,120 --> 01:18:25,148
absurd idea that firefighters asked for permission to breach

1293
01:18:25,148 --> 01:18:28,685
the door? And after district dogs director

1294
01:18:28,685 --> 01:18:32,222
mcgaffin said her staff better understands that fire and ems

1295
01:18:32,222 --> 01:18:35,558
aren't always in the unit reading their mdts.

1296
01:18:35,558 --> 01:18:40,960
so why is the director putting it on fire and ems to see these

1297
01:18:40,960 --> 01:18:44,200
messages, and is absolving dispatchers of responsibility?

1298
01:18:44,200 --> 01:18:47,671
please don't let her say she'll respond with responses in

1299
01:18:47,671 --> 01:18:50,473
writing later. Three chances in five months.

1300
01:18:50,473 --> 01:18:52,810
time's up. It's her job to know these

1301
01:18:52,810 --> 01:18:55,411
answers. If she doesn't, she should

1302
01:18:55,411 --> 01:18:57,411
resign. Thank you.

1303
01:18:58,214 --> 01:19:01,214
thank you, commissioner paula edwards.

1304
01:19:03,219 --> 01:19:07,289
hello, chair pinto, thank you for allowing me to testify

1305
01:19:07,289 --> 01:19:09,425
today. I'm the anc chair for commission

1306
01:19:09,425 --> 01:19:13,163
for a and the commissioner for a and c for a zero one.

1307
01:19:13,163 --> 01:19:16,566
I would like to testify in opposition to any cuts to the

1308
01:19:16,566 --> 01:19:19,703
oec budget based on my constituents feedback.

1309
01:19:19,703 --> 01:19:23,239
I do not have experience with the 911 system that other

1310
01:19:23,239 --> 01:19:26,509
witnesses have, but I hardly think it would be improved by a

1311
01:19:26,509 --> 01:19:29,110
budget cut. My experience has mostly been

1312
01:19:29,110 --> 01:19:33,550
with the 311 system. My constituents seem to be

1313
01:19:33,550 --> 01:19:36,454
satisfied with the 311 system overall, but are very critical

1314
01:19:36,454 --> 01:19:39,255
of the way agencies use the system.

1315
01:19:39,255 --> 01:19:44,550
specifically the way requests are closed without action.

1316
01:19:45,695 --> 01:19:48,950
so sorry. Or explanation.

1317
01:19:49,650 --> 01:19:54,137
the majority of requests in my s, m, d are for dpw and ddot.

1318
01:19:54,137 --> 01:19:59,109
I tracked repeated ddo requests for one alley repair in my smd

1319
01:19:59,109 --> 01:20:03,212
back to 2016. The requests were closed with no

1320
01:20:03,212 --> 01:20:06,483
explanation, no indication that the defect had been cured or

1321
01:20:06,483 --> 01:20:10,427
remediated for almost ten years. The alley continued to

1322
01:20:10,427 --> 01:20:13,797
deteriorate until it was finally repaired this spring.

1323
01:20:13,797 --> 01:20:16,566
director mcgaffin and the o. C community outreach team have

1324
01:20:16,566 --> 01:20:19,736
been very helpful to me in understanding the limitations

1325
01:20:19,736 --> 01:20:24,306
and stresses on the system. Similarly, dpw requests often

1326
01:20:24,306 --> 01:20:27,944
involve the same addresses that are closed without correction or

1327
01:20:27,944 --> 01:20:30,847
show repeated incidences of defect.

1328
01:20:30,847 --> 01:20:34,250
this methodology ensures that the system is overtaxed and

1329
01:20:34,250 --> 01:20:36,786
hastens its deterioration and failure.

1330
01:20:36,786 --> 01:20:41,390
I hope we can invest more in improving agency responses and

1331
01:20:41,390 --> 01:20:44,861
transparency in use. Of the 311 system and in helping

1332
01:20:44,861 --> 01:20:48,131
constituents to understand how it works so that we do not

1333
01:20:48,131 --> 01:20:49,599
destroy it. Thank you.

1334
01:20:49,599 --> 01:20:54,399
and I'm available for questions. Thank you commissioner.

1335
01:20:56,105 --> 01:20:58,105
ty hobson. Powell.

1336
01:21:04,547 --> 01:21:09,347
o heffernan, aclu dc. Can you hear me?

1337
01:21:11,921 --> 01:21:13,921
yes. All right.

1338
01:21:14,123 --> 01:21:15,959
hello, chair pinto and members of the committee.

1339
01:21:15,959 --> 01:21:20,629
my name is ahoy, and I present the following on behalf of aclu

1340
01:21:20,629 --> 01:21:23,990
dc. It is more critical than ever

1341
01:21:23,990 --> 01:21:25,368
that dc. S limited resources are invested

1342
01:21:25,368 --> 01:21:28,838
into public safety strategies that respond to the real needs

1343
01:21:28,838 --> 01:21:32,541
of dc residents that center impacted communities and move

1344
01:21:32,541 --> 01:21:36,111
away from carceral centric strategies, strategies that

1345
01:21:36,111 --> 01:21:38,414
decades of observation and research have shown.

1346
01:21:38,414 --> 01:21:41,517
excuse me. Strategies that decades of

1347
01:21:41,517 --> 01:21:44,387
observation and research have made clear do not work.

1348
01:21:44,387 --> 01:21:47,957
do not make the best use of resources, and certainly do not

1349
01:21:47,957 --> 01:21:51,928
make communities safer. My written testimony goes into

1350
01:21:51,928 --> 01:21:56,132
goes into detail about staffing and accountability at mpd, and

1351
01:21:56,132 --> 01:22:00,737
closing loopholes that allow mpd to exploit dc law to engage in

1352
01:22:00,737 --> 01:22:03,940
immigration enforcement. Today, I will focus on how the

1353
01:22:03,940 --> 01:22:07,770
district's response to concerns about youth behavior is setting

1354
01:22:07,770 --> 01:22:11,781
up both young people and the proposed strategies for failure.

1355
01:22:11,781 --> 01:22:15,351
a cdc strongly urges the council to reverse course and reject the

1356
01:22:15,351 --> 01:22:18,955
permanent youth curfew bill. Over the past couple of years,

1357
01:22:18,955 --> 01:22:21,490
multiple youth curfews have been implemented.

1358
01:22:21,490 --> 01:22:24,930
during this time, we have seen that these policies do not

1359
01:22:24,930 --> 01:22:27,764
improve public safety and do not deter young people from

1360
01:22:27,764 --> 01:22:31,567
congregating in large groups. This is not an effective use of

1361
01:22:31,567 --> 01:22:34,804
dc's budget, when it could be used to support and uplift the

1362
01:22:34,804 --> 01:22:36,839
district's youth with the curfew.

1363
01:22:36,839 --> 01:22:40,843
policies have done is provide an excuse for police to racially

1364
01:22:40,843 --> 01:22:44,280
profile, harass and provoke black youth who are the primary

1365
01:22:44,280 --> 01:22:47,817
targets of enforcement. Mpd officers have been observed

1366
01:22:47,817 --> 01:22:51,254
running after young people and stopping those trying to leave

1367
01:22:51,254 --> 01:22:55,291
from getting on the metro. Witnesses have recorded mpd

1368
01:22:55,291 --> 01:22:58,494
officers forcefully grabbing young people, taunting and

1369
01:22:58,494 --> 01:23:01,131
threatening them and yelling aggressively while pointing

1370
01:23:01,131 --> 01:23:04,467
pepper spray guns at them and adults trying to deescalate.

1371
01:23:04,467 --> 01:23:08,404
it must also be noted that although mpd is not formally

1372
01:23:08,404 --> 01:23:11,474
arresting young people in these zones, the experience of being

1373
01:23:11,474 --> 01:23:15,778
placed and transported in a squad car, be it to their home

1374
01:23:15,778 --> 01:23:19,315
or facility, can have the same traumatic impact.

1375
01:23:19,315 --> 01:23:22,217
there are many factors that influence young people's

1376
01:23:22,217 --> 01:23:24,354
behavior. These include the adolescent

1377
01:23:24,354 --> 01:23:28,391
brain being hardwired for risk taking, economic instability,

1378
01:23:28,391 --> 01:23:30,860
feeling unsafe and wanting to belong.

1379
01:23:30,860 --> 01:23:34,229
not only has research shown that addressing these factors is the

1380
01:23:34,229 --> 01:23:37,501
best way to change youth behavior, young people have made

1381
01:23:37,501 --> 01:23:40,536
clear that these are the areas in which they need support.

1382
01:23:40,536 --> 01:23:43,639
young people have come before the council advocating for

1383
01:23:43,639 --> 01:23:47,910
better access to mental health services spaces to engage in

1384
01:23:47,910 --> 01:23:51,114
activities and and viable employment opportunities.

1385
01:23:51,114 --> 01:23:54,184
the response from district leaders has been to invest

1386
01:23:54,184 --> 01:23:56,719
disproportionately in criminalization, while young

1387
01:23:56,719 --> 01:23:59,523
people get cuts to funding. Excuse me.

1388
01:23:59,523 --> 01:24:03,859
while young people get cuts in funding to school based

1389
01:24:03,859 --> 01:24:07,597
behavioral health and recreation police who are already ill

1390
01:24:07,597 --> 01:24:10,700
equipped to handle many of the public safety duties, they are

1391
01:24:10,700 --> 01:24:14,404
tasked with, including interacting with youth, get more

1392
01:24:14,404 --> 01:24:16,172
resources and lower hiring standards.

1393
01:24:16,172 --> 01:24:20,510
to be clear, ac dc is not suggesting that young people who

1394
01:24:20,510 --> 01:24:22,645
cause harm should not be held accountable.

1395
01:24:22,645 --> 01:24:26,182
what we are saying is that the current approaches, which

1396
01:24:26,182 --> 01:24:29,752
overemphasize punitive measures and cast too broad of a net,

1397
01:24:29,752 --> 01:24:32,722
have not. Excuse me, have been proven

1398
01:24:32,722 --> 01:24:35,224
ineffective and more harmful to young people and their

1399
01:24:35,224 --> 01:24:38,261
communities. While curfew policies may be an

1400
01:24:38,261 --> 01:24:41,898
easy strategy for attempting to control the movement of young

1401
01:24:41,898 --> 01:24:45,340
people and might even make certain people feel more

1402
01:24:45,340 --> 01:24:47,304
comfortable, they do not get at the root of the challenges young

1403
01:24:47,304 --> 01:24:49,539
people in the communities are facing.

1404
01:24:49,539 --> 01:24:52,643
they tell young people, particularly black youth, that

1405
01:24:52,643 --> 01:24:57,130
they do not belong in their own city and that their safety and

1406
01:24:57,130 --> 01:24:59,515
well-being comes second to other people's comfort.

1407
01:24:59,515 --> 01:25:03,886
in order to make the best use of dc's tax dollars, aclu, dc

1408
01:25:03,886 --> 01:25:08,570
implores the council to truly listen to young people at

1409
01:25:08,570 --> 01:25:10,593
tomorrow's roundtable and to make policy decisions informed

1410
01:25:10,593 --> 01:25:14,329
by their experiences and what evidence shows us to be

1411
01:25:14,329 --> 01:25:16,332
effective. Thank you, and I'm ready to

1412
01:25:16,332 --> 01:25:18,134
answer any questions you may have.

1413
01:25:18,134 --> 01:25:19,869
okay. Thank you very much.

1414
01:25:19,869 --> 01:25:23,340
I do want to remind all of our public witnesses that we have

1415
01:25:23,340 --> 01:25:24,941
three minutes to present your testimony.

1416
01:25:24,941 --> 01:25:28,770
I always feel badly cutting people off, but I'm going to

1417
01:25:28,770 --> 01:25:31,140
have to. So if you can try to keep

1418
01:25:31,140 --> 01:25:35,214
yourself three minutes, that would be helpful.

1419
01:25:35,852 --> 01:25:38,554
caroline pryor, director of policy and power building and

1420
01:25:38,554 --> 01:25:40,554
power. Hello.

1421
01:25:42,959 --> 01:25:45,940
good morning, chairwoman pinto and staff.

1422
01:25:45,940 --> 01:25:47,563
my name is caroline pryor. I'm the director of policy and

1423
01:25:47,563 --> 01:25:50,632
power building at empower. I will do my best to keep to

1424
01:25:50,632 --> 01:25:53,360
three minutes this year. I've testified before your

1425
01:25:53,360 --> 01:25:56,706
committee on multiple occasions to advocate against two

1426
01:25:56,706 --> 01:25:59,575
intertwined issues the youth curfew and mpd collaboration

1427
01:25:59,575 --> 01:26:03,212
with federal agencies. We have a disturbing

1428
01:26:03,212 --> 01:26:05,181
contradiction consistently displayed in both this committee

1429
01:26:05,181 --> 01:26:08,818
and the committee of the whole. Mpd says that they uphold

1430
01:26:08,818 --> 01:26:12,388
certain guardrails, such as that they are not over complying with

1431
01:26:12,388 --> 01:26:15,591
federal law enforcement, that they are not collaborating with

1432
01:26:15,591 --> 01:26:17,993
ice, that they are not assaulting our young people with

1433
01:26:17,993 --> 01:26:21,200
pepper spray or use of force, claiming that they are not

1434
01:26:21,200 --> 01:26:24,505
arresting any children due to curfew violations.

1435
01:26:24,505 --> 01:26:27,274
while community members affirm through eyewitness testimony

1436
01:26:27,274 --> 01:26:31,120
that this is patently false. On occasion, when video evidence

1437
01:26:31,120 --> 01:26:33,681
goes viral, council members pay lip service.

1438
01:26:33,681 --> 01:26:36,150
but on the whole, and although we are grateful for your recent

1439
01:26:36,150 --> 01:26:40,200
attempts to force transparency in federal law enforcement

1440
01:26:40,200 --> 01:26:42,557
interactions, we are not seeing adequate attention to community

1441
01:26:42,557 --> 01:26:44,925
voices. In many cases, what we're seeing

1442
01:26:44,925 --> 01:26:47,696
is council protecting systems that perpetuate law enforcement

1443
01:26:47,696 --> 01:26:49,930
harm. Despite direct evidence from

1444
01:26:49,930 --> 01:26:52,566
young people and their families that it places them at greater

1445
01:26:52,566 --> 01:26:55,136
risk. I won't extensively rehash my

1446
01:26:55,136 --> 01:26:57,838
comments from the performance oversight hearing, which pointed

1447
01:26:57,838 --> 01:27:00,841
out the vastly disparate impact of mpd's current policies on

1448
01:27:00,841 --> 01:27:04,441
black youth. 94% of reported stops and

1449
01:27:04,478 --> 01:27:08,683
searches, and the removal of 127 young people from curfew zones

1450
01:27:08,683 --> 01:27:13,530
to throw into is since calendar year 2025, we can look at

1451
01:27:13,530 --> 01:27:16,524
testimony from school community members throughout the council

1452
01:27:16,524 --> 01:27:19,560
session documenting terrifying cases of immigration enforcement

1453
01:27:19,560 --> 01:27:23,764
near schools, and I urge you to tune in tomorrow to council

1454
01:27:23,764 --> 01:27:26,967
member parker keith roundtable to hear students echo in his

1455
01:27:26,967 --> 01:27:29,737
committee what they have said here that youth curfew creates

1456
01:27:29,737 --> 01:27:32,640
rather than prevents danger, and that we must invest in systems

1457
01:27:32,640 --> 01:27:35,376
that empower them and their families instead.

1458
01:27:35,376 --> 01:27:37,878
not. In addition, today, I also want

1459
01:27:37,878 --> 01:27:41,480
to urge your committee to probe into the juvenile investigative

1460
01:27:41,480 --> 01:27:44,285
response unit, which I suspect is the mpd unit.

1461
01:27:44,285 --> 01:27:47,121
quote, investigating teen takeovers of deep concern is

1462
01:27:47,121 --> 01:27:49,757
their collaboration with leas and individual schools mentioned

1463
01:27:49,757 --> 01:27:51,692
several times in pre-hearing comments.

1464
01:27:51,692 --> 01:27:54,228
in what capacity is this unit working with schools?

1465
01:27:54,228 --> 01:27:56,530
what student records are they accessing?

1466
01:27:56,530 --> 01:27:58,933
what meaningful oversight is council enforcing over this unit

1467
01:27:58,933 --> 01:28:02,203
to prevent overreach? Each disclosure about this unit

1468
01:28:02,203 --> 01:28:05,406
seems different from the last. Their vague promotional

1469
01:28:05,406 --> 01:28:08,342
literature seems at odds with deputy mayor appiah's

1470
01:28:08,342 --> 01:28:10,745
description of their work. Are they creating, quote,

1471
01:28:10,745 --> 01:28:14,182
success plans for young people? As the deputy mayor testified,

1472
01:28:14,182 --> 01:28:16,516
in what ways are schools expected to comply with this

1473
01:28:16,516 --> 01:28:20,287
work or the units directives? Many of our schools exist in

1474
01:28:20,287 --> 01:28:23,124
neighborhoods where students are violently overpoliced and

1475
01:28:23,124 --> 01:28:25,592
racially profiled, and where community members understand

1476
01:28:25,592 --> 01:28:28,496
what's at stake. Many of those that did trust law

1477
01:28:28,496 --> 01:28:31,699
enforcement after the past year have reevaluated that mindset.

1478
01:28:31,699 --> 01:28:34,201
students and teachers of history have already made connections in

1479
01:28:34,201 --> 01:28:37,304
this committee between policies like the juvenile curfew and

1480
01:28:37,304 --> 01:28:41,750
slave codes, between immigration raids and fascist nationalism.

1481
01:28:41,750 --> 01:28:44,645
in your committee, you control enormous quantities of funding.

1482
01:28:44,645 --> 01:28:46,147
meanwhile, champs has been eliminated.

1483
01:28:46,147 --> 01:28:49,650
school based behavioral health has been slashed, dpr has lost

1484
01:28:49,650 --> 01:28:51,786
millions, community schools has been zeroed out.

1485
01:28:51,786 --> 01:28:54,489
we've lost the child tax credit and millions of dollars from

1486
01:28:54,489 --> 01:28:57,291
tanf. But will council greenlight mpd

1487
01:28:57,291 --> 01:28:59,960
budget? While while social services

1488
01:28:59,960 --> 01:29:03,197
languish, we cannot pump more and more funding into mpd

1489
01:29:03,197 --> 01:29:05,966
without accountability for the harm it funds, not just for us

1490
01:29:05,966 --> 01:29:08,436
adults, but for future generations too.

1491
01:29:08,436 --> 01:29:10,836
thank you. Thank you.

1492
01:29:26,420 --> 01:29:30,620
scott goldstein, executive director, empower ed, good

1493
01:29:30,724 --> 01:29:32,193
morning. I do the work I do because I

1494
01:29:32,193 --> 01:29:34,628
feel a deep injustice and unfairness between the way I was

1495
01:29:34,628 --> 01:29:37,465
able to experience childhood compared to the way young people

1496
01:29:37,465 --> 01:29:39,666
have been treated in my adopted city, where I've now lived most

1497
01:29:39,666 --> 01:29:41,936
of my life. Washington, d.c. Is full of

1498
01:29:41,936 --> 01:29:44,204
amazing young people. I had the incredible privilege

1499
01:29:44,204 --> 01:29:46,606
to teach so many of them for a decade and maintain

1500
01:29:46,606 --> 01:29:49,100
relationships with them since. In the past year especially, it

1501
01:29:49,100 --> 01:29:51,746
has made me incredibly upset to hear the way young people are

1502
01:29:51,746 --> 01:29:53,281
talked about. Faced with efforts to control

1503
01:29:53,281 --> 01:29:56,417
them rather than empower them to hold them accountable without

1504
01:29:56,417 --> 01:29:58,853
ever having provided them what they need to thrive.

1505
01:29:58,853 --> 01:30:00,822
I'm a history teacher by training, so I hope you'll

1506
01:30:00,822 --> 01:30:03,624
indulge me a little bit. The word curfew originates from

1507
01:30:03,624 --> 01:30:07,280
the french words curfew, which literally means cover fire.

1508
01:30:07,280 --> 01:30:09,563
it comes from a time before artificial light when people

1509
01:30:09,563 --> 01:30:12,532
still used campfires to stay up and talk before bedtime.

1510
01:30:12,532 --> 01:30:16,300
at the time when it was time to cover the the fire, all would

1511
01:30:16,300 --> 01:30:17,505
retreat home for their first sleep.

1512
01:30:17,505 --> 01:30:22,760
they would wake after four hours or so for their period of 1 to 3

1513
01:30:22,760 --> 01:30:23,778
hours of being awake before their second sleep.

1514
01:30:23,778 --> 01:30:26,681
but the relevant part here is what they did before the sleep,

1515
01:30:26,681 --> 01:30:29,317
which is to be together. Research finds that at this

1516
01:30:29,317 --> 01:30:33,254
time, 80% of conversation during the day was about work, but 81%

1517
01:30:33,254 --> 01:30:36,656
of conversation by the fire was about fun and brought deeper

1518
01:30:36,656 --> 01:30:38,459
connection. There's probably no time in life

1519
01:30:38,459 --> 01:30:41,395
where we long for connection more than adolescents, and we've

1520
01:30:41,395 --> 01:30:43,799
jammed the lives of young people with long hours of school,

1521
01:30:43,799 --> 01:30:45,399
followed by activities followed by homework.

1522
01:30:45,399 --> 01:30:48,690
and for many young people in d.c., the need to care for

1523
01:30:48,690 --> 01:30:50,338
younger siblings. They see entire neighborhoods

1524
01:30:50,338 --> 01:30:52,673
built up of restaurants that they could never afford.

1525
01:30:52,673 --> 01:30:55,810
yoga studios, dozens of adult gyms, kayak rentals, wineries

1526
01:30:55,810 --> 01:30:58,412
and breweries, the neighborhoods many of them live and have none

1527
01:30:58,412 --> 01:31:01,820
of this, but they also don't have the things that they want

1528
01:31:01,820 --> 01:31:04,285
most a mall just to roam around and hang with friends, laser tag

1529
01:31:04,285 --> 01:31:07,689
teen dance clubs that are safe, fast casual spots like chipotle

1530
01:31:07,689 --> 01:31:10,240
and on and on. They want to be in connection

1531
01:31:10,240 --> 01:31:12,560
with each other and have fun. They want to do it safely.

1532
01:31:12,560 --> 01:31:15,429
our kids are not looking to cause harm, so when they jump on

1533
01:31:15,429 --> 01:31:17,832
a bike, share and ride through navy yard only to have police

1534
01:31:17,832 --> 01:31:20,101
grab them and rip them off their bike for the crime of being

1535
01:31:20,101 --> 01:31:22,837
black while riding a bike through town and then openly

1536
01:31:22,837 --> 01:31:24,506
taunt them. What message does this send to

1537
01:31:24,506 --> 01:31:26,640
them? We owe the residents of dc real

1538
01:31:26,640 --> 01:31:29,577
safety and justice. We do not have real safety when

1539
01:31:29,577 --> 01:31:32,513
our plan for creating safety is banning people from a space, we

1540
01:31:32,513 --> 01:31:34,515
do not have safety. If instead of creating the

1541
01:31:34,515 --> 01:31:36,684
conditions for peace, working with parents, creating the

1542
01:31:36,684 --> 01:31:39,453
needed programing and working with community institutions,

1543
01:31:39,453 --> 01:31:41,254
with real trust, with young people, we simply make it

1544
01:31:41,254 --> 01:31:44,191
illegal to be in a group at a reasonable hour like 8 p.m. This

1545
01:31:44,191 --> 01:31:45,925
is a budget hearing. So this is what should happen

1546
01:31:45,925 --> 01:31:48,862
with the mpd budget. We should move funding from mpd

1547
01:31:48,862 --> 01:31:51,531
signing bonuses which have been ineffective budget policy, and

1548
01:31:51,531 --> 01:31:54,535
prioritize pay for proactive justice staff from safe passage

1549
01:31:54,535 --> 01:31:56,937
workers to educators and paraprofessionals, and reinvest

1550
01:31:56,937 --> 01:32:00,140
much of that in cbos that can actually have relationships with

1551
01:32:00,140 --> 01:32:02,208
young people and give them a sense of identity and

1552
01:32:02,208 --> 01:32:03,943
togetherness. They need to be in safe and

1553
01:32:03,943 --> 01:32:06,847
joyful in our city, working with the education cluster to

1554
01:32:06,847 --> 01:32:08,883
prioritize deep investment in conflict resolution.

1555
01:32:08,883 --> 01:32:12,860
two years ago, we brought a budget proposal for 250,000 and

1556
01:32:12,860 --> 01:32:14,521
incredibly effective conflict resolution curriculum and

1557
01:32:14,521 --> 01:32:17,910
teacher training to the council. There wasn't money for that, but

1558
01:32:17,910 --> 01:32:19,493
there's plenty of money for police signing bonuses and

1559
01:32:19,493 --> 01:32:21,162
overtime. We should transfer safe passage

1560
01:32:21,162 --> 01:32:23,831
out of dmps so it's not associated with mpd.

1561
01:32:23,831 --> 01:32:27,167
we should work to with the executive to increase the safe

1562
01:32:27,167 --> 01:32:29,603
passage budget so safe passage workers can integrate into the

1563
01:32:29,603 --> 01:32:32,475
school day full time. We should fund the mentorship

1564
01:32:32,475 --> 01:32:34,643
bill authored by council member robert white, that passed and

1565
01:32:34,643 --> 01:32:37,781
never received funding and work with dpr to dramatically expand

1566
01:32:37,781 --> 01:32:39,917
programing, both after school, late night and weekends.

1567
01:32:39,917 --> 01:32:42,918
our vision for public safety and justice can't be the absence of

1568
01:32:42,918 --> 01:32:45,588
children in our streets. It must be the presence of real

1569
01:32:45,588 --> 01:32:48,758
peace, opportunity and joy. Children deserve their campfire.

1570
01:32:48,758 --> 01:32:53,697
you can budget to make it so. Thank you.

1571
01:32:53,697 --> 01:32:58,534
thank you, devon montgomery, fellow and dc educator at

1572
01:32:58,534 --> 01:33:01,534
empowered. Good morning, chairperson pinto.

1573
01:33:01,939 --> 01:33:04,307
my name is devon montgomery and I'm the dean of students at

1574
01:33:04,307 --> 01:33:06,376
harmony d.c. Public charter school.

1575
01:33:06,376 --> 01:33:09,713
and empowered fellow and a member of the coalition.

1576
01:33:09,713 --> 01:33:12,349
the mission of mpd is to safeguard the district and

1577
01:33:12,349 --> 01:33:14,751
protect its residents and visitors with the highest regard

1578
01:33:14,751 --> 01:33:17,687
for the entity of human life. I challenge the council in this

1579
01:33:17,687 --> 01:33:20,689
committee to help make this a reality by redirecting proposed

1580
01:33:20,689 --> 01:33:23,860
funding from an already bloated mpd budget to protecting social

1581
01:33:23,860 --> 01:33:27,300
safety nets that truly ensure justice for all.

1582
01:33:27,300 --> 01:33:29,833
I'm here today to ask this committee to fund proactive

1583
01:33:29,833 --> 01:33:32,302
safety measures that invest in our communities, rather than in

1584
01:33:32,302 --> 01:33:35,438
the police department. Safe passage, dpi, youth

1585
01:33:35,438 --> 01:33:38,808
programing, youth mentorship and school based behavioral health

1586
01:33:38,808 --> 01:33:42,312
services are far more effective ways to approach public safety

1587
01:33:42,312 --> 01:33:44,381
than implementing a juvenile curfew.

1588
01:33:44,381 --> 01:33:47,650
social safety net serve to reduce poverty, protect people

1589
01:33:47,650 --> 01:33:50,886
from economic instability, improve health, improve

1590
01:33:50,886 --> 01:33:53,289
employment outcomes, and increase overall well-being of

1591
01:33:53,289 --> 01:33:56,493
all d.c. Residents. Ensuring a basic standard of

1592
01:33:56,493 --> 01:33:59,262
living for those who cannot support themselves.

1593
01:33:59,262 --> 01:34:04,662
the proposed budget increases mpd funding from 599 million in

1594
01:34:06,690 --> 01:34:09,472
fy 26 to 688 million in fy 27. This increase of almost 90

1595
01:34:09,472 --> 01:34:12,809
million includes about 86 million in local funds and

1596
01:34:12,809 --> 01:34:14,411
nearly 4 million in federal funds.

1597
01:34:14,411 --> 01:34:18,415
I would ask that mpd reach out for federal funding to secure

1598
01:34:18,415 --> 01:34:21,518
the desired 86 million increase for overtime.

1599
01:34:21,518 --> 01:34:24,854
I believe that administration would be more than happy to foot

1600
01:34:24,854 --> 01:34:29,526
the bill to secure the nation's capital, as it celebrates its

1601
01:34:29,526 --> 01:34:31,828
250th anniversary. We can all agree that every

1602
01:34:31,828 --> 01:34:34,631
community is safer when residents are housing, secure,

1603
01:34:34,631 --> 01:34:37,734
food, secure, economically stable, both physically and

1604
01:34:37,734 --> 01:34:40,504
mentally healthy, well educated and have safe spaces to

1605
01:34:40,504 --> 01:34:43,840
congregate. That 86 million in local funds

1606
01:34:43,840 --> 01:34:46,876
dedicated to overtime could then be used to strengthen dc social

1607
01:34:46,876 --> 01:34:51,881
safety net in a variety of ways. 2 million in fy 27 for the youth

1608
01:34:51,881 --> 01:34:54,985
mentorship through community engagement act passed without

1609
01:34:54,985 --> 01:34:57,985
funding. 16.7 million for db, 4 million

1610
01:35:00,570 --> 01:35:03,590
to ozone in dps for teacher retention fund.

1611
01:35:03,590 --> 01:35:05,930
3 million to dm. Increasing funding for ost

1612
01:35:05,930 --> 01:35:09,632
programing. 4.4 mil to are seen in dc for

1613
01:35:09,632 --> 01:35:13,232
community schools. 6.1 million to db for

1614
01:35:14,370 --> 01:35:16,473
school-based behavioral health through champs.

1615
01:35:16,473 --> 01:35:20,477
4 million invested in restructuring safe passage under

1616
01:35:20,477 --> 01:35:26,477
either c or d, 400,000 to ozone for educator wellness grants.

1617
01:35:26,583 --> 01:35:32,583
7 million to dhs for irap. 2.4 million to dhs for dcha.

1618
01:35:33,890 --> 01:35:37,561
permanent support housing vouchers 1.25 million to doe to

1619
01:35:37,561 --> 01:35:40,964
build a ward 8 community food hub.

1620
01:35:40,964 --> 01:35:42,766
two 20.5 million to dhs for temporary.

1621
01:35:42,766 --> 01:35:48,138
for tanf for tanf program. 5.48 million to dpr for site

1622
01:35:48,138 --> 01:35:52,342
based programing and 5.6 million to dpr for recreational services

1623
01:35:52,342 --> 01:35:55,645
and programing. All of these social safety net

1624
01:35:55,645 --> 01:36:00,316
programs add up to 82.58 million, and there are a variety

1625
01:36:00,316 --> 01:36:03,420
of other services that could also keep dc residents safe.

1626
01:36:03,420 --> 01:36:07,324
resources and programing keep residents safe, not law

1627
01:36:07,324 --> 01:36:08,592
enforcement. Thank you for your time and

1628
01:36:08,592 --> 01:36:10,928
consideration of my testimony. Please review my written

1629
01:36:10,928 --> 01:36:13,328
testimony for further elaborations.

1630
01:36:15,965 --> 01:36:19,565
thank you. John payne, public witness.

1631
01:36:23,406 --> 01:36:25,475
good morning. My name is john payne.

1632
01:36:25,475 --> 01:36:28,211
I'm a born and raised washingtonian and I currently

1633
01:36:28,211 --> 01:36:31,348
live in ward four. I'm here today because I'm

1634
01:36:31,348 --> 01:36:33,350
appalled. I'm appalled that we are

1635
01:36:33,350 --> 01:36:35,952
drastically cutting so many life giving services to our city.

1636
01:36:35,952 --> 01:36:40,323
at the same time that we're giving mpd a 15% raise, instead

1637
01:36:40,323 --> 01:36:43,559
of shoveling more tax dollars onto the burning refuse heap

1638
01:36:43,559 --> 01:36:46,830
that is mpd, we should use that money to fund programs that

1639
01:36:46,830 --> 01:36:49,933
truly keep us safe. I'm going to focus on two of

1640
01:36:49,933 --> 01:36:52,769
those programs today. Non-police response to mental

1641
01:36:52,769 --> 01:36:57,574
health and substance abuse crisis and erap dc has had a

1642
01:36:57,574 --> 01:37:00,110
non-police emergency response program for years, but it's

1643
01:37:00,110 --> 01:37:03,130
never been truly funded. I cannot count the times that I

1644
01:37:03,130 --> 01:37:05,715
have called for non-police response, or just for an

1645
01:37:05,715 --> 01:37:08,118
ambulance and gotten a cop instead.

1646
01:37:08,118 --> 01:37:10,721
several years ago, there was a neighbor in crisis in the alley

1647
01:37:10,721 --> 01:37:12,922
behind my house. She was sitting down and

1648
01:37:12,922 --> 01:37:14,924
thrashing around on the pavement, her arms swinging in

1649
01:37:14,924 --> 01:37:17,593
the air wildly. Neither my wife or I felt that

1650
01:37:17,593 --> 01:37:19,929
we could reach her to try and see if she was okay, and talk

1651
01:37:19,929 --> 01:37:22,899
with her safely. I called to get an ambulance,

1652
01:37:22,899 --> 01:37:27,400
but before ems could arrive, multiple mpd cars showed up

1653
01:37:27,400 --> 01:37:29,500
instead. I don't know what the officer

1654
01:37:29,500 --> 01:37:31,942
said to her, but she ran away before the ambulance could get

1655
01:37:31,942 --> 01:37:34,276
there. There are sadly many more

1656
01:37:34,276 --> 01:37:37,881
examples of this because we have not funded non-police response

1657
01:37:37,881 --> 01:37:40,350
team to fully meet our city's needs.

1658
01:37:40,350 --> 01:37:43,553
there are some obvious things that we can cut from mpd's

1659
01:37:43,553 --> 01:37:46,422
bloated budget. Mpd invested millions in

1660
01:37:46,422 --> 01:37:48,825
surveillance technology that does not work, and gives our

1661
01:37:48,825 --> 01:37:54,696
information over to ice from 2016 to 2024, mpd has paid over

1662
01:37:54,696 --> 01:37:57,167
6.6 million to shotspotter to try and dispatch police to the

1663
01:37:57,167 --> 01:37:59,769
sound of gunfire. This is despite the fact that

1664
01:37:59,769 --> 01:38:02,171
their contract with the city of chicago and other major cities

1665
01:38:02,171 --> 01:38:05,575
has been canceled after learning that 86% of their dispatchers

1666
01:38:05,575 --> 01:38:08,211
were not related to any crime at all.

1667
01:38:08,211 --> 01:38:11,848
we've spent another 6 million on flock and celebrate, despite the

1668
01:38:11,848 --> 01:38:14,316
fact that the data from these companies goes to databases

1669
01:38:14,316 --> 01:38:18,454
that's accessed by ice and other agencies, these tools do not

1670
01:38:18,454 --> 01:38:21,190
make us safe. They make our data vulnerable

1671
01:38:21,190 --> 01:38:24,594
and given mpd's relationship to federal agencies, the only way

1672
01:38:24,594 --> 01:38:27,397
we guarantee that our data does not end up in the hands of ice

1673
01:38:27,397 --> 01:38:29,899
or the big, beautiful task force, is to not gather it in

1674
01:38:29,899 --> 01:38:33,499
the first place. Non-police emergency response

1675
01:38:34,637 --> 01:38:37,473
and emergency rental assistance program are the perfect places

1676
01:38:37,473 --> 01:38:40,743
for this money. The city is already investing in

1677
01:38:40,743 --> 01:38:43,880
narcan training and distribution sites, as well as public health

1678
01:38:43,880 --> 01:38:45,949
vending machines. These types of non-police

1679
01:38:45,949 --> 01:38:49,860
programs have helped significantly lower dcs overdose

1680
01:38:49,860 --> 01:38:51,154
numbers. We need to keep investing in

1681
01:38:51,154 --> 01:38:53,990
non-police responses to mental health and substance abuse, so

1682
01:38:53,990 --> 01:38:57,495
that anyone in crisis can get the assistance they need without

1683
01:38:57,495 --> 01:38:59,629
interacting with law enforcement, without being

1684
01:38:59,629 --> 01:39:02,498
harmed by a police officer, or being put into the carceral

1685
01:39:02,498 --> 01:39:04,968
system. Similarly, investments in the

1686
01:39:04,968 --> 01:39:07,870
program will keep many of our neighbors from becoming

1687
01:39:07,870 --> 01:39:10,707
unhoused, staying in their homes and apartments is what will keep

1688
01:39:10,707 --> 01:39:13,910
people safe, not more police. And this is especially true

1689
01:39:13,910 --> 01:39:16,413
given that our unhoused neighbors are now being harassed

1690
01:39:16,413 --> 01:39:20,417
and assaulted by mpd and the federal task force to close.

1691
01:39:20,417 --> 01:39:22,853
the past year has shown an agonizing detail.

1692
01:39:22,853 --> 01:39:26,890
the problems that come with just shoveling money at mpd and

1693
01:39:26,890 --> 01:39:29,126
expecting them to solve all of our problems, instead of

1694
01:39:29,126 --> 01:39:31,994
rewarding violent thugs who want nothing more than to keep their

1695
01:39:31,994 --> 01:39:34,665
jackboots on our neck. Let's use this moment as an

1696
01:39:34,665 --> 01:39:37,467
opportunity to spend our city's resources and our tax dollars on

1697
01:39:37,467 --> 01:39:41,667
the things that truly matter. Thank you.

1698
01:39:42,839 --> 01:39:46,439
thank you, l'oreal hawk. Bianca palmisano.

1699
01:39:57,287 --> 01:39:57,954
okay. All right.

1700
01:39:57,954 --> 01:40:00,691
thank you all very much for your testimony.

1701
01:40:00,691 --> 01:40:03,894
I'm going to call the next group.

1702
01:40:03,894 --> 01:40:09,660
as a reminder, please accept your invitation to join as a

1703
01:40:09,660 --> 01:40:11,660
panelist. Jackie, carol.

1704
01:40:11,702 --> 01:40:14,102
jenny wilson, abel. Amin.

1705
01:40:16,707 --> 01:40:20,907
kimberly clisby, christine corey and cheryl k.

1706
01:40:25,916 --> 01:40:29,516
we will begin with jackie, carol.

1707
01:40:30,120 --> 01:40:32,120
public witness. Okay.

1708
01:40:41,164 --> 01:40:46,564
jenny wilson, crisis response team director from dc safe.

1709
01:40:50,774 --> 01:40:53,276
good afternoon, chairperson pinto and members of the

1710
01:40:53,276 --> 01:40:54,777
committee. My name is jenny wilson and I'm

1711
01:40:54,777 --> 01:40:57,214
the crisis response team director for dc safe.

1712
01:40:57,214 --> 01:40:59,750
we value our long standing partnership with the

1713
01:40:59,750 --> 01:41:02,152
metropolitan police department and recognize the critical role

1714
01:41:02,152 --> 01:41:04,888
officers play in responding to domestic violence.

1715
01:41:04,888 --> 01:41:08,920
mpd officers are often the first point of contact for survivors

1716
01:41:08,920 --> 01:41:11,950
in a moment of crisis and through officer referrals.

1717
01:41:11,950 --> 01:41:14,831
more than 13,000 survivors have connected with dc safe crisis

1718
01:41:14,831 --> 01:41:18,100
response line in fiscal year 26. Their participation in

1719
01:41:18,100 --> 01:41:20,771
initiatives like the lethality assessment project has

1720
01:41:20,771 --> 01:41:23,240
strengthened coordination and improved safety outcomes.

1721
01:41:23,240 --> 01:41:25,909
we acknowledge the difficulty of their work and support fair

1722
01:41:25,909 --> 01:41:28,578
compensation for officers. However, this year's proposed

1723
01:41:28,578 --> 01:41:30,647
budget raises important questions about whether our

1724
01:41:30,647 --> 01:41:33,851
current approach is the most effective way to improve public

1725
01:41:33,851 --> 01:41:36,860
safety. The proposed increase nearly 92

1726
01:41:36,860 --> 01:41:38,989
million more than last year, including a 100% increase in

1727
01:41:38,989 --> 01:41:42,727
their overtime budget, continues a pattern of expanding

1728
01:41:42,727 --> 01:41:45,662
investment in policing and at a time of tight budgets and

1729
01:41:45,662 --> 01:41:49,660
limited city funds. We must ask, is this trajectory

1730
01:41:49,660 --> 01:41:52,536
producing better outcomes, particularly for victims of

1731
01:41:52,536 --> 01:41:54,338
domestic violence? Dc has been successful in

1732
01:41:54,338 --> 01:41:57,407
driving down community violence, and we applaud those efforts.

1733
01:41:57,407 --> 01:41:59,743
but success did not come with policing alone.

1734
01:41:59,743 --> 01:42:03,479
success came with investments across innovative programing and

1735
01:42:03,479 --> 01:42:05,748
agencies. One example is the

1736
01:42:05,748 --> 01:42:08,840
multidisciplinary work we do with city agencies through the

1737
01:42:08,840 --> 01:42:10,153
domestic violence systems review team.

1738
01:42:10,153 --> 01:42:13,157
we see every day that we cannot police our way out of domestic

1739
01:42:13,157 --> 01:42:15,358
violence. Officers are often responding to

1740
01:42:15,358 --> 01:42:18,280
situations where underlying needs housing, financial

1741
01:42:18,280 --> 01:42:21,531
stability, access to services are beyond what policing alone

1742
01:42:21,531 --> 01:42:23,266
can address. Many officers recognize this and

1743
01:42:23,266 --> 01:42:26,236
are frustrated by the limitations of their role.

1744
01:42:26,236 --> 01:42:30,774
these increases. While we also see cuts in victim

1745
01:42:30,774 --> 01:42:34,178
services, access to justice, dhs and other social safety nets are

1746
01:42:34,178 --> 01:42:36,480
troubling. We see we are seeing an

1747
01:42:36,480 --> 01:42:39,248
increasing severity in domestic violence cases, and we think mpd

1748
01:42:39,248 --> 01:42:42,185
has a critical role. But we must consider whether

1749
01:42:42,185 --> 01:42:44,421
broader disinvestment in the social safety net is adding fuel

1750
01:42:44,421 --> 01:42:46,790
to the fire. When communities become more

1751
01:42:46,790 --> 01:42:48,458
vulnerable, the risk of violence increases.

1752
01:42:48,458 --> 01:42:51,795
we must also acknowledge growing barriers to the trust between

1753
01:42:51,795 --> 01:42:54,998
survivors and law enforcement challenges around immigration

1754
01:42:54,998 --> 01:42:57,133
enforcement and visa certification are discouraging

1755
01:42:57,133 --> 01:42:58,402
some survivors from coming forward.

1756
01:42:58,402 --> 01:43:01,771
I spoke with someone just this weekend who feared reporting the

1757
01:43:01,771 --> 01:43:04,440
full extent of the violence he experienced to mpd because of

1758
01:43:04,440 --> 01:43:07,744
their partner's status. Trust is foundational to the

1759
01:43:07,744 --> 01:43:10,814
public safety, but it will take time to rebuild investments in

1760
01:43:10,814 --> 01:43:12,816
strengthening entry points outside of the police, such as

1761
01:43:12,816 --> 01:43:15,352
our crisis intervention center, developed with the support of

1762
01:43:15,352 --> 01:43:17,686
obs. Jg, provide relief in a critical

1763
01:43:17,686 --> 01:43:19,288
moment. We will continue encouraging the

1764
01:43:19,288 --> 01:43:21,825
council and agencies within the public safety cluster to think

1765
01:43:21,825 --> 01:43:24,894
about how to work smarter in a time of fiscal scarcity.

1766
01:43:24,894 --> 01:43:27,497
there are practical opportunities to strengthen mpd

1767
01:43:27,497 --> 01:43:30,233
response, including improvements in data collection,

1768
01:43:30,233 --> 01:43:32,102
transparency, coordination and communication.

1769
01:43:32,102 --> 01:43:34,270
these improvements have been discussed at length during past

1770
01:43:34,270 --> 01:43:36,706
performance hearing testimony, but these are not solely

1771
01:43:36,706 --> 01:43:38,843
resource issues. They're also about

1772
01:43:38,843 --> 01:43:40,977
prioritization. As a council evaluates this

1773
01:43:40,977 --> 01:43:43,790
budget, we urge a balanced approach.

1774
01:43:43,790 --> 01:43:45,949
increase funding to mpd does not necessarily address root causes

1775
01:43:45,949 --> 01:43:48,351
or system gaps. We must consider whether

1776
01:43:48,351 --> 01:43:51,221
continued increases are producing long, long standing

1777
01:43:51,221 --> 01:43:54,424
and sustainable improvements. Public safety requires a

1778
01:43:54,424 --> 01:43:56,593
coordinated, community wide approach, like the high risk

1779
01:43:56,593 --> 01:43:59,463
domestic violence initiative. While mpd is a critical partner,

1780
01:43:59,463 --> 01:44:02,333
they cannot do this work alone. Investment in social services

1781
01:44:02,333 --> 01:44:05,670
and prevention are essential to reducing domestic violence and

1782
01:44:05,670 --> 01:44:06,604
improving safety across the district.

1783
01:44:06,604 --> 01:44:09,140
thank you for your time and I look forward to answering any

1784
01:44:09,140 --> 01:44:11,140
questions. Thank you.

1785
01:44:14,511 --> 01:44:18,711
abul amin, policy fellow, fair budget coalition.

1786
01:44:19,616 --> 01:44:21,718
thank you. My name is bella meany.

1787
01:44:21,718 --> 01:44:25,489
I am a ward 4 resident and I also work at fair budget

1788
01:44:25,489 --> 01:44:29,793
coalition as the policy fellow. And in preparation for the fy 27

1789
01:44:29,793 --> 01:44:32,829
budget, fair budget coalition has worked over the past year,

1790
01:44:32,829 --> 01:44:36,990
as we do every year, to develop a set of recommendations that

1791
01:44:36,990 --> 01:44:39,769
ensure our communities have the resources and investments that

1792
01:44:39,769 --> 01:44:43,973
they so justly deserve. As it relates to mpd, our

1793
01:44:43,973 --> 01:44:48,244
primary recommendation is for $100 million to be reallocated

1794
01:44:48,244 --> 01:44:53,670
from the mpd budget to dhs to fund the emergency rental

1795
01:44:53,670 --> 01:44:55,872
assistance program. Of course, instead of heating

1796
01:44:55,872 --> 01:44:58,708
this recommendation from dc residents, mayor bowser has

1797
01:44:58,708 --> 01:45:03,812
proposed a $688 million budget for mpd that includes more than

1798
01:45:03,812 --> 01:45:08,484
89 million in additional funding compared to fy 26 fair budget

1799
01:45:08,484 --> 01:45:11,421
coalition calls on this committee to not only reverse

1800
01:45:11,421 --> 01:45:16,590
the mayor's increased funding for mpd, but to also cut an

1801
01:45:16,590 --> 01:45:18,361
additional $100 million. Dc residents have made clear

1802
01:45:18,361 --> 01:45:20,863
that they do not want or need more cops.

1803
01:45:20,863 --> 01:45:25,234
we need housing and care. Housing security is an integral

1804
01:45:25,234 --> 01:45:29,434
component of public safety. Moreover, programs addressing

1805
01:45:29,806 --> 01:45:32,675
housing insecurity and other investments in community

1806
01:45:32,675 --> 01:45:35,646
building simply have much higher returns on investment than

1807
01:45:35,646 --> 01:45:39,349
throwing money at the police. This is exactly why we make the

1808
01:45:39,349 --> 01:45:42,919
very reasonable recommendation of reallocating funds from mpd

1809
01:45:42,919 --> 01:45:45,521
to fund erap. I know from personal experience

1810
01:45:45,521 --> 01:45:50,260
that erap is an important mechanism for preventing

1811
01:45:50,260 --> 01:45:52,829
evictions, homelessness and ensuring housing stability among

1812
01:45:52,829 --> 01:45:55,732
community members with low income.

1813
01:45:55,732 --> 01:45:58,201
nonetheless, while mpd budget has expanded year after year,

1814
01:45:58,201 --> 01:46:02,710
the annual budget has been slashed each year since the

1815
01:46:02,710 --> 01:46:04,974
pandemic. Even while the eviction rate,

1816
01:46:04,974 --> 01:46:08,745
housing insecurity generally and rents have been on the rise, the

1817
01:46:08,745 --> 01:46:12,181
council should increase increase funding for erap and that money

1818
01:46:12,181 --> 01:46:16,850
should be reallocated from the very hefty mpd budget for

1819
01:46:16,850 --> 01:46:18,755
overtime, as well as vacant and unfilled positions.

1820
01:46:18,755 --> 01:46:23,192
I note also that the mayor has increased mpd overtime budget

1821
01:46:23,192 --> 01:46:27,392
alone by 42 million above the fy26 budget.

1822
01:46:28,131 --> 01:46:31,000
like trump, the mayor is disconnected from reality.

1823
01:46:31,000 --> 01:46:35,204
since this is an arbitrary and capricious increase in police

1824
01:46:35,204 --> 01:46:39,142
overtime spending, which the council should reverse with no

1825
01:46:39,142 --> 01:46:42,645
debate, investment in safety net programs like erap have a better

1826
01:46:42,645 --> 01:46:47,500
chance at reducing harm and violence in our communities by

1827
01:46:47,500 --> 01:46:52,450
providing dc residents with housing, real safety and care.

1828
01:46:52,722 --> 01:46:56,794
because true community safety comes from investing in the

1829
01:46:56,794 --> 01:46:59,794
people. Thank you very much.

1830
01:47:01,197 --> 01:47:04,797
thank you. Taleb kareem, executive director

1831
01:47:05,601 --> 01:47:08,100
of stem. For us.

1832
01:47:33,620 --> 01:47:38,368
mr. Muhammad, you're welcome to testify, but you cannot promote

1833
01:47:38,368 --> 01:47:42,905
a political campaign in the wilson building at this public

1834
01:47:42,905 --> 01:47:45,800
hearing. So if you're you want to

1835
01:47:45,800 --> 01:47:51,608
testify, you need to take that background off of the screen.

1836
01:47:56,452 --> 01:48:00,656
with all due respect, I, I am a candidate for mayor.

1837
01:48:00,656 --> 01:48:05,600
I am, you know, going to try to remove my my background.

1838
01:48:05,600 --> 01:48:08,731
but, you know, you are promoting your political campaign every

1839
01:48:08,731 --> 01:48:11,267
time you, you know, speak at this dais.

1840
01:48:11,267 --> 01:48:16,272
so I don't think that it's, you know, I need to cut you off

1841
01:48:16,272 --> 01:48:17,207
right there. I need you to take your

1842
01:48:17,207 --> 01:48:18,942
background. I need you to take your

1843
01:48:18,942 --> 01:48:21,440
background as someone I just told you.

1844
01:48:21,440 --> 01:48:24,800
I'm working to try to take it off, councilman.

1845
01:48:24,800 --> 01:48:27,749
but again, for you to try to silence what I say is, again,

1846
01:48:27,749 --> 01:48:31,200
I'm not silencing what you say, but I'm going to I'm going to

1847
01:48:31,200 --> 01:48:33,622
remove you. I'm going to remove you from

1848
01:48:33,622 --> 01:48:33,957
the. Okay.

1849
01:48:33,957 --> 01:48:37,293
so focus on that. I'll come unconstitutional.

1850
01:48:37,293 --> 01:48:42,310
I'll come back to you if you're able to, to remove that from the

1851
01:48:42,310 --> 01:48:45,310
screen. Christine corey, public witness.

1852
01:48:51,730 --> 01:48:52,842
hello. So good morning.

1853
01:48:52,842 --> 01:48:57,130
my name is christine corey and I was born and raised in dc.

1854
01:48:57,130 --> 01:49:00,950
I'm here today to draw attention to the egregious amount of money

1855
01:49:00,950 --> 01:49:04,530
that mpd allocates to surveillance technologies that

1856
01:49:04,530 --> 01:49:06,956
put all of our privacy at risk and are not effective at

1857
01:49:06,956 --> 01:49:10,556
reducing crime. For example, between 2016 and

1858
01:49:11,961 --> 01:49:16,132
2024, mpd spent $6.6 million to sound thinking inc., formerly

1859
01:49:16,132 --> 01:49:18,735
shotspotter inc. This technology is supposed to detect where

1860
01:49:18,735 --> 01:49:22,400
shots are fired and dispatch officers to these locations, but

1861
01:49:22,400 --> 01:49:26,208
has an extremely poor track record of accuracy.

1862
01:49:26,208 --> 01:49:27,977
between 2019 and 2021. In chicago.

1863
01:49:27,977 --> 01:49:30,146
86% of deployments by shotspotter turned up.

1864
01:49:30,146 --> 01:49:33,683
no report of any crime at all. In total, the use of shotspotter

1865
01:49:33,683 --> 01:49:38,287
there led to 40,000 dead end employment deployments in a 21

1866
01:49:38,287 --> 01:49:42,250
month period. In houston, only 5% of the 4400

1867
01:49:42,250 --> 01:49:45,270
alerts in less than two years resulted in any arrest, which

1868
01:49:45,270 --> 01:49:47,896
led the mayor to end the use of the technology, calling it a

1869
01:49:47,896 --> 01:49:50,366
gimmick. Unsurprisingly, given the lack

1870
01:49:50,366 --> 01:49:53,302
of accuracy, research has shown no association between the use

1871
01:49:53,302 --> 01:49:57,305
of this technology and reduced crime, nor any increased

1872
01:49:57,305 --> 01:49:59,208
likelihood that crimes will be solved.

1873
01:49:59,208 --> 01:50:02,440
not only is this technology expensive, but it also increases

1874
01:50:02,440 --> 01:50:05,314
the burden on the neighborhoods. It is present by causing

1875
01:50:05,314 --> 01:50:08,170
excessive deployments of police when there is no crime.

1876
01:50:08,170 --> 01:50:11,454
given that one of mpd's main expenditures is over time, it

1877
01:50:11,454 --> 01:50:15,991
seems unwise to invest millions of technology in a system that

1878
01:50:15,991 --> 01:50:19,428
routinely and systematically wastes officers time without

1879
01:50:19,428 --> 01:50:23,280
making community safer. Additionally, mpd spent $4

1880
01:50:23,165 --> 01:50:27,965
million on automated license plate readers technology between

1881
01:50:28,737 --> 01:50:32,675
2016 and 2024, and intends to spend between 1 and 5 million to

1882
01:50:32,675 --> 01:50:35,811
expand flock alpr cameras in the downtown corridor.

1883
01:50:35,811 --> 01:50:39,150
not only are these systems costly, they pose major privacy

1884
01:50:39,150 --> 01:50:42,585
risks for d.c. Residents. They collect data about all of

1885
01:50:42,585 --> 01:50:45,354
our movement without any guarantees or protections in

1886
01:50:45,354 --> 01:50:47,923
place to ensure that it is not misused.

1887
01:50:47,923 --> 01:50:50,760
these cameras are connected to a national network where law

1888
01:50:50,760 --> 01:50:53,596
enforcement, including federal agencies, can query the data,

1889
01:50:53,596 --> 01:50:57,900
and flock has a track record of collaborating with ice.

1890
01:50:57,900 --> 01:51:03,223
since 2023, mpd has also spent over $1.7 million to celebrate a

1891
01:51:03,223 --> 01:51:05,559
surveillance company with contracts with ice, namely on

1892
01:51:05,559 --> 01:51:09,229
its pathfinder ai software. Pathfinder is used to analyze

1893
01:51:09,229 --> 01:51:12,465
data extracted from phones to track locations, interpret slang

1894
01:51:12,465 --> 01:51:16,203
and coded language, and analyze images and videos, including

1895
01:51:16,203 --> 01:51:19,873
facial recognition data. Access to this data allows mpd

1896
01:51:19,873 --> 01:51:23,760
and their collaborators to identify and surveil anyone

1897
01:51:23,760 --> 01:51:25,512
whose cell phone they had scraped, whether they had a

1898
01:51:25,512 --> 01:51:28,817
legitimate reason to do so or not, as well as those in their

1899
01:51:28,817 --> 01:51:30,851
proximity. Putting d.c. Residents privacy

1900
01:51:30,851 --> 01:51:33,287
at risk. The safest communities are not

1901
01:51:33,287 --> 01:51:35,756
the most surveilled communities. They are the communities with

1902
01:51:35,756 --> 01:51:38,926
the most resources. We need to stop wanton spending

1903
01:51:38,926 --> 01:51:42,429
on flashy technologies that invade our privacy and

1904
01:51:42,429 --> 01:51:44,331
needlessly increase police presence.

1905
01:51:44,331 --> 01:51:47,101
we should instead redirect funds to our social safety net.

1906
01:51:47,101 --> 01:51:50,236
I do not have time to list all of the underfunded programs

1907
01:51:50,236 --> 01:51:52,841
where this money would be better spent, but I will close by

1908
01:51:52,841 --> 01:51:55,909
highlighting the emergency rental assistance program, which

1909
01:51:55,909 --> 01:51:59,146
provides an important mechanism for preventing evictions and

1910
01:51:59,146 --> 01:52:02,349
homelessness and providing housing stability for low income

1911
01:52:02,349 --> 01:52:04,418
community members. Stable housing is one of many

1912
01:52:04,418 --> 01:52:07,121
things that makes our community safer and more secure.

1913
01:52:07,121 --> 01:52:11,321
thank you for your time. Thank you.

1914
01:52:14,461 --> 01:52:21,610
okay, to leave kareem muhammad, are we gonna follow the rules?

1915
01:52:21,635 --> 01:52:26,400
madam chair, I again, I, I want to reject your position about me

1916
01:52:26,400 --> 01:52:27,908
following rules. I don't think you follow the

1917
01:52:27,908 --> 01:52:31,678
rules as reported by, you know, some of the recent comments you

1918
01:52:31,678 --> 01:52:35,215
made about your opponent. But I mean, you talking about me

1919
01:52:35,215 --> 01:52:39,954
following mr. Mohammed. We we run these first of all,

1920
01:52:39,954 --> 01:52:43,557
show me a rule concerning political expression.

1921
01:52:43,557 --> 01:52:45,793
okay. And I would like to see that I

1922
01:52:45,793 --> 01:52:50,970
don't I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm not going to let you testify if

1923
01:52:50,970 --> 01:52:52,199
you're going to continue on this way.

1924
01:52:52,199 --> 01:52:54,734
we treat every person with respect in this committee.

1925
01:52:54,734 --> 01:52:57,104
you are not allowed to promote a campaign.

1926
01:52:57,104 --> 01:53:00,641
we would welcome to hear your testimony on ouk or mpd, which

1927
01:53:00,641 --> 01:53:02,644
are the topics of today's hearing.

1928
01:53:02,644 --> 01:53:05,378
I'd like to give you your time to do that now, if that's what

1929
01:53:05,378 --> 01:53:07,982
you're here to talk about. I am here to talk about it.

1930
01:53:07,982 --> 01:53:14,582
but I reject your position. I, I reject your attempting to

1931
01:53:14,688 --> 01:53:17,925
again stifle my expression. And if you're going to allow me

1932
01:53:17,925 --> 01:53:23,630
to testify, I'm happy to do so. But I will not allow you to

1933
01:53:23,630 --> 01:53:26,000
basically characterize what I'm doing as being against the

1934
01:53:26,000 --> 01:53:26,867
rules. And if you.

1935
01:53:26,867 --> 01:53:32,605
and if there are rules that, again, suggest that a person can

1936
01:53:32,605 --> 01:53:35,275
have a particular background that like for you to show that

1937
01:53:35,275 --> 01:53:37,811
to me, I've never heard again. I've worked for the council,

1938
01:53:37,811 --> 01:53:39,679
I've served as counsel to the mayor.

1939
01:53:39,679 --> 01:53:43,416
and I know what you're saying is patently not true, but I'm happy

1940
01:53:43,416 --> 01:53:45,886
to, you know, again, be corrected if you if you have

1941
01:53:45,886 --> 01:53:50,686
such rules. Your time is is moving down.

1942
01:53:51,692 --> 01:53:54,762
do you have any testimony you'd like to share?

1943
01:53:54,762 --> 01:53:58,432
oh, hold on for excuse me, I would like to reclaim my full

1944
01:53:58,432 --> 01:54:00,933
amount of time because we were talking about the rules.

1945
01:54:00,933 --> 01:54:04,137
and I told you a minute ago we were starting your testimony.

1946
01:54:04,137 --> 01:54:06,907
please go ahead with your testimony.

1947
01:54:06,907 --> 01:54:09,609
okay. If I can I be given a full

1948
01:54:09,609 --> 01:54:13,513
amount of time because I, I have my my testimony that I'd like

1949
01:54:13,513 --> 01:54:16,650
to, to give. We were talking about the rules

1950
01:54:16,650 --> 01:54:21,788
concerning my background, and I think that it would be, again, a

1951
01:54:21,788 --> 01:54:25,659
disservice if the committee did not allow me the full amount of

1952
01:54:25,659 --> 01:54:29,629
time to discuss my recommendations for mpd, as

1953
01:54:29,629 --> 01:54:32,666
opposed to discussing. Please, please stop continuing

1954
01:54:32,666 --> 01:54:35,200
this conversation. Please go ahead with your

1955
01:54:35,200 --> 01:54:38,839
testimony. So will I be allowed to give my

1956
01:54:38,839 --> 01:54:40,607
full testimony? That's my question.

1957
01:54:40,607 --> 01:54:43,410
you have taken more than double your time at this point.

1958
01:54:43,410 --> 01:54:47,581
I will allow you to go for three minutes, but please begin.

1959
01:54:47,581 --> 01:54:49,950
no problem. Thank you very much.

1960
01:54:49,950 --> 01:54:55,622
are you able to see me? Let me just make sure.

1961
01:54:55,622 --> 01:54:58,291
I'm sorry. You've disabled my my video.

1962
01:54:58,291 --> 01:55:01,628
can you re-enable it? We disabled your video because

1963
01:55:01,628 --> 01:55:05,265
you would not take off your political background.

1964
01:55:05,265 --> 01:55:07,300
please go ahead. I'm not going to give you extra

1965
01:55:07,300 --> 01:55:07,901
time. Again.

1966
01:55:07,901 --> 01:55:10,137
please go ahead with your testimony.

1967
01:55:10,137 --> 01:55:12,305
all due respect. I just asked you to turn back on

1968
01:55:12,305 --> 01:55:16,176
my video so I could be seen. I took down, first of all, the

1969
01:55:16,176 --> 01:55:18,345
political background as I told you I would.

1970
01:55:18,345 --> 01:55:21,148
but again, as I just told you, I think that what you're saying

1971
01:55:21,148 --> 01:55:26,186
is, is not legal as a lawyer and as a former counsel to this to

1972
01:55:26,186 --> 01:55:29,756
this body of the dc council, I know this to be a fact, but

1973
01:55:29,756 --> 01:55:31,424
nevertheless, I am complying with your request.

1974
01:55:31,424 --> 01:55:35,729
can you please turn on the video so I can give my presentation,

1975
01:55:35,729 --> 01:55:40,529
as everybody else has been given an opportunity?

1976
01:55:47,400 --> 01:55:49,942
I'm still not able to do so. Video is on our screen.

1977
01:55:49,942 --> 01:55:55,342
we can see it. All right, but it says.

1978
01:55:58,180 --> 01:56:00,180
right. Thank you.

1979
01:56:03,256 --> 01:56:07,194
so as was stated, my name is taleb kareem muhammad.

1980
01:56:07,194 --> 01:56:09,296
I'm the executive director for stem.

1981
01:56:09,296 --> 01:56:16,570
for us, I am a former counsel to the dc council, former special

1982
01:56:16,570 --> 01:56:20,374
counsel to the past mayor, former chief of staff to the

1983
01:56:20,374 --> 01:56:25,378
largest dc government agency and a former chief counsel for a

1984
01:56:25,378 --> 01:56:30,778
member of the house judiciary committee, which oversees both

1985
01:56:30,917 --> 01:56:34,921
the department of justice as well as the district's

1986
01:56:34,921 --> 01:56:39,259
application for statehood, stem. For us, as an organization

1987
01:56:39,259 --> 01:56:41,728
that's dedicated to empowering our communities, particularly

1988
01:56:41,728 --> 01:56:45,928
our youth, through providing quality relationships with

1989
01:56:47,200 --> 01:56:52,000
mentors and increasing funding or advocating for increased

1990
01:56:52,205 --> 01:56:56,143
funding for such, particularly in the dc government.

1991
01:56:56,143 --> 01:57:01,515
we are here to discuss the mayor's fiscal year 2027 dc

1992
01:57:01,515 --> 01:57:03,915
budget, specifically, the 674. 674,000,674.5 million.

1993
01:57:08,321 --> 01:57:13,643
allocation for mpd. As for us, we deeply believe

1994
01:57:13,643 --> 01:57:18,414
that the districts the district should be a safe, affordable and

1995
01:57:18,414 --> 01:57:20,849
free place to live. We understand that our

1996
01:57:20,849 --> 01:57:23,720
residents, our seniors, our small businesses demand safety.

1997
01:57:23,720 --> 01:57:28,258
however, when we analyze the data in the $21.2 billion

1998
01:57:28,258 --> 01:57:30,927
budget, we see critical misalignment.

1999
01:57:30,927 --> 01:57:34,665
we're investing heavily in our reactive system that closing

2000
01:57:34,665 --> 01:57:39,369
cases, for example, after the trauma has already occurred

2001
01:57:39,369 --> 01:57:42,472
while simultaneously gutting the preventive systems that stop

2002
01:57:42,472 --> 01:57:45,608
violence before it starts. This is not a blueprint for long

2003
01:57:45,608 --> 01:57:48,545
term safety. It's a blueprint for managing

2004
01:57:48,545 --> 01:57:51,947
failure. The the data, specifically in

2005
01:57:51,947 --> 01:57:56,747
fiscal year 2027, the budget proposes massive funding for

2006
01:57:57,120 --> 01:58:01,320
recruitment and capital upgrades, but it slashes

2007
01:58:03,459 --> 01:58:08,859
violence into intervention and also victim support is basically

2008
01:58:09,965 --> 01:58:12,965
gutted. The budget proposes a $5.5

2009
01:58:13,202 --> 01:58:16,802
million cut to victim services, grants.

2010
01:58:17,306 --> 01:58:23,112
from a us perspective, you cannot police your way out of

2011
01:58:23,112 --> 01:58:27,917
violence, but you can invest in the types of preventative

2012
01:58:27,917 --> 01:58:31,421
measures such as strengthening parenting and addressing some of

2013
01:58:31,421 --> 01:58:35,258
the underlying causes of violence within the home.

2014
01:58:35,258 --> 01:58:39,896
to prevent that violence from being spread outside the house.

2015
01:58:39,896 --> 01:58:44,696
we would recommend reallocating funds to restore victim

2016
01:58:45,668 --> 01:58:50,873
services, restore access to tech prevention grants, and we

2017
01:58:50,873 --> 01:58:54,277
believe that stem for us would be a partner, particularly in

2018
01:58:54,277 --> 01:58:57,130
exciting our young people, particularly about ways that

2019
01:58:57,130 --> 01:59:00,717
they can prevent violence through using technology.

2020
01:59:00,717 --> 01:59:03,419
the surveillance technology that is out there, that is being,

2021
01:59:03,419 --> 01:59:07,357
again, run by companies like palantir that are totally

2022
01:59:07,357 --> 01:59:11,694
invasive and against our youth would be reversed by

2023
01:59:11,694 --> 01:59:15,230
partnerships with young people to actually show them how

2024
01:59:15,230 --> 01:59:20,360
technology can be a value added partner, both in keeping them

2025
01:59:20,360 --> 01:59:24,540
safe, their families safe, and their community safe, without

2026
01:59:24,540 --> 01:59:28,778
any further ado, I'd like to again make myself available for

2027
01:59:28,778 --> 01:59:30,580
any questions that this committee might have.

2028
01:59:30,580 --> 01:59:34,780
thank you. Thank you for your testimony.

2029
01:59:37,253 --> 01:59:40,857
that concludes our public testimony for today.

2030
01:59:40,857 --> 01:59:43,993
thank you to everybody for your time and your insights on these

2031
01:59:43,993 --> 01:59:48,664
very important budgets. We are going to turn now to our

2032
01:59:48,664 --> 01:59:50,267
government witnesses. We'll be beginning with the

2033
01:59:50,267 --> 01:59:53,269
office of unified communications, where we'll hear

2034
01:59:53,269 --> 01:59:57,807
from director heather mcgaffin and anyone on her team who will

2035
01:59:57,807 --> 01:59:59,807
be joining. Hi.

2036
02:00:09,552 --> 02:00:15,552
welcome to you all. I can ask that everybody turn

2037
02:00:17,793 --> 02:00:20,300
your microphone on and state your name and your position.

2038
02:00:20,300 --> 02:00:23,632
for the record, please. Heather mcgaffin, director,

2039
02:00:23,632 --> 02:00:26,320
office of unified communications.

2040
02:00:26,235 --> 02:00:29,773
gavin suarez, chief information officer, kipling ross, program

2041
02:00:29,773 --> 02:00:31,240
manager. Doug.

2042
02:00:31,240 --> 02:00:33,309
excuse me. Douglas kemp, agency fiscal

2043
02:00:33,309 --> 02:00:34,810
officer. Wonderful.

2044
02:00:34,810 --> 02:00:37,447
well, welcome. I'm going to swear everybody in

2045
02:00:37,447 --> 02:00:41,170
who'll be testifying. Do you swear or affirm under

2046
02:00:41,170 --> 02:00:43,252
penalty of law, that the testimony you're about to

2047
02:00:43,252 --> 02:00:46,880
provide before this committee and the council of the district

2048
02:00:46,880 --> 02:00:48,790
of columbia is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the

2049
02:00:48,790 --> 02:00:52,128
truth, I do, yes. Thank you, director markoff.

2050
02:00:52,128 --> 02:00:54,296
I'd now like to invite you to make any opening statement.

2051
02:00:54,296 --> 02:00:57,896
you have. Thank you, chairperson pinto.

2052
02:01:01,604 --> 02:01:03,206
good afternoon, chairperson pinto.

2053
02:01:03,206 --> 02:01:05,874
members of the committee, committee staff and council

2054
02:01:05,874 --> 02:01:07,609
members. My name is heather mcgaffin and

2055
02:01:07,609 --> 02:01:10,413
I'm the proud director of the office of unified

2056
02:01:10,413 --> 02:01:13,413
communications. Mayor bowser's proposed fy 27

2057
02:01:14,383 --> 02:01:18,988
budget grow dc was formulated with three key considerations in

2058
02:01:18,988 --> 02:01:23,392
mind how to drive growth in our economy to fund the services and

2059
02:01:23,392 --> 02:01:26,950
programs residents count on, how to keep families in d.c. And

2060
02:01:26,950 --> 02:01:29,970
attract new residents, and how to create a business environment

2061
02:01:29,970 --> 02:01:31,834
that draws new investment and creates new jobs.

2062
02:01:31,834 --> 02:01:34,937
we are navigating a pivotal moment that demands more

2063
02:01:34,937 --> 02:01:38,174
deliberate approach to growth. The federal dollars that once

2064
02:01:38,174 --> 02:01:41,677
expanded our programs and unprecedented ways have been

2065
02:01:41,677 --> 02:01:44,513
exhausted, and the federal workforce reductions have

2066
02:01:44,513 --> 02:01:47,451
introduced new pressures on our economy and commercial

2067
02:01:47,451 --> 02:01:49,585
corridors. That being said, it is important

2068
02:01:49,585 --> 02:01:54,790
to be clear dc is still growing. Revenues have slowed, but the

2069
02:01:54,790 --> 02:01:58,326
city maintains a strong financial foundation on which we

2070
02:01:58,326 --> 02:02:01,730
can build by making the kinds of strategic and targeted decisions

2071
02:02:01,730 --> 02:02:04,667
that will allow d.c. To continue to grow while delivering the

2072
02:02:04,667 --> 02:02:08,971
high quality services our residents depend on, dc

2073
02:02:08,971 --> 02:02:11,874
acknowledges the economic realities we face by

2074
02:02:11,874 --> 02:02:14,377
prioritizing the most critical investments needed to ensure

2075
02:02:14,377 --> 02:02:17,913
that our city continues to be a place where people want to call

2076
02:02:17,913 --> 02:02:22,840
home, visit and do business in. I'm immensely grateful to mayor

2077
02:02:22,840 --> 02:02:26,210
bowser for providing me with the resources needed to execute its

2078
02:02:26,210 --> 02:02:29,525
role at the highest level in providing efficient emergency

2079
02:02:29,525 --> 02:02:32,962
and non-emergency communications and reliable access to city

2080
02:02:32,962 --> 02:02:36,364
services and information. I want to take a moment, like I

2081
02:02:36,364 --> 02:02:39,602
always do, and recognize the employees of ouc who demonstrate

2082
02:02:39,602 --> 02:02:42,839
their dedication to serving the public by answering the calls.

2083
02:02:42,839 --> 02:02:45,374
to put this commitment in perspective, last year, our 911

2084
02:02:45,374 --> 02:02:49,450
call takers and dispatchers managed 1.4 million 911 calls

2085
02:02:49,450 --> 02:02:52,214
and dispatched first responders from the metropolitan police

2086
02:02:52,214 --> 02:02:55,451
department and d.c. Fire and ems.

2087
02:02:55,451 --> 02:02:59,188
approximately 9000 times, making the d.c. 901 center one of the

2088
02:02:59,188 --> 02:03:01,757
busiest in the country. Historically, it continues to

2089
02:03:01,757 --> 02:03:05,261
rank as one of the fourth busiest centers behind the large

2090
02:03:05,261 --> 02:03:07,697
cities of new york, chicago and la.

2091
02:03:07,697 --> 02:03:10,933
in addition to processing tens of thousands of non-emergency

2092
02:03:10,933 --> 02:03:15,304
police reports, professionals at ouc provide life saving care.

2093
02:03:15,304 --> 02:03:20,420
they provide first aid, cpr, and deliver babies, and by hosting

2094
02:03:20,420 --> 02:03:23,226
text to 911 sessions with thousands of callers.

2095
02:03:23,226 --> 02:03:26,696
the entire ouc workforce understands the tremendous

2096
02:03:26,696 --> 02:03:29,232
responsibility of this workload, and they take their role in

2097
02:03:29,232 --> 02:03:33,360
helping to maintain safe, clean and engaged communities across

2098
02:03:33,360 --> 02:03:37,236
the city seriously. Last year, our 311 customer

2099
02:03:37,907 --> 02:03:41,712
service reps handled over 850,000 calls and facilitated

2100
02:03:41,712 --> 02:03:45,949
the processing of nearly 900,000 city service requests in

2101
02:03:45,949 --> 02:03:49,786
coordination with dozens of our d.c. Government agency partners.

2102
02:03:49,786 --> 02:03:52,655
additionally, our 311 social media team processed tens of

2103
02:03:52,655 --> 02:03:55,158
thousands of requests posted on x.

2104
02:03:55,158 --> 02:03:57,994
I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the feedback we've

2105
02:03:57,994 --> 02:04:01,310
received about the 311 mobile app and the web portal.

2106
02:04:01,310 --> 02:04:04,268
we understand how frustrating it is when the user experience does

2107
02:04:04,268 --> 02:04:07,604
not meet expectations. Since these issues were flagged,

2108
02:04:07,604 --> 02:04:10,940
we've been collaborating with the developer on fixes, and I

2109
02:04:10,940 --> 02:04:13,542
want to assure you that updates are on the way.

2110
02:04:13,542 --> 02:04:16,120
in the meantime, if you're willing, we ask that you use and

2111
02:04:16,120 --> 02:04:18,481
share our feedback form, which you can find on the bottom left

2112
02:04:18,481 --> 02:04:24,454
corner of the 311 online portal, or at 311.dc.gov, so we can

2113
02:04:24,454 --> 02:04:26,230
understand exactly what you're seeing.

2114
02:04:26,230 --> 02:04:28,625
this will help us conduct additional testing more

2115
02:04:28,625 --> 02:04:31,494
thoroughly and make sure the updates truly solve the issues.

2116
02:04:31,494 --> 02:04:35,310
patients and insight are appreciated and crucial to

2117
02:04:35,310 --> 02:04:37,300
making improvements to the app and the web portal.

2118
02:04:37,300 --> 02:04:40,700
I'm also pleased to announce that we will invite a group of

2119
02:04:40,700 --> 02:04:43,439
residents from across all eight wards to serve as beta testers

2120
02:04:43,439 --> 02:04:46,710
of the enhanced platforms before launch.

2121
02:04:46,710 --> 02:04:49,946
lastly, as always, you can submit a service request by

2122
02:04:49,946 --> 02:04:55,346
calling 311, alerting us via ecs or visiting the online

2123
02:04:56,453 --> 02:04:58,888
portal@311.dc.gov. At uc, we are committed to

2124
02:04:58,888 --> 02:05:01,691
giving each resident and visitor the peace of mind that we are

2125
02:05:01,691 --> 02:05:04,994
here when they need us most. Whether this is for

2126
02:05:04,994 --> 02:05:08,164
non-emergency help or in the most dire of times, with

2127
02:05:08,164 --> 02:05:11,267
investments in recruitment and retention, technology and

2128
02:05:11,267 --> 02:05:15,805
training, we have achieved 97% of 901 calls being answered in

2129
02:05:15,805 --> 02:05:18,741
20s or less. This performance exceeds the

2130
02:05:18,741 --> 02:05:22,812
national 911 call processing standard, which mandates that

2131
02:05:22,812 --> 02:05:27,550
90% of all 911 calls arriving at the app shall be answered within

2132
02:05:27,550 --> 02:05:29,885
15 seconds. Also, that 95% of the 911 calls

2133
02:05:29,885 --> 02:05:34,824
should be answered within 20s. Notably, we also saw a 31%

2134
02:05:34,824 --> 02:05:37,828
increase in the number of agency held records requests and are

2135
02:05:37,828 --> 02:05:41,197
proud to share that we fulfilled 100% of them within legislative

2136
02:05:41,197 --> 02:05:45,235
time frames in fiscal year 26, major investments were made in

2137
02:05:45,235 --> 02:05:47,837
technology and capital projects. For uc.

2138
02:05:47,837 --> 02:05:50,908
it's important to note that the ucs budget doesn't just fund

2139
02:05:50,908 --> 02:05:54,277
three, one, one and 911 call processing and dispatch, but it

2140
02:05:54,277 --> 02:05:58,448
also funds the radios, mobile data terminals and other public

2141
02:05:58,448 --> 02:06:02,184
safety communications tools used across the city by mpd and fms

2142
02:06:02,184 --> 02:06:05,655
and other government agencies, including the upkeep of all ten

2143
02:06:05,655 --> 02:06:07,657
radio tower sites across the city.

2144
02:06:07,657 --> 02:06:11,461
this is an immense and necessary part of public safety that

2145
02:06:11,461 --> 02:06:14,461
ultimately ensures the responder safety.

2146
02:06:15,640 --> 02:06:18,401
I'd like to take a moment to mention the renovation of the

2147
02:06:18,401 --> 02:06:22,100
public safety communications center, or psc.

2148
02:06:22,205 --> 02:06:25,775
ouc secondary operations site. This project represents the

2149
02:06:25,775 --> 02:06:28,243
critical capital investment mayor bowser made in public

2150
02:06:28,243 --> 02:06:31,681
safety through the years. That helps ensure long term

2151
02:06:31,681 --> 02:06:34,650
operational continuity and resilience for the district's

2152
02:06:34,650 --> 02:06:36,650
emergency communications infrastructure.

2153
02:06:37,200 --> 02:06:40,690
this multi-phased project modernized and expanded the

2154
02:06:40,690 --> 02:06:45,962
facility to fully support 911311 and the radio and mobile data

2155
02:06:45,962 --> 02:06:48,832
computing operations addressing urgent needs in mechanical

2156
02:06:48,832 --> 02:06:51,601
systems, spatial planning and technology infrastructure.

2157
02:06:51,601 --> 02:06:55,705
the project truly exemplifies the district's commitment to

2158
02:06:55,705 --> 02:06:59,708
delivering resilient, modernized infrastructure for public safety

2159
02:06:59,708 --> 02:07:03,246
operations by providing enhanced operational operational

2160
02:07:03,246 --> 02:07:06,846
capacity, workforce flexibility and technological infrastructure

2161
02:07:06,916 --> 02:07:10,653
aligned with the evolving demands of first in class

2162
02:07:10,653 --> 02:07:14,253
emergency communications. The mayor's proposed fy 27

2163
02:07:14,891 --> 02:07:18,461
budget for ouc enables us to meet the demand of a growing and

2164
02:07:18,461 --> 02:07:21,597
thriving dc with the resources it needs to do just that.

2165
02:07:21,597 --> 02:07:27,597
the proposed operating budget for ouc for fiscal year 27 is

2166
02:07:29,739 --> 02:07:33,339
$60,186,154, a 6.9% decrease from fiscal year 26 approved

2167
02:07:34,943 --> 02:07:39,682
budget and supports 413 fte. Last year, the strategic

2168
02:07:39,682 --> 02:07:42,719
investments made by mayor bowser and our workforce not only

2169
02:07:42,719 --> 02:07:47,122
enabled ouc to reduce the speed of answer for 911 calls from 15

2170
02:07:47,122 --> 02:07:48,691
seconds to an average of four seconds.

2171
02:07:48,691 --> 02:07:52,228
it also enabled the attainment of apco's agency training

2172
02:07:52,228 --> 02:07:55,465
program accreditation. This accreditation confirms scs

2173
02:07:55,465 --> 02:07:58,465
training program aligns with apco's.

2174
02:07:59,200 --> 02:08:01,537
american national standards, or ansi, in its curriculum

2175
02:08:01,537 --> 02:08:05,737
materials and documentations, which meet rigorous, nationally

2176
02:08:05,808 --> 02:08:08,611
recognized benchmarks. It also ensures our 911

2177
02:08:08,611 --> 02:08:13,411
professionals receive effective initial and ongoing training and

2178
02:08:13,516 --> 02:08:16,285
certifications aligned with best practices, so we deliver

2179
02:08:16,285 --> 02:08:19,188
consistent, reliable and professional service, especially

2180
02:08:19,188 --> 02:08:23,388
as technology evolves in call volume increases.

2181
02:08:23,426 --> 02:08:26,950
additionally, investments in the workforce allowed for pay parity

2182
02:08:26,950 --> 02:08:29,532
for three, one, one and 911 employees whose salaries were

2183
02:08:29,532 --> 02:08:31,334
disparate within the division as well.

2184
02:08:31,334 --> 02:08:34,337
an increased pay for 911 call takers so that they are now paid

2185
02:08:34,337 --> 02:08:39,108
at a starting rate of $61,313, which is higher than their

2186
02:08:39,108 --> 02:08:41,310
counterparts across the national capital region.

2187
02:08:41,310 --> 02:08:45,147
funding the entry level call taking position in this manner

2188
02:08:45,147 --> 02:08:47,550
provides the means for us to build a solid foundation that

2189
02:08:47,550 --> 02:08:50,186
allows for career ladder growth for the individual employee,

2190
02:08:50,186 --> 02:08:53,220
while remaining competitive in the in the region.

2191
02:08:53,220 --> 02:08:55,910
to attract and retain the best talent.

2192
02:08:55,910 --> 02:08:57,960
if you're interested in a position, please go to

2193
02:08:57,960 --> 02:09:01,197
careers.dc.gov and look for the telecommunications equipment

2194
02:09:01,197 --> 02:09:03,901
operator position posting, which is live because we'd love to

2195
02:09:03,901 --> 02:09:09,301
have you join our team. The proposed fy 27 budget

2196
02:09:10,373 --> 02:09:13,910
includes $20.3 million in operating funds to support 41

2197
02:09:13,910 --> 02:09:16,912
fts of the it division and maintenance support and

2198
02:09:16,912 --> 02:09:19,148
equipment costs for these different facets of the public

2199
02:09:19,148 --> 02:09:24,870
safety system in the district. Additionally, in fiscal year 27,

2200
02:09:24,870 --> 02:09:27,590
the 9.44 million capital budget will fund uninterrupted power

2201
02:09:27,590 --> 02:09:30,360
supply replacements at the unified communications center.

2202
02:09:30,360 --> 02:09:34,420
upgrades to the three one service platform, computer aided

2203
02:09:34,420 --> 02:09:37,420
dispatch enhancements, deployment of 160 emergency

2204
02:09:38,546 --> 02:09:41,546
communications consulates, replacement of 500 portable

2205
02:09:41,850 --> 02:09:45,753
radios for d.c. Government agencies, upgrades to radio

2206
02:09:45,753 --> 02:09:49,490
tower sites across the city, and the replacement of aging fleet

2207
02:09:49,490 --> 02:09:51,890
vehicles. Additionally, the proposed 9.4

2208
02:09:52,560 --> 02:09:55,964
million in fiscal year 27 capital funding will be used to

2209
02:09:55,964 --> 02:09:59,467
address several critical needs across our emergency

2210
02:09:59,467 --> 02:10:01,569
communications and support infrastructure.

2211
02:10:01,569 --> 02:10:04,906
this funding will go towards replacing aging radio and

2212
02:10:04,906 --> 02:10:09,770
dispatch equipment, upgrading our cad system and our three one

2213
02:10:09,770 --> 02:10:11,980
system platforms, making needed improvements to the electrical

2214
02:10:11,980 --> 02:10:15,784
and communication system that keeps services running reliably.

2215
02:10:15,784 --> 02:10:20,121
it will also support the replacing fleet and system

2216
02:10:20,121 --> 02:10:22,524
upgrades. Together, these investments help

2217
02:10:22,524 --> 02:10:25,659
maintain reliable service and strengthen the systems we rely

2218
02:10:25,659 --> 02:10:29,330
on each and every day to support the ongoing operating costs of

2219
02:10:29,330 --> 02:10:32,100
public safety, including personnel and administration of

2220
02:10:32,100 --> 02:10:35,203
901 and the technology and infrastructure and

2221
02:10:35,203 --> 02:10:38,106
interoperability and enabling 911 call handling and dispatch

2222
02:10:38,106 --> 02:10:42,430
the public services hotel occupancy fee amendment act of

2223
02:10:42,430 --> 02:10:45,613
2026 is also proposed in grow dc.

2224
02:10:45,613 --> 02:10:50,413
annual costs have outpaced 901 fee revenue collections since

2225
02:10:50,518 --> 02:10:53,454
2016, causing the agency to rely on the fund balance and an

2226
02:10:53,454 --> 02:10:58,920
infusion of revenue from events dc to cover operating costs.

2227
02:10:58,920 --> 02:11:01,229
fy 2027 budget fully depletes the fund balance and the annual

2228
02:11:01,229 --> 02:11:05,234
shortfall in revenue versus expenditures is estimated to be

2229
02:11:05,234 --> 02:11:07,868
$7 million. The subtitle assesses an 80 cent

2230
02:11:07,868 --> 02:11:11,500
per night fee for occupied hotel rooms.

2231
02:11:11,500 --> 02:11:14,709
it recognizes visitors to our city, use our emergency and

2232
02:11:14,709 --> 02:11:17,879
non-emergency systems, and will fully close the $7 million gap

2233
02:11:17,879 --> 02:11:20,115
without imposing the full burden on the residents of the

2234
02:11:20,115 --> 02:11:22,250
district. As we continue to welcome record

2235
02:11:22,250 --> 02:11:25,520
numbers of visitors. Not only will this fee help us

2236
02:11:25,520 --> 02:11:27,790
to thrive as a world class city, but it will also ensure that we

2237
02:11:27,790 --> 02:11:31,126
are able to continue to provide world class services as an

2238
02:11:31,126 --> 02:11:34,429
agency. Ouc remains committed to being

2239
02:11:34,429 --> 02:11:36,264
innovative, resilient and steadfast in serving the

2240
02:11:36,264 --> 02:11:38,666
residents and visitors of this incredible city.

2241
02:11:38,666 --> 02:11:41,736
we are proud. Our center is one other

2242
02:11:41,736 --> 02:11:44,505
jurisdictions look to in reference when they're upgrading

2243
02:11:44,505 --> 02:11:47,750
technology, implementing new programs, and collaborating

2244
02:11:47,750 --> 02:11:49,678
about new ideas. I look forward to answering any

2245
02:11:49,678 --> 02:11:51,145
questions you may have at this time.

2246
02:11:51,145 --> 02:11:53,145
thank you. Great.

2247
02:11:55,283 --> 02:11:58,119
thank you very much. Director mcgaffin.

2248
02:11:58,119 --> 02:11:59,854
and as always, I want to thank you.

2249
02:11:59,854 --> 02:12:03,725
and everybody who works at ouc, who is here today and who is

2250
02:12:03,725 --> 02:12:08,863
hard at work in the agency because it never shuts down and

2251
02:12:08,863 --> 02:12:11,666
is operating 24 over seven. Appreciate all you do.

2252
02:12:11,666 --> 02:12:18,139
behalf of the district. I want to begin also, as always

2253
02:12:18,139 --> 02:12:22,176
today around staffing, because as we look at this budget,

2254
02:12:22,176 --> 02:12:25,813
supporting our workforce and making sure that all of our

2255
02:12:25,813 --> 02:12:29,283
agencies have the personnel that you need to carry out, your

2256
02:12:29,283 --> 02:12:34,188
mission is really paramount to our responsibility as a

2257
02:12:34,188 --> 02:12:37,788
government. And as I look at.

2258
02:12:37,825 --> 02:12:43,297
ouc's budget, I'm worried about what looks like a proposed

2259
02:12:43,297 --> 02:12:46,468
reduction in. Ftes and with staffing.

2260
02:12:46,468 --> 02:12:51,500
and so can you explain the kind of rationale there and what this

2261
02:12:51,500 --> 02:12:55,143
would mean for personnel jobs that you currently have

2262
02:12:55,143 --> 02:12:57,346
vacancies and your ability to fulfill your mission?

2263
02:12:57,346 --> 02:12:59,747
sure. So currently we have 18

2264
02:12:59,747 --> 02:13:04,547
vacancies for customer service representatives on three one,

2265
02:13:05,180 --> 02:13:06,288
one, 11 of those we're going to keep.

2266
02:13:06,288 --> 02:13:11,250
and we are hiring into that. They are we are working through

2267
02:13:11,250 --> 02:13:13,561
pay parity. A lot of our customer service

2268
02:13:13,561 --> 02:13:18,990
representatives came to us through doe s programs, so we

2269
02:13:18,990 --> 02:13:21,469
have been working with them over the last several weeks to, to do

2270
02:13:21,469 --> 02:13:22,837
their resumes and things like that.

2271
02:13:22,837 --> 02:13:26,174
they'll be competing for a full time job for the first time as

2272
02:13:26,174 --> 02:13:30,211
part of the pay parity. And then we will back pay them

2273
02:13:30,211 --> 02:13:33,114
through october 5th, which was the first full pay period of

2274
02:13:33,114 --> 02:13:35,216
this paycheck. We've they know about this.

2275
02:13:35,216 --> 02:13:38,786
we've been educating them on that.

2276
02:13:38,786 --> 02:13:41,956
and so we will be cutting seven positions.

2277
02:13:41,956 --> 02:13:48,330
we are doing that because folks are using the portal and the app

2278
02:13:48,330 --> 02:13:52,133
more. And so we are going to say,

2279
02:13:52,133 --> 02:13:54,200
folks, you mean residents, residents.

2280
02:13:54,200 --> 02:13:55,300
I'm sorry. Yes.

2281
02:13:55,300 --> 02:13:58,600
residents and visitors are using the portal more.

2282
02:13:58,600 --> 02:14:04,600
they're not calling as much. So historically, we've had calls

2283
02:14:04,120 --> 02:14:07,949
over 1 million to 3 one one. We're seeing high call volume

2284
02:14:07,949 --> 02:14:10,818
during snowstorms, after snowstorms, when trash needs to

2285
02:14:10,818 --> 02:14:15,220
be picked up or during slides. But on a day to day basis, most

2286
02:14:15,220 --> 02:14:20,829
people are are using the app they're using, the portal,

2287
02:14:20,829 --> 02:14:27,368
they're talking to us on x, and we can take the seven people.

2288
02:14:27,368 --> 02:14:32,373
we're also going to be we've also introduced an element of ai

2289
02:14:32,373 --> 02:14:35,909
with octo into three one, one that has had really positive

2290
02:14:35,909 --> 02:14:40,515
feedback. So we are going to pilot with

2291
02:14:40,515 --> 02:14:43,650
the residents that that I talked about with the beta testing

2292
02:14:43,650 --> 02:14:46,500
group. And overnight ai.

2293
02:14:49,457 --> 02:14:55,330
solution where you wouldn't talk to anybody between the hours of

2294
02:14:55,330 --> 02:14:59,100
11 p.m. And 6 a.m., most government agencies are closed.

2295
02:14:59,100 --> 02:15:02,503
if you do have an emergency situation, you're talking to a

2296
02:15:02,503 --> 02:15:05,139
police non-emergency dispatcher anyway, which is on the 911

2297
02:15:05,139 --> 02:15:09,339
side. And so we are comfortable with

2298
02:15:09,610 --> 02:15:11,813
those seven positions. No one would be losing their

2299
02:15:11,813 --> 02:15:14,810
job. They are vacant at this time,

2300
02:15:14,810 --> 02:15:17,152
and we would still be hiring 11 people on in addition to who we

2301
02:15:17,152 --> 02:15:18,520
have. Okay.

2302
02:15:18,520 --> 02:15:21,823
and for the 11 positions, what are you expecting those to be

2303
02:15:21,823 --> 02:15:26,260
filled? We are working with d s laheeb

2304
02:15:26,260 --> 02:15:28,296
other programs throughout the city.

2305
02:15:28,296 --> 02:15:33,696
we've always used 311 as a program for returning citizens

2306
02:15:35,236 --> 02:15:38,940
and things like that. A program to give people a

2307
02:15:38,940 --> 02:15:40,975
second chance at a career in district government.

2308
02:15:40,975 --> 02:15:44,555
so we'll be working with our counterparts across the the

2309
02:15:44,555 --> 02:15:47,910
government to fill those 11 positions.

2310
02:15:47,910 --> 02:15:51,229
so we don't have a timeline that we think june.

2311
02:15:51,229 --> 02:15:52,296
this june. June.

2312
02:15:52,296 --> 02:15:54,165
yes. Thank you.

2313
02:15:54,165 --> 02:15:56,800
and for the seven positions that are proposed to be cut, just to

2314
02:15:56,800 --> 02:16:00,271
make sure I understand this, these will all be from 311.

2315
02:16:00,271 --> 02:16:01,272
yes. Services will.

2316
02:16:01,272 --> 02:16:03,908
so there will be no call takers or dispatch positions.

2317
02:16:03,908 --> 02:16:08,179
correct. We are not proposing any cuts to

2318
02:16:08,179 --> 02:16:10,982
911 okay at all. Are there any technical support

2319
02:16:10,982 --> 02:16:13,151
positions being reduced? No.

2320
02:16:13,151 --> 02:16:20,351
the only other positions that are being reduced are in hr and.

2321
02:16:21,959 --> 02:16:26,831
the chief, the chief of 911 operations, and I will say about

2322
02:16:26,831 --> 02:16:33,431
the chief of 911 operations when I got here, there were shift

2323
02:16:35,106 --> 02:16:38,106
supervisors, assistant shift supervisors, operations

2324
02:16:38,976 --> 02:16:42,579
managers, a chief of 911 ops, a deputy director and director.

2325
02:16:42,579 --> 02:16:47,250
and what we have found over time and through some outside

2326
02:16:47,250 --> 02:16:50,955
analysis is we just had too many people in supervisory and

2327
02:16:50,955 --> 02:16:52,523
leadership roles and things were getting lost.

2328
02:16:52,523 --> 02:16:56,194
so what we have been able to do is take some of the funding that

2329
02:16:56,194 --> 02:16:59,897
funded that chief of 911 operations role and make more of

2330
02:16:59,897 --> 02:17:02,332
the assistant watch commander positions.

2331
02:17:02,332 --> 02:17:05,102
so now we're just taking this position off of our role.

2332
02:17:05,102 --> 02:17:10,441
so now we have on each shift four assistant watch commanders,

2333
02:17:10,441 --> 02:17:15,446
two in call, taking, one in police, one in fire, and a watch

2334
02:17:15,446 --> 02:17:18,916
commander on each shift. Two operations managers that

2335
02:17:18,916 --> 02:17:21,786
report directly to the deputy director.

2336
02:17:21,786 --> 02:17:26,825
it has really made things go more smoothly without a lot of

2337
02:17:26,825 --> 02:17:32,196
layers of supervision. Can you say a little bit more

2338
02:17:32,196 --> 02:17:35,966
about the ai? Advancements that you all are

2339
02:17:35,966 --> 02:17:37,435
focused on? Sure.

2340
02:17:37,435 --> 02:17:40,438
so we're using ai in a couple of different capacities, one on

2341
02:17:40,438 --> 02:17:44,475
three, one one, we're asking you what's going on.

2342
02:17:44,475 --> 02:17:46,445
you're telling us maybe it's parking overnight.

2343
02:17:46,445 --> 02:17:50,548
it's mostly parking. It's putting in the call for

2344
02:17:50,548 --> 02:17:54,785
service and it's sending it directly to dpw rapid response

2345
02:17:54,785 --> 02:17:58,756
team for a response out. If a person would like to talk

2346
02:17:58,756 --> 02:18:01,625
to somebody right now, it's still transferring them over for

2347
02:18:01,625 --> 02:18:05,825
a police dispatch. So the 311 customer service

2348
02:18:07,932 --> 02:18:11,669
representatives, on average overnight together, there's two

2349
02:18:11,669 --> 02:18:17,800
of them typically are taking about seven calls between them.

2350
02:18:17,800 --> 02:18:21,245
so they're they're not really doing a lot of work.

2351
02:18:21,245 --> 02:18:25,549
and they're really happy and willing to, to go to a daytime

2352
02:18:25,549 --> 02:18:28,190
shift. So that's how we're using ai.

2353
02:18:28,190 --> 02:18:31,956
again, if somebody calls and needs to speak to somebody,

2354
02:18:31,956 --> 02:18:35,459
they'll just push one and they'll go right over to the

2355
02:18:35,459 --> 02:18:39,730
police non-emergency line and the 911 call takers that are in

2356
02:18:39,730 --> 02:18:43,234
the non-emergency role can help them and get them assistance.

2357
02:18:43,234 --> 02:18:47,238
and then, of course, we're using ai for quality assurance on

2358
02:18:47,238 --> 02:18:50,107
three, one, one and 911. Okay, great.

2359
02:18:50,107 --> 02:18:53,844
and in the first example you used, how much cost savings are

2360
02:18:53,844 --> 02:18:57,716
we anticipating over the next fiscal year because of those

2361
02:18:57,716 --> 02:19:00,519
developments? I'm going to have to consult

2362
02:19:00,519 --> 02:19:03,519
here. It's yeah, go ahead.

2363
02:19:04,188 --> 02:19:09,659
so in terms of cost savings, so it's the seven csr that will be

2364
02:19:09,659 --> 02:19:12,363
reduced. They start at a salary of I

2365
02:19:12,363 --> 02:19:15,363
believe 47,000. So seven by 47, approximately

2366
02:19:17,100 --> 02:19:19,100
300,000. Okay.

2367
02:19:25,242 --> 02:19:30,614
are you looking to expand those functionalities to other uses.

2368
02:19:30,614 --> 02:19:34,719
and are you how are you considering to do that without

2369
02:19:34,719 --> 02:19:38,255
replacing jobs, but to support the jobs that are already there?

2370
02:19:38,255 --> 02:19:42,455
so on 311 I should also mention this.

2371
02:19:42,526 --> 02:19:48,499
when you call 311 now and you say, maybe I'm calling about a

2372
02:19:48,499 --> 02:19:53,170
tree, an overgrown tree, when you get to the customer service

2373
02:19:53,170 --> 02:19:54,939
representative and you've already said that what you're

2374
02:19:54,939 --> 02:19:57,410
calling about when they are answering your call, when

2375
02:19:57,410 --> 02:20:01,746
they're being connected to you, there's a screen that comes up

2376
02:20:01,746 --> 02:20:06,517
that says, this is heather. She's calling from this address,

2377
02:20:06,517 --> 02:20:09,530
and she's calling about a tree. And here are all the resources

2378
02:20:09,530 --> 02:20:12,223
you might need to answer her question more effectively.

2379
02:20:12,223 --> 02:20:15,993
so we are using ai in that capacity on the three on one

2380
02:20:15,993 --> 02:20:20,898
side, so that they're not trying to find it themselves based on

2381
02:20:20,898 --> 02:20:24,468
what the caller is telling the customer service representative,

2382
02:20:24,468 --> 02:20:29,606
it's giving them options of what what resources on dc.gov they

2383
02:20:29,606 --> 02:20:32,543
might be using, or what resources in different platforms

2384
02:20:32,543 --> 02:20:34,945
they might be using. Okay, great.

2385
02:20:34,945 --> 02:20:38,449
thank you. So there was a recent oig report

2386
02:20:38,449 --> 02:20:44,880
that I want to ask you about, particularly it commented around

2387
02:20:44,880 --> 02:20:48,659
leave usage that came out that identified absenteeism as a real

2388
02:20:48,659 --> 02:20:53,431
operational risk at ouc. The report indicated that 30% of

2389
02:20:53,431 --> 02:20:56,667
scheduled shifts fell below minimum staffing requirements,

2390
02:20:56,667 --> 02:21:02,670
and that in fy 2024, ou c recorded 2785 unscheduled leave

2391
02:21:04,375 --> 02:21:07,975
instances and 1763 leave without pay instances.

2392
02:21:10,460 --> 02:21:13,984
what is this attributable to, and do we have updated leave

2393
02:21:13,984 --> 02:21:16,654
usage data for fy 25 to 26? Yes.

2394
02:21:16,654 --> 02:21:21,725
so the oig report started collecting data in 2020 through

2395
02:21:21,725 --> 02:21:24,950
20. The first part of 2025.

2396
02:21:24,950 --> 02:21:30,167
one of the things that we did separate from that oig report

2397
02:21:30,167 --> 02:21:34,367
was a. A public safety exercise with,

2398
02:21:35,206 --> 02:21:42,246
with our other agencies in our cluster to look at pfl usage,

2399
02:21:42,246 --> 02:21:47,251
fmla usage, sick leave usage, bereavement usage, and we

2400
02:21:47,251 --> 02:21:52,898
realized that we had people that had been out for thousands of

2401
02:21:52,898 --> 02:21:56,835
hours on leave and were outside of their protected status.

2402
02:21:56,835 --> 02:21:59,405
and so we did a few things at the ou.

2403
02:21:59,405 --> 02:22:04,900
c to really drive down that those numbers, about 80%.

2404
02:22:04,900 --> 02:22:08,647
actually, the first thing we did is we took an hr specialist job,

2405
02:22:08,647 --> 02:22:13,752
and we designated that person as a fmla and ada coordinator.

2406
02:22:13,752 --> 02:22:18,900
that's their only role. They work with folks to

2407
02:22:18,900 --> 02:22:20,859
understand what pfl is, what fmla is.

2408
02:22:20,859 --> 02:22:23,729
they stay on top of when a person goes out, when a person

2409
02:22:23,729 --> 02:22:26,865
needs to come back and what return to work looks like.

2410
02:22:26,865 --> 02:22:30,803
we also contacted those people directly who had been out for a

2411
02:22:30,803 --> 02:22:35,700
long periods of time. Some of them honestly for a year

2412
02:22:35,700 --> 02:22:37,420
plus, and said, we have to have a plan here.

2413
02:22:37,420 --> 02:22:41,680
you can't just be on the rolls. How do we get you to come back?

2414
02:22:41,680 --> 02:22:45,951
several people we were able to bring back in a real way, and

2415
02:22:45,951 --> 02:22:49,455
some people we had to separate from the agency because there

2416
02:22:49,455 --> 02:22:54,193
wasn't a path forward for them. And so we were able to open

2417
02:22:54,193 --> 02:22:59,364
those positions up. And so I'm happy to report that

2418
02:22:59,364 --> 02:23:04,737
since doing that, those numbers of of shifts that are short are,

2419
02:23:04,737 --> 02:23:08,974
have drastically decreased. And when I looked back in

2420
02:23:08,974 --> 02:23:13,179
preparation for this conversation, what I found was

2421
02:23:13,179 --> 02:23:16,482
most of the time it's just by 1 or 2 people.

2422
02:23:16,482 --> 02:23:22,855
but that in april, out of 64 shifts, only eight were short

2423
02:23:22,855 --> 02:23:27,359
and only one was short by two people, and the other seven were

2424
02:23:27,359 --> 02:23:30,995
short by one. So we've really made headway

2425
02:23:30,995 --> 02:23:33,799
there. But it's really just holding

2426
02:23:33,799 --> 02:23:38,103
people accountable and having a plan and individualized plan

2427
02:23:38,103 --> 02:23:41,940
when people are not using protected leave in the way it

2428
02:23:41,940 --> 02:23:47,460
was meant to be used, and do you think this budget makes it takes

2429
02:23:47,460 --> 02:23:51,484
any steps to protect those types of vulnerabilities going

2430
02:23:51,484 --> 02:23:54,787
forward? I do, and and I think one of the

2431
02:23:54,787 --> 02:23:58,691
things that we what we have done as an agency, and I can

2432
02:23:58,691 --> 02:24:01,894
certainly speak for for ou c because that's that's what I

2433
02:24:01,894 --> 02:24:04,496
know. And that's what I'm where I'm

2434
02:24:04,496 --> 02:24:09,768
the director of is that if we start to see growing absences

2435
02:24:09,768 --> 02:24:12,237
individually, we're really having conversations.

2436
02:24:12,237 --> 02:24:16,410
we're really taking a holistic approach, bringing in

2437
02:24:16,410 --> 02:24:18,610
supervisors, we're bringing in training, we're bringing in

2438
02:24:18,610 --> 02:24:21,780
well, our wellness coordinator to say, why aren't you coming to

2439
02:24:21,780 --> 02:24:23,515
work? Is there something we can do to

2440
02:24:23,515 --> 02:24:26,520
help you? And we have had success there

2441
02:24:26,520 --> 02:24:28,187
too, because we've found that maybe I'm not coming to work

2442
02:24:28,187 --> 02:24:30,255
because it's a childcare issue. Maybe I'm not coming to work

2443
02:24:30,255 --> 02:24:33,158
because I'm responsible to take care of somebody else, and I

2444
02:24:33,158 --> 02:24:37,363
don't really know how to navigate this or what what my

2445
02:24:37,363 --> 02:24:40,999
rights are as an employee. So we have a great working

2446
02:24:40,999 --> 02:24:44,690
relationship with our union. We have a great wellness

2447
02:24:44,690 --> 02:24:47,272
coordinator. And what I know is that when we

2448
02:24:47,272 --> 02:24:51,110
started taking this holistic approach, we drove down numbers

2449
02:24:51,110 --> 02:24:54,110
incredibly and increased productivity, productivity

2450
02:24:54,679 --> 02:24:56,448
incredibly. Okay.

2451
02:24:56,448 --> 02:24:59,318
and are you still using attendance incentives?

2452
02:24:59,318 --> 02:25:02,488
yes we are. This month actually was the

2453
02:25:02,488 --> 02:25:05,958
first time we used it, and we did that because we have more

2454
02:25:05,958 --> 02:25:07,192
people. So maybe it was the first time

2455
02:25:07,192 --> 02:25:10,963
you used it. So we april was the first time

2456
02:25:10,963 --> 02:25:14,990
we used it. It was put into the budget for

2457
02:25:14,990 --> 02:25:18,470
october, but because of the cease order, we had to still get

2458
02:25:18,470 --> 02:25:21,940
permission for bonuses. And so we were able to do that.

2459
02:25:21,940 --> 02:25:24,743
but you were using it in fy 25, right?

2460
02:25:24,743 --> 02:25:27,180
yes, yes. So I'm sorry I should clarify

2461
02:25:27,180 --> 02:25:29,715
that in this budget cycle. Okay.

2462
02:25:29,715 --> 02:25:33,719
attendance was really great throughout the holidays.

2463
02:25:33,719 --> 02:25:39,324
in january, attendance was good. We started to see a shift in

2464
02:25:39,324 --> 02:25:42,227
february, march. It was back up.

2465
02:25:42,227 --> 02:25:45,831
and as we're getting into the warmer months, people were

2466
02:25:45,831 --> 02:25:47,633
starting to ask about the incentive.

2467
02:25:47,633 --> 02:25:51,690
and so we're approaching it a little bit differently.

2468
02:25:51,690 --> 02:25:54,739
this month it was $800 may it might be a little bit more

2469
02:25:54,739 --> 02:25:58,544
because we have more people. One of the recommendations that

2470
02:25:58,544 --> 02:26:02,381
we took is it shouldn't always just be $800.

2471
02:26:02,381 --> 02:26:06,719
maybe in months where it's really busy, we should up that a

2472
02:26:06,719 --> 02:26:09,210
little bit more. And so those are things that

2473
02:26:09,210 --> 02:26:13,425
we've taken into consideration because come june, july and

2474
02:26:13,425 --> 02:26:17,396
august, when we have a lot of events for the america 250 and

2475
02:26:17,396 --> 02:26:21,300
different things, it'll be really, really important that we

2476
02:26:21,300 --> 02:26:25,804
have people there all the time. So we are using it.

2477
02:26:25,804 --> 02:26:30,375
it does seem to be helping and it's not just about showing up,

2478
02:26:30,375 --> 02:26:36,315
it's about being on time and and how much was budgeted for fy 26

2479
02:26:36,315 --> 02:26:38,315
for those incentives? 1.6.

2480
02:26:42,540 --> 02:26:45,540
excuse me, 1,000,056 okay. Thank you.

2481
02:26:51,296 --> 02:26:53,732
okay. I want to recognize we've been

2482
02:26:53,732 --> 02:26:57,270
joined by my at large colleague, councilor christina henderson,

2483
02:26:57,270 --> 02:26:59,338
and I will turn to you now for a ten minute round.

2484
02:26:59,338 --> 02:27:02,938
thank you. Thank you, chair pinto.

2485
02:27:03,575 --> 02:27:07,913
and good afternoon, director, to you and your team.

2486
02:27:07,913 --> 02:27:10,482
I just have a few questions for you all.

2487
02:27:10,482 --> 02:27:13,285
I want to follow up on a question that council member

2488
02:27:13,285 --> 02:27:18,685
pinto had asked about 311. You know, 311 is it's not

2489
02:27:19,224 --> 02:27:23,295
they're not first responders. They're not necessarily part of

2490
02:27:23,295 --> 02:27:27,980
the public safety apparatus. And yet three, one, one is super

2491
02:27:27,980 --> 02:27:28,599
important. I just talking to someone today

2492
02:27:28,599 --> 02:27:34,206
who says like, they have to put in a request to three, one, one

2493
02:27:34,206 --> 02:27:37,509
literally every week about a particular trash can that has

2494
02:27:37,509 --> 02:27:42,114
not been picked up. So when I see your budget,

2495
02:27:42,114 --> 02:27:45,651
knowing that people are now using the service more, or maybe

2496
02:27:45,651 --> 02:27:49,988
not, I'm not sure I'm going to ask that question, but

2497
02:27:49,988 --> 02:27:55,127
eliminating ten fte, I'm curious why you all are confident that

2498
02:27:55,127 --> 02:28:02,327
you'll still be able to keep up with user demand, and also

2499
02:28:02,768 --> 02:28:05,168
timeliness of responses? Sure.

2500
02:28:05,176 --> 02:28:09,376
good afternoon. We've become really efficient on

2501
02:28:10,148 --> 02:28:12,784
311. When I started here we had

2502
02:28:12,784 --> 02:28:15,887
really long hold times. In fact, if you remember, we

2503
02:28:15,887 --> 02:28:18,923
implemented the go go music because people were complaining

2504
02:28:18,923 --> 02:28:21,291
about, yes, the terrible hold music that they were sitting on

2505
02:28:21,291 --> 02:28:24,662
forever. And now they barely hear that.

2506
02:28:24,662 --> 02:28:28,633
yeah, people are also using the app more.

2507
02:28:28,633 --> 02:28:32,804
they're using the portal more and they're using x more.

2508
02:28:32,804 --> 02:28:37,410
and when they're using x, they're not just tagging us.

2509
02:28:37,410 --> 02:28:42,470
we want you to, but they're also tagging dpw dot the responding

2510
02:28:42,470 --> 02:28:44,148
agencies. And so I think the workflow

2511
02:28:44,148 --> 02:28:48,786
we've really perfected the workflow and those we've cut

2512
02:28:48,786 --> 02:28:51,322
back on our overnight. People aren't calling at night

2513
02:28:51,322 --> 02:28:55,394
like they were okay. They're just going to the app.

2514
02:28:55,394 --> 02:28:58,896
I mean, honestly, I work there. I can't remember the last time I

2515
02:28:58,896 --> 02:29:01,833
called 311, but I used that app a lot.

2516
02:29:01,833 --> 02:29:04,569
yep. So it's just a change in how

2517
02:29:04,569 --> 02:29:10,410
people are interacting with us. That's allowing for us to, to

2518
02:29:10,410 --> 02:29:12,611
cut those positions and still feel confident about the

2519
02:29:12,611 --> 02:29:14,445
service. So what, what's the percentage

2520
02:29:14,445 --> 02:29:16,347
breakdown in terms of method of how somebody reaches out to

2521
02:29:16,347 --> 02:29:20,180
three one, one? I don't have that offhand.

2522
02:29:20,180 --> 02:29:21,385
we can certainly get that to you.

2523
02:29:21,385 --> 02:29:27,250
but what I'm curious is about when I started here, I think we

2524
02:29:27,250 --> 02:29:29,828
took 1.5311 out, paste 911 on call volume.

2525
02:29:29,828 --> 02:29:32,530
so it was about 1.5 million calls.

2526
02:29:32,530 --> 02:29:37,602
and last year we took 800,000. So people are really using the

2527
02:29:37,602 --> 02:29:39,804
app more than the phone calls. Yeah.

2528
02:29:39,804 --> 02:29:44,409
I mean, look, I think that the app and also social, although

2529
02:29:44,409 --> 02:29:46,844
the agencies don't always like when I do that, but because I

2530
02:29:46,844 --> 02:29:49,780
can include a picture so I could be as specific as humanly

2531
02:29:49,780 --> 02:29:50,915
possible about what I'm talking about.

2532
02:29:50,915 --> 02:29:55,652
I think that helps a lot, as opposed to when I just make a

2533
02:29:55,652 --> 02:29:59,657
phone call and you kind of feel like it's out sort of in the

2534
02:29:59,657 --> 02:30:02,860
ether, if you will. But I know that some agencies

2535
02:30:02,860 --> 02:30:05,563
have also made adjustments. So for instance, at d dot, when

2536
02:30:05,563 --> 02:30:08,666
we changed all of the street lighting over to led smart

2537
02:30:08,666 --> 02:30:11,936
lighting, now you shouldn't be receiving 311 requests around

2538
02:30:11,936 --> 02:30:16,441
street lights being out because there's an automatic going back

2539
02:30:16,441 --> 02:30:20,678
to dot around that needing to be to, to be fixed.

2540
02:30:20,678 --> 02:30:27,278
but okay, I understand the change on there in terms of

2541
02:30:27,819 --> 02:30:33,219
other things within the budget, there's a 671 000 decrease in

2542
02:30:33,424 --> 02:30:36,760
radio engineering. Now, the budget books don't

2543
02:30:36,760 --> 02:30:39,764
provide an explanation. So I'm curious, are we

2544
02:30:39,764 --> 02:30:40,833
decreasing on the operations side.

2545
02:30:40,833 --> 02:30:43,234
and that will be made up on the capital side.

2546
02:30:43,234 --> 02:30:47,439
or was there an equipment refresh that we don't need in fy

2547
02:30:47,439 --> 02:30:50,439
27? So that reduction reflects a

2548
02:30:51,410 --> 02:30:54,445
redistribution of cost to our partner agencies that support

2549
02:30:54,445 --> 02:30:56,380
the radio system maintenance contract.

2550
02:30:56,380 --> 02:31:00,785
oh, we are doling out to other people.

2551
02:31:00,785 --> 02:31:05,585
so which agencies are is it femmes mpd?

2552
02:31:05,623 --> 02:31:10,610
so there's a 21 agencies that are supported by the radio

2553
02:31:10,610 --> 02:31:11,462
system. 21 agencies.

2554
02:31:11,462 --> 02:31:14,932
okay. So is I mean, will it be

2555
02:31:14,932 --> 02:31:16,734
executed via mous? Yes.

2556
02:31:16,734 --> 02:31:19,134
okay. So citywide mou.

2557
02:31:21,973 --> 02:31:24,760
okay. And so what we're seeing

2558
02:31:24,760 --> 02:31:26,244
remaining is just the portion that you all would be

2559
02:31:26,244 --> 02:31:28,644
responsible for. That's correct.

2560
02:31:29,113 --> 02:31:31,113
okay. All right.

2561
02:31:31,849 --> 02:31:35,850
okay. I want to ask a question about

2562
02:31:35,850 --> 02:31:37,622
overtime. There's a whole hearing on

2563
02:31:37,622 --> 02:31:41,726
overtime with the city administrator a little bit ago.

2564
02:31:41,726 --> 02:31:44,726
okay. Your ou si budget.

2565
02:31:49,967 --> 02:31:54,339
it is proposing. Oh, no, I don't have that.

2566
02:31:54,339 --> 02:31:55,340
yep. Okay.

2567
02:31:55,340 --> 02:31:58,340
3.6 million for overtime for fy 27.

2568
02:31:58,843 --> 02:32:02,443
this would actually be less than 2025.

2569
02:32:03,448 --> 02:32:05,883
how much are you guys. How much have you spent to date

2570
02:32:05,883 --> 02:32:08,883
on overtime? This current year?

2571
02:32:17,595 --> 02:32:21,795
a year to date overtime is 2.1 million.

2572
02:32:27,538 --> 02:32:29,538
okay. Now.

2573
02:32:30,808 --> 02:32:33,444
this year you are budgeted for 2.7.

2574
02:32:33,444 --> 02:32:37,448
so let's see, it's april. We haven't reached the summer.

2575
02:32:37,448 --> 02:32:39,217
you're going to exceed your budget.

2576
02:32:39,217 --> 02:32:43,588
so how do we feel confident about the proposal for 3.6 for

2577
02:32:43,588 --> 02:32:49,228
next year with our hiring plan, we're as we're bringing on more

2578
02:32:49,228 --> 02:32:54,433
people, I will tell you the one thing that we did not plan for,

2579
02:32:54,433 --> 02:33:01,238
but we have planned for moving forward is we have two police

2580
02:33:01,238 --> 02:33:04,742
dispatchers that are at the joint operations center every

2581
02:33:04,742 --> 02:33:07,311
single day. Now, we had never had that

2582
02:33:07,311 --> 02:33:09,311
before. August of 25.

2583
02:33:13,840 --> 02:33:15,520
so we, you know, we staff that 24 over seven.

2584
02:33:15,520 --> 02:33:19,457
that's four people every day. At the beginning of that, it was

2585
02:33:19,457 --> 02:33:21,792
over time until we got more dispatchers in place.

2586
02:33:21,792 --> 02:33:27,792
so as our. As we have been able to bring

2587
02:33:27,932 --> 02:33:31,670
staff in, get call takers, dispatchers and more supervisors

2588
02:33:31,670 --> 02:33:36,700
in place, our day to day over time is decreasing.

2589
02:33:36,700 --> 02:33:39,910
so special events over time is really what we have budgeted

2590
02:33:39,910 --> 02:33:43,347
for, and I think it will start to level out because we always

2591
02:33:43,347 --> 02:33:45,483
will have over time. Like for july 4th.

2592
02:33:45,483 --> 02:33:47,952
yeah. No, I mean, those events, the

2593
02:33:47,952 --> 02:33:50,688
number of things that are going on in the city over the summer,

2594
02:33:50,688 --> 02:33:54,250
you're going to have overtime. But I'm just trying to ensure

2595
02:33:54,250 --> 02:33:56,361
that we're. The whole point is we just need

2596
02:33:56,361 --> 02:33:58,195
to be a bit more realistic. Sure.

2597
02:33:58,195 --> 02:34:00,231
right. Obviously, I want everybody to

2598
02:34:00,231 --> 02:34:02,333
hire more because if you hired more, I wouldn't be paying all

2599
02:34:02,333 --> 02:34:05,636
this overtime on all of these additional people in the absence

2600
02:34:05,636 --> 02:34:08,390
of being able to do that. But if you feel very confident

2601
02:34:08,390 --> 02:34:11,676
in your hiring plan, I mean, where are we at in vacancies

2602
02:34:11,676 --> 02:34:15,784
this current year? So right now I have 24to

2603
02:34:15,784 --> 02:34:18,353
vacancies. I have nine starting.

2604
02:34:18,353 --> 02:34:21,353
oh, I'm sorry. 911 call taker.

2605
02:34:21,656 --> 02:34:24,859
thank you, thank you. I'm sorry, but I have nine

2606
02:34:24,859 --> 02:34:27,595
starting on may 18th. I have a second.

2607
02:34:27,595 --> 02:34:33,595
nine starting on june 15th I have six dispatcher vacancies

2608
02:34:33,702 --> 02:34:38,406
because they were all pretty much promoted and zero

2609
02:34:38,406 --> 02:34:43,806
supervisor vacancies. So we have a hiring position out

2610
02:34:44,179 --> 02:34:50,510
for the six dispatchers. And we also have a position out

2611
02:34:50,510 --> 02:34:55,900
currently for 911 call takers. And we've worked with d.c. Hr

2612
02:34:55,900 --> 02:34:59,427
that we've we have more positions out than we know we'll

2613
02:34:59,427 --> 02:35:01,229
need because we're going to promote people.

2614
02:35:01,229 --> 02:35:03,310
and so it will just keep flowing.

2615
02:35:03,310 --> 02:35:05,320
okay. But I also feel like the nature

2616
02:35:05,320 --> 02:35:07,903
of your work or the nature of the work that you're both call

2617
02:35:07,903 --> 02:35:10,638
takers and dispatchers are doing, some people might feel

2618
02:35:10,638 --> 02:35:13,641
gung ho about it, and then they spend like a month and they're

2619
02:35:13,641 --> 02:35:16,311
like, this is not for me. And I would hate for you guys to

2620
02:35:16,311 --> 02:35:18,179
have to essentially, I mean, you're gonna have to start from

2621
02:35:18,179 --> 02:35:21,416
scratch, but to start the recruitment process all over

2622
02:35:21,416 --> 02:35:24,853
again, it might just be helpful to continuously for this type

2623
02:35:24,853 --> 02:35:28,823
for certain roles, just have continuous recruitment and

2624
02:35:28,823 --> 02:35:33,623
hiring because eventually someone is going to quit.

2625
02:35:33,728 --> 02:35:36,465
like in there. Okay, yes, we want everybody to

2626
02:35:36,465 --> 02:35:39,434
stay, but we just kind of know, historically speaking, that is

2627
02:35:39,434 --> 02:35:41,202
just not the case. Okay, so this is good.

2628
02:35:41,202 --> 02:35:45,740
I mean, in terms of making progress on, on, on the vacancy

2629
02:35:45,740 --> 02:35:49,610
front. And I heard the back and forth

2630
02:35:49,610 --> 02:35:51,879
that you had with council member pinto about the leave situation.

2631
02:35:51,879 --> 02:35:54,682
so I'm not going to ask about that.

2632
02:35:54,682 --> 02:35:59,220
I am going to ask, though, about the hotel sub hotel fee subtitle

2633
02:35:59,220 --> 02:36:05,220
has reappeared from the dead. Now, the spr would essentially

2634
02:36:06,728 --> 02:36:11,332
would in theory would be allocated to ouc.

2635
02:36:11,332 --> 02:36:15,571
but I recall learning last year during your budget oversight

2636
02:36:15,571 --> 02:36:17,372
hearing that the funds actually weren't going to your budget.

2637
02:36:17,372 --> 02:36:22,770
they would go to the general fund and then allocate.

2638
02:36:22,770 --> 02:36:26,281
so right then they would allocate for the the technology

2639
02:36:26,281 --> 02:36:31,553
piece to cover the $7 million that we would need to, to keep

2640
02:36:31,553 --> 02:36:34,553
the, the fun gap. Okay.

2641
02:36:35,156 --> 02:36:38,626
I'm going to have, but it would be specifically for tech.

2642
02:36:38,626 --> 02:36:41,395
that's right. Next generation 911 is very

2643
02:36:41,395 --> 02:36:43,395
expensive. Yeah.

2644
02:36:44,632 --> 02:36:46,167
okay. I don't have enough time to get

2645
02:36:46,167 --> 02:36:48,937
another question off. And I want to be respectful.

2646
02:36:48,937 --> 02:36:50,605
thank you. Council member pinto thank you.

2647
02:36:50,605 --> 02:36:52,107
director thank you. Councilmember.

2648
02:36:52,107 --> 02:36:53,975
thank you, councilmember henderson.

2649
02:36:53,975 --> 02:36:56,911
we've also been joined by my ward three colleague,

2650
02:36:56,911 --> 02:36:58,813
councilmember matthew frumin. I'll turn to you now for ten

2651
02:36:58,813 --> 02:37:02,500
minute round. Thank you very much, chairperson

2652
02:37:02,500 --> 02:37:04,218
pinto. So just want to understand some

2653
02:37:04,218 --> 02:37:06,488
of the numbers that you just talked about.

2654
02:37:06,488 --> 02:37:11,158
so, 24 vacancies, nine coming on in may, nine coming on in june,

2655
02:37:11,158 --> 02:37:14,396
so. 18 so then six vacancies in the

2656
02:37:14,396 --> 02:37:17,365
call taker, and then six vacancies in the dispatcher.

2657
02:37:17,365 --> 02:37:22,437
so you could be down to 12 vacancies, which is

2658
02:37:22,437 --> 02:37:24,706
congratulations. That's a real accomplishment.

2659
02:37:24,706 --> 02:37:27,876
it does raise the question that council member henderson was

2660
02:37:27,876 --> 02:37:33,348
raising of, okay, if we're there over time, we shouldn't have

2661
02:37:33,348 --> 02:37:35,784
very high levels. I hear about special events, but

2662
02:37:35,784 --> 02:37:40,922
we shouldn't have very high levels if we're achieving our

2663
02:37:40,922 --> 02:37:43,991
staffing goals, unless our staffing goals are not ambitious

2664
02:37:43,991 --> 02:37:46,494
enough. So are our staffing goals

2665
02:37:46,494 --> 02:37:48,596
ambitious enough? At this point in time?

2666
02:37:48,596 --> 02:37:51,801
I'm really confident in them, councilmember, and good

2667
02:37:51,801 --> 02:37:54,703
afternoon. I'm really confident in them

2668
02:37:54,703 --> 02:37:59,341
because not only are am I confident in them, but with the

2669
02:37:59,341 --> 02:38:03,511
incentive and how we're using it and how we've are really holding

2670
02:38:03,511 --> 02:38:05,347
people accountable for coming to work.

2671
02:38:05,347 --> 02:38:09,551
and, and the wellness programs that we've upped.

2672
02:38:09,551 --> 02:38:14,956
people are coming, they're showing up on a pretty regular

2673
02:38:14,956 --> 02:38:16,991
basis. And that was half the battle.

2674
02:38:16,991 --> 02:38:19,527
honestly. So you, you feel like the

2675
02:38:19,527 --> 02:38:22,530
wellness programs that you put in place have had an impact and

2676
02:38:22,530 --> 02:38:28,303
are not just having the number of staff, but having them come

2677
02:38:28,303 --> 02:38:32,503
every day is up significantly. Yes, absolutely.

2678
02:38:34,208 --> 02:38:37,808
okay. We we passed legislation to

2679
02:38:38,913 --> 02:38:44,185
allow former retired f f e, ems and police to be able to be

2680
02:38:44,185 --> 02:38:48,257
called to serve with you and not lose their retirement benefits.

2681
02:38:48,257 --> 02:38:50,570
what's the uptake from that looked like?

2682
02:38:50,570 --> 02:38:53,895
has that been successful? Yes, highly successful for dc

2683
02:38:53,895 --> 02:38:57,265
fire and ems employees. I don't have anybody from

2684
02:38:57,265 --> 02:39:01,636
metropolitan police department that has come to work for us,

2685
02:39:01,636 --> 02:39:04,720
but. Six dc fire and ems and two of

2686
02:39:04,720 --> 02:39:08,872
our newest supervisors are retired battalion chief and

2687
02:39:10,678 --> 02:39:12,547
captain. Okay.

2688
02:39:12,547 --> 02:39:15,683
and then I think it budget oversight at performance

2689
02:39:15,683 --> 02:39:19,200
oversight, we talked a little about ai and what role ai might

2690
02:39:19,200 --> 02:39:20,722
play. I wonder if you can talk a

2691
02:39:20,722 --> 02:39:26,940
little bit about how the potential use of ai is fitting

2692
02:39:26,940 --> 02:39:28,494
into this budget. Yes.

2693
02:39:29,364 --> 02:39:35,364
so the the reduction of seven staff members, specifically in

2694
02:39:35,637 --> 02:39:41,476
three one, one, we are going to be piloting ai overnight.

2695
02:39:41,476 --> 02:39:46,876
we don't take enough calls overnight in 311 to justify

2696
02:39:48,316 --> 02:39:50,840
humans. At this point.

2697
02:39:50,840 --> 02:39:52,153
we've talked to the overnight staff.

2698
02:39:52,153 --> 02:39:56,900
they are really excited to to move to day work.

2699
02:39:56,900 --> 02:40:01,620
and so the calls that come in are for parking that can be done

2700
02:40:01,620 --> 02:40:05,266
through automation, using the ai tools that we have in place.

2701
02:40:05,266 --> 02:40:10,380
so we're going to test that out. And then we also are going to

2702
02:40:10,380 --> 02:40:12,339
there's always going to be an option if you need to talk to a

2703
02:40:12,339 --> 02:40:16,100
person that you can certainly get to a police non-emergency

2704
02:40:16,100 --> 02:40:20,949
and talk to a call taker that that's on the nine one side.

2705
02:40:20,949 --> 02:40:24,739
and of course, there will always be people there to, to take

2706
02:40:24,739 --> 02:40:28,760
emergencies. 247 and so that's how this

2707
02:40:28,760 --> 02:40:34,582
really plays into the budget. It also is allowing us to do

2708
02:40:34,582 --> 02:40:39,254
things like 100% of quality assurance without having to ask

2709
02:40:39,254 --> 02:40:44,654
for additional fte. It allows for us to use

2710
02:40:45,727 --> 02:40:52,767
programing at half the cost of one fte and get the results that

2711
02:40:52,767 --> 02:40:57,772
literally are 50% more than than what a person could could do.

2712
02:40:57,772 --> 02:41:02,210
so when you say that you've looked at it, you've you've

2713
02:41:02,210 --> 02:41:05,120
analyzed the data and you're seeing that in fact that is

2714
02:41:05,120 --> 02:41:07,281
happening. Or is that an advertisement that

2715
02:41:07,281 --> 02:41:09,418
this is what you could do? No, this is what we're doing.

2716
02:41:09,418 --> 02:41:13,755
so I ran numbers this morning on the quality assurance just for

2717
02:41:13,755 --> 02:41:19,755
901 in in 20, in all of 2025, we were able to evaluate 35,911

2718
02:41:23,565 --> 02:41:26,167
calls. We did quality assurance on

2719
02:41:26,167 --> 02:41:30,705
35,901 calls, which is not meeting the national standard of

2720
02:41:30,705 --> 02:41:33,705
2%. Since we've implemented ai from

2721
02:41:34,176 --> 02:41:38,179
january 1st until today, when I ran these numbers about two

2722
02:41:38,179 --> 02:41:42,979
hours ago, the system has analyzed 90,761 call, 911 calls,

2723
02:41:47,220 --> 02:41:51,460
and it's given objective scores. It doesn't know the person that

2724
02:41:51,460 --> 02:41:53,360
took the call. It just knows.

2725
02:41:53,360 --> 02:41:57,932
did they ask the question? Did they answer it yes or no and

2726
02:41:57,932 --> 02:42:02,303
provided them with feedback on how they did with the call.

2727
02:42:02,303 --> 02:42:06,141
so three times as many calls already in four months than it

2728
02:42:06,141 --> 02:42:10,946
did for the entire year last year with with quality assurance

2729
02:42:10,946 --> 02:42:13,946
staff. So it's, it's proof.

2730
02:42:15,984 --> 02:42:19,584
okay, exciting. You saw $1.3 million reduction

2731
02:42:20,689 --> 02:42:24,225
in the supplemental, and it looks like it's related to ftes.

2732
02:42:24,225 --> 02:42:28,162
what's what is that about? Is that because they're

2733
02:42:28,162 --> 02:42:29,597
vacancies that you've yet to fill.

2734
02:42:29,597 --> 02:42:34,602
and so the dollars weren't necessary or what why why a 1.3

2735
02:42:34,602 --> 02:42:36,237
reduction here. I mean I'll talk about that.

2736
02:42:36,237 --> 02:42:38,107
so it's a combination of two things.

2737
02:42:38,107 --> 02:42:41,142
first, the eliminated positions for fy 27.

2738
02:42:41,142 --> 02:42:45,380
they're currently vacant. So that funding is part of the

2739
02:42:45,380 --> 02:42:49,185
supplemental as well as when we did the pay parity as we went to

2740
02:42:49,185 --> 02:42:53,588
execute the actual salaries that folks would or our staff would

2741
02:42:53,588 --> 02:43:00,188
increase to, it was as it compared to the budget amount,

2742
02:43:00,195 --> 02:43:02,430
there was a $260,000 savings there.

2743
02:43:02,430 --> 02:43:06,000
so that coupled with the eliminated positions for 27,

2744
02:43:06,000 --> 02:43:09,904
gives us the 1.3 million and leaves you in a place where you

2745
02:43:09,904 --> 02:43:13,410
feel like your staffing is going to is adequate.

2746
02:43:13,410 --> 02:43:17,346
and perhaps the support from ai helps you keep your staffing

2747
02:43:17,346 --> 02:43:20,815
down, but you're able to do things leaner and meaner.

2748
02:43:20,815 --> 02:43:23,418
that's correct. I'm very confident in that.

2749
02:43:23,418 --> 02:43:27,589
okay. I asked you about the uptake for

2750
02:43:27,589 --> 02:43:31,126
the retirees from dc fire and emergency services, and the

2751
02:43:31,126 --> 02:43:33,361
police and fire and emergency services.

2752
02:43:33,361 --> 02:43:37,165
it sounds like significant uptake and fairly senior people.

2753
02:43:37,165 --> 02:43:41,770
one of the things that we hear about and and chairperson pinto

2754
02:43:41,770 --> 02:43:46,508
has legislation on is the medical director position.

2755
02:43:46,508 --> 02:43:53,214
and I'm curious to get your view on what role the fire and ems

2756
02:43:53,214 --> 02:43:57,719
should play in the medical director position and the

2757
02:43:57,719 --> 02:44:01,589
management of medical decisions that are happening inside of the

2758
02:44:01,589 --> 02:44:05,326
agency. They are the front line folks

2759
02:44:05,326 --> 02:44:07,726
delivering emergency medical care.

2760
02:44:08,290 --> 02:44:11,799
how are you seeing that issue? Sure.

2761
02:44:11,799 --> 02:44:13,600
so obviously, we're two separate agencies.

2762
02:44:13,600 --> 02:44:17,405
I work very closely with with chief donnelly, but I very much

2763
02:44:17,405 --> 02:44:23,711
work closely with with all of the agencies that we support.

2764
02:44:23,711 --> 02:44:28,816
you know, doctor morgan is a great partner and he signs off

2765
02:44:28,816 --> 02:44:35,355
on all of the response plans for medical chief donnelly signs off

2766
02:44:35,355 --> 02:44:39,527
on all of the response plans for fire and rescue.

2767
02:44:39,527 --> 02:44:43,664
chief carroll signs off on all of them.

2768
02:44:43,664 --> 02:44:46,901
for police and law enforcement responses.

2769
02:44:46,901 --> 02:44:53,341
the ou c should have its own medical director because we need

2770
02:44:53,341 --> 02:44:58,746
someone to educate us to take the mental health crisis, the

2771
02:44:58,746 --> 02:45:03,718
physical health crisis, and be able to educate, to understand

2772
02:45:03,718 --> 02:45:08,156
how someone responding to an emergency of any kind looks

2773
02:45:08,156 --> 02:45:11,925
different in the field than it looks sitting behind a console.

2774
02:45:11,925 --> 02:45:14,194
and I always tell the story about how I've done both.

2775
02:45:14,194 --> 02:45:19,734
I was an emt, I was an emt, an emergency medical dispatcher.

2776
02:45:19,734 --> 02:45:22,300
I've delivered babies on the back of the ambulance, and I've

2777
02:45:22,300 --> 02:45:25,173
given someone instructions over the phone, and it was a

2778
02:45:25,173 --> 02:45:27,975
different experience on both sides.

2779
02:45:27,975 --> 02:45:32,213
and so just because you're an emt and you must love saying

2780
02:45:32,213 --> 02:45:35,830
that, but go ahead. Just because you're an emt and

2781
02:45:35,830 --> 02:45:39,354
you know how to do something in the field when you're walking a

2782
02:45:39,354 --> 02:45:44,292
parent through how or someone how to deliver a baby and

2783
02:45:44,292 --> 02:45:46,761
sometimes their own baby, just like one of our call takers did

2784
02:45:46,761 --> 02:45:50,264
just a few weeks ago. As you may have seen on the

2785
02:45:50,264 --> 02:45:53,502
news, it's very different. You don't have the same

2786
02:45:53,502 --> 02:45:55,303
resources. Most people don't have an ob

2787
02:45:55,303 --> 02:45:56,838
delivery kit in their hall closet.

2788
02:45:56,838 --> 02:45:59,400
you're using sheets, towels, shoestrings and things like

2789
02:45:59,400 --> 02:46:01,308
that. And so having a medical director

2790
02:46:01,308 --> 02:46:07,715
who really understands that and can be there to educate, come to

2791
02:46:07,715 --> 02:46:12,987
our roll calls to, to do the things that we need them to do

2792
02:46:12,987 --> 02:46:16,991
firsthand and work with doctor morgan as the medical director,

2793
02:46:16,991 --> 02:46:21,462
to work with doctor basran on the mental health crisis

2794
02:46:21,462 --> 02:46:23,631
responses. That's what I'm looking for.

2795
02:46:23,631 --> 02:46:27,568
I'm looking for a partner. Those folks will all still sign

2796
02:46:27,568 --> 02:46:30,452
off on the response plans that that we dispatch out.

2797
02:46:30,452 --> 02:46:33,556
I'm not looking to take that away from anybody, but I think

2798
02:46:33,556 --> 02:46:37,426
we need to have somebody in-house who can help to

2799
02:46:37,426 --> 02:46:39,862
educate, certify and make sure that we're staying up on all the

2800
02:46:39,862 --> 02:46:42,765
things that we need to be staying up on so we can remain

2801
02:46:42,765 --> 02:46:45,765
in accredited first class 901 center.

2802
02:46:46,268 --> 02:46:48,470
all right. Well, thank you for that and

2803
02:46:48,470 --> 02:46:50,172
nicely done. And that you used up all of my

2804
02:46:50,172 --> 02:46:52,408
time, but I was already done with my question.

2805
02:46:52,408 --> 02:46:54,743
so thank you very much. Thank you.

2806
02:46:54,743 --> 02:46:56,512
chairperson pinto. Great.

2807
02:46:56,512 --> 02:47:01,250
thank you, councilmember frumin. And I do just want to note on on

2808
02:47:01,250 --> 02:47:04,320
this topic that you had raised this, and I think it's a fair

2809
02:47:04,320 --> 02:47:07,320
concern around limitations of resources.

2810
02:47:07,489 --> 02:47:11,694
and I think if we move forward in this in this way, providing

2811
02:47:11,694 --> 02:47:14,730
an additional set of resources for an assistant medical

2812
02:47:14,730 --> 02:47:17,466
director or things to help out will be important.

2813
02:47:17,466 --> 02:47:20,903
I also just want to note, I have no problem with the word folks.

2814
02:47:20,903 --> 02:47:24,773
I just I just wanted to be clear, if we're referring to

2815
02:47:24,773 --> 02:47:31,130
residents calling in or your own staff, thank you, but thank you.

2816
02:47:31,130 --> 02:47:37,352
okay, so back to the oig report. One of the things they talked

2817
02:47:37,352 --> 02:47:41,657
about was the use of overtime. What is the current rate of

2818
02:47:41,657 --> 02:47:43,760
overtime spending that you're using in this fiscal year?

2819
02:47:43,760 --> 02:47:48,364
and what's the anticipated cost for overtime for fy 27?

2820
02:47:48,364 --> 02:47:49,964
I'm gonna let doug give you the numbers.

2821
02:47:49,964 --> 02:47:52,836
and then we'll talk about kind of how we're using it, if that's

2822
02:47:52,836 --> 02:47:54,403
what you're looking for. Great.

2823
02:47:54,403 --> 02:47:58,240
okay. Year to date, we are at 79% of

2824
02:47:58,240 --> 02:48:03,450
the line item budget for overtime and average pay period,

2825
02:48:03,450 --> 02:48:08,951
average overtime per pay period is about 52% above the budgeted

2826
02:48:08,951 --> 02:48:11,420
rate. But sorry, what are what are the

2827
02:48:11,420 --> 02:48:15,324
budgeted rates? The budgeted amount for overtime

2828
02:48:15,324 --> 02:48:18,924
this year is 200. I'm sorry 2 million 662.

2829
02:48:24,299 --> 02:48:29,905
and we're currently at about 2.1 million in terms of the

2830
02:48:29,905 --> 02:48:32,905
expenditure year to date. Okay.

2831
02:48:35,911 --> 02:48:37,911
so 2,000,062 like 2,000,002 000. No.

2832
02:48:43,619 --> 02:48:46,588
2,662,000 got it. Is the budget.

2833
02:48:46,588 --> 02:48:50,188
the year to date is 22.15 7 million.

2834
02:48:52,861 --> 02:48:57,661
and the year to date. Year to date.

2835
02:49:02,571 --> 02:49:06,750
expenditure. Know that that's you want the

2836
02:49:06,750 --> 02:49:12,750
projected year end, the projected year end I believe is

2837
02:49:12,815 --> 02:49:14,815
about 3.1, 3.1, 3.1. Yes.

2838
02:49:16,180 --> 02:49:19,180
3.1. And historically, how have we

2839
02:49:19,589 --> 02:49:24,989
been on track with overtime, actual spending versus projected

2840
02:49:26,595 --> 02:49:32,595
projected again, as far as the pay period, we're averaging

2841
02:49:33,200 --> 02:49:39,602
about 52% over the amount of the budgeted payroll per pay period

2842
02:49:39,775 --> 02:49:43,545
for overtime, a little bit higher this year than we have

2843
02:49:43,545 --> 02:49:45,414
historically. So.

2844
02:49:45,414 --> 02:49:50,552
and a lot of that is because of the special events or needing

2845
02:49:50,552 --> 02:49:52,988
extra people because of those special events.

2846
02:49:52,988 --> 02:49:55,724
if we have to. Like I said, we have the two,

2847
02:49:55,724 --> 02:49:58,160
two people that are at the dock every day.

2848
02:49:58,160 --> 02:50:02,764
and so we we've taken that into account now and we have more

2849
02:50:02,764 --> 02:50:07,169
police dispatchers that we've put through training, but also

2850
02:50:07,169 --> 02:50:10,505
anytime there's a major event where we set the where we do the

2851
02:50:10,505 --> 02:50:13,375
perimeter that we've kind of talked about, where we might do

2852
02:50:13,375 --> 02:50:17,914
a perimeter around the national mall and femmes has a special

2853
02:50:17,914 --> 02:50:19,247
response that's just going to go there.

2854
02:50:19,247 --> 02:50:21,883
we have to give them a dispatcher for that, because

2855
02:50:21,883 --> 02:50:25,354
that's an extra dispatcher. They're separate from the rest

2856
02:50:25,354 --> 02:50:28,390
of ems dispatch. We give them special mpd

2857
02:50:28,390 --> 02:50:31,460
dispatchers for that, separate from what's at the dock.

2858
02:50:31,460 --> 02:50:34,197
they might go to the dock, but that's a third and fourth

2859
02:50:34,197 --> 02:50:37,797
dispatcher. And so that's what's driving

2860
02:50:39,201 --> 02:50:40,935
that up. But I'm sorry, just before we

2861
02:50:40,935 --> 02:50:44,806
get to the why. So I understand these numbers.

2862
02:50:44,806 --> 02:50:47,476
the 2.6 million projected for fy 26.

2863
02:50:47,476 --> 02:50:49,876
right. But you said.

2864
02:50:50,612 --> 02:50:56,612
I'm sorry, 2.6 is the budget. 3.1 is the projected year end.

2865
02:50:57,986 --> 02:51:01,890
okay. And then 2.1 is the actual

2866
02:51:01,890 --> 02:51:02,157
spend. Okay.

2867
02:51:02,157 --> 02:51:07,563
but that delta between the 2.1 and the 2.6, how do we reconcile

2868
02:51:07,563 --> 02:51:12,363
that with the 52% overage for each pay period?

2869
02:51:13,902 --> 02:51:21,309
as far as the that is concerned? Because of the the number that

2870
02:51:21,309 --> 02:51:28,509
we're over in terms of the monthly, I'm sorry, the the pay

2871
02:51:29,151 --> 02:51:34,551
period number. That will that is is causing us

2872
02:51:36,191 --> 02:51:42,191
to exceed the overtime. And at this point, it's driving

2873
02:51:44,132 --> 02:51:48,736
the cost and we're. And please let me yeah, maybe

2874
02:51:48,736 --> 02:51:50,505
let me ask this a different way, a different question.

2875
02:51:50,505 --> 02:51:52,741
okay, so we're six months into the fiscal year.

2876
02:51:52,741 --> 02:51:55,741
yes. We have $2.6 million budgeted,

2877
02:51:56,679 --> 02:52:01,479
right, for overtime spending. But we've spent 2.1 million.

2878
02:52:03,251 --> 02:52:08,651
so we're under budget, right? We're under budget currently.

2879
02:52:08,824 --> 02:52:09,624
yes. Okay.

2880
02:52:09,624 --> 02:52:12,295
we're under budget by about half $1 million.

2881
02:52:12,295 --> 02:52:13,462
right. Okay.

2882
02:52:13,462 --> 02:52:18,100
for 50% of the year expended. But then at the same separately,

2883
02:52:18,100 --> 02:52:23,438
you're saying that within each pay period, we've been 50% over

2884
02:52:23,438 --> 02:52:30,380
the amount of allocated budget. So how are we both half $1

2885
02:52:30,178 --> 02:52:34,850
million or $500,000 under the projected for the first half of

2886
02:52:34,850 --> 02:52:38,253
the year and 52% over for each pay period?

2887
02:52:38,253 --> 02:52:41,853
okay. From that perspective, we the

2888
02:52:43,604 --> 02:52:47,675
50, 52% that were over. If you extract that, extrapolate

2889
02:52:47,675 --> 02:52:51,846
that for the year. Okay, that would give us the

2890
02:52:51,846 --> 02:52:57,846
projection of the 3.1 of overage as we are at the.

2891
02:53:01,220 --> 02:53:07,622
current position, we burned a lot of the overtime early and.

2892
02:53:08,963 --> 02:53:14,569
it's based on the amount and it's, it's, yeah, it's a little

2893
02:53:14,569 --> 02:53:19,969
difficult to, to explain from that standpoint, but the

2894
02:53:20,274 --> 02:53:25,740
overtime that we are experiencing, it's an average

2895
02:53:26,314 --> 02:53:30,685
based on the pay periods. When you take the full number

2896
02:53:30,685 --> 02:53:36,850
and extrapolate that over the number of pay periods.

2897
02:53:36,900 --> 02:53:38,325
because at this point in the game, we should only be at 1.3

2898
02:53:38,325 --> 02:53:45,525
because our total is 2.6. So for the year, we should be at

2899
02:53:45,533 --> 02:53:46,567
okay, there it is. There it is.

2900
02:53:46,567 --> 02:53:47,301
thank you. Yeah.

2901
02:53:47,301 --> 02:53:50,204
okay. So we are not under by 500,000.

2902
02:53:50,204 --> 02:53:53,341
we are over. We're over projected to be over

2903
02:53:53,341 --> 02:53:55,243
by. We're under the total for the

2904
02:53:55,243 --> 02:53:57,145
whole year, but we're only halfway through.

2905
02:53:57,145 --> 02:53:58,346
but we're only halfway through. Okay.

2906
02:53:58,346 --> 02:54:00,148
that was my miss. Thank you.

2907
02:54:00,148 --> 02:54:03,618
that makes much more sense. Okay, so we're over where we

2908
02:54:03,618 --> 02:54:05,953
are. So looking back at the last

2909
02:54:05,953 --> 02:54:10,358
several years, is that typical for this time of year?

2910
02:54:10,358 --> 02:54:12,960
it's a little more than where we usually are.

2911
02:54:12,960 --> 02:54:15,963
I think usually we're actuals are more than the actuals are a

2912
02:54:15,963 --> 02:54:20,163
little more than what we usually are.

2913
02:54:22,437 --> 02:54:26,674
and now then getting into the qualitative piece of this, what

2914
02:54:26,674 --> 02:54:30,110
do you attribute that to? Kip just mentioned.

2915
02:54:30,110 --> 02:54:34,349
it's very true. The snowstorm was a big one

2916
02:54:34,349 --> 02:54:38,886
because we staffed and then we, you know, we used that overtime

2917
02:54:38,886 --> 02:54:42,890
budget for people. We housed people there.

2918
02:54:42,890 --> 02:54:45,960
so people were working longer when other folks couldn't get in

2919
02:54:45,960 --> 02:54:49,664
and things like that, that over time, that week alone was

2920
02:54:49,664 --> 02:54:54,200
probably our biggest overtime budget pull in the three years

2921
02:54:54,200 --> 02:54:57,602
that I've, I've been here. Wow.

2922
02:54:58,706 --> 02:55:01,209
okay. So then looking at all the other

2923
02:55:01,209 --> 02:55:05,580
shifts outside of that two week period, are we.

2924
02:55:05,580 --> 02:55:11,118
and then in february, I there we had like two weeks where shifts

2925
02:55:11,118 --> 02:55:14,210
were, were really down because people got sick.

2926
02:55:14,210 --> 02:55:18,221
and so 19 of the 60 shifts were understaffed.

2927
02:55:18,559 --> 02:55:20,795
so we had to pull in people for that.

2928
02:55:20,795 --> 02:55:23,698
and so I think it's just those types of things coupled with

2929
02:55:23,698 --> 02:55:28,503
these special events that we just hadn't budgeted for when we

2930
02:55:28,503 --> 02:55:31,472
made the 26 budget. But we certainly have taken it

2931
02:55:31,472 --> 02:55:36,811
into account in the 27 budget and have the the staff for we

2932
02:55:36,811 --> 02:55:42,811
have not used overtime for training in this fiscal year.

2933
02:55:43,784 --> 02:55:47,621
okay. What happens if you run out of

2934
02:55:47,621 --> 02:55:50,525
overtime spend like you have a shift, there's an emergency.

2935
02:55:50,525 --> 02:55:54,940
you need people, but you don't have any money left in the

2936
02:55:54,940 --> 02:55:55,162
overtime budget. What happens then?

2937
02:55:55,162 --> 02:56:01,200
we work with the executive to to identify funds to make it

2938
02:56:01,200 --> 02:56:03,404
happen, honestly, because we can't.

2939
02:56:03,404 --> 02:56:07,708
I mean, it's just a detriment to the whole city and the public

2940
02:56:07,708 --> 02:56:10,110
safety ecosystem. If we just don't bring people in

2941
02:56:10,110 --> 02:56:11,946
to to work the shifts. Okay.

2942
02:56:11,946 --> 02:56:15,182
so then in terms of bringing people in to work, the shifts

2943
02:56:15,182 --> 02:56:20,288
who are currently planned and scheduled and paid to be there,

2944
02:56:20,288 --> 02:56:26,727
tell me a little bit more about our, your paid leave policy.

2945
02:56:26,727 --> 02:56:29,196
this individual that you mentioned, who had been out for

2946
02:56:29,196 --> 02:56:34,602
a year, how does that happen? So they were out.

2947
02:56:34,602 --> 02:56:39,241
they were out leave without pay was one of our biggest numbers.

2948
02:56:39,241 --> 02:56:43,711
and that information was in that oig report.

2949
02:56:43,711 --> 02:56:47,480
you know, I'll come back. They were bringing in doctor's

2950
02:56:47,480 --> 02:56:51,719
notes. And so what we really had to do.

2951
02:56:51,719 --> 02:56:55,122
I think previously, trying to work with people to get a return

2952
02:56:55,122 --> 02:56:58,626
to work, where now we're just really having to be stringent.

2953
02:56:58,626 --> 02:57:04,198
if, if you can't come back, you have to have another

2954
02:57:04,198 --> 02:57:07,536
alternative. And it can't be at the expense

2955
02:57:07,536 --> 02:57:13,874
of the agency's performance. And so that's kind of what was

2956
02:57:13,874 --> 02:57:16,677
happening is, is that all eventually come back or I'll

2957
02:57:16,677 --> 02:57:20,214
come back in a few months or I've exhausted all my leave and,

2958
02:57:20,214 --> 02:57:23,851
you know, I'll just go in and I'll leave without pay status.

2959
02:57:23,851 --> 02:57:30,958
but what is the authority to go on leave without pay for a year?

2960
02:57:30,958 --> 02:57:34,795
it's as people were bringing in doctor's notes and, and, you

2961
02:57:34,795 --> 02:57:38,399
know, promises of coming back, it was something that I think

2962
02:57:38,399 --> 02:57:42,937
was a past practice that was being allowed.

2963
02:57:42,937 --> 02:57:48,308
and quite frankly, maybe even being done in a vacuum or, you

2964
02:57:48,308 --> 02:57:50,478
know, through workarounds of like, I'm going to come back

2965
02:57:50,478 --> 02:57:51,179
next week. Okay, great.

2966
02:57:51,179 --> 02:57:54,648
you'll come back next week and then next week comes and then I

2967
02:57:54,648 --> 02:57:58,190
have a different, you know, a different set of circumstances

2968
02:57:58,190 --> 02:58:02,156
and things like that. And so we really just had to get

2969
02:58:02,156 --> 02:58:07,194
that under control. And like I said, we, we got to a

2970
02:58:07,194 --> 02:58:11,732
point where once you look at it holistically, you really realize

2971
02:58:11,732 --> 02:58:16,271
like, this is a huge problem that is affecting not just one

2972
02:58:16,271 --> 02:58:17,838
shift. It's affecting everybody.

2973
02:58:17,838 --> 02:58:20,274
it's affecting the public safety system as a whole.

2974
02:58:20,274 --> 02:58:21,909
and we've got to do something about this.

2975
02:58:21,909 --> 02:58:26,280
and so we really just clamped down and said, we're not doing

2976
02:58:26,280 --> 02:58:27,982
this anymore. There will be no more leave

2977
02:58:27,982 --> 02:58:31,151
without pay. So you don't offer leave without

2978
02:58:31,151 --> 02:58:36,257
pay at all and not okay. And what are the leave

2979
02:58:36,257 --> 02:58:40,610
parameters for medical leave? Parental leave for ouc.

2980
02:58:40,610 --> 02:58:43,640
so we follow the district's guidance from d.c.

2981
02:58:43,640 --> 02:58:48,503
so the pfl, the the 12 weeks of fmla, the parental leave, things

2982
02:58:48,503 --> 02:58:50,971
like that. But outside of that, if you have

2983
02:58:50,971 --> 02:58:55,887
leave that you have accumulated that you can use, we're happy to

2984
02:58:55,887 --> 02:59:00,291
let you use that. We do have a policy that only

2985
02:59:00,291 --> 02:59:03,395
two people per shift can be off on scheduled leave.

2986
02:59:03,395 --> 02:59:06,531
so only two people from each shift on police, fire and ems.

2987
02:59:06,531 --> 02:59:07,800
of course, call outs are different.

2988
02:59:07,800 --> 02:59:10,869
if you call out on sick unscheduled leave.

2989
02:59:10,869 --> 02:59:16,274
and then also if you're calling out on unscheduled leave like

2990
02:59:16,274 --> 02:59:19,711
sick leave and you don't have it, then we're holding you a

2991
02:59:19,711 --> 02:59:22,147
wall and you have to bring in a doctor's note and we're putting

2992
02:59:22,147 --> 02:59:27,218
you, we're referring you to the union for attendance counseling.

2993
02:59:27,218 --> 02:59:33,218
and if it becomes problematic, 40 hours of of awol, then.

2994
02:59:34,392 --> 02:59:38,496
we are separating you because it's not important.

2995
02:59:38,496 --> 02:59:43,296
12 weeks of paid leave for different purposes, whatever

2996
02:59:43,835 --> 02:59:48,640
purposes the the dpm allows for. Yes, whatever those purposes.

2997
02:59:48,640 --> 02:59:52,210
however that is done because that's done through dc.

2998
02:59:52,210 --> 02:59:55,314
so however that's allowed. Have you seen that, donna.

2999
02:59:55,314 --> 02:59:58,917
oh, you see, we have I have how many cases of that have you

3000
02:59:58,917 --> 03:00:00,917
seen? Numerous.

3001
03:00:02,220 --> 03:00:06,458
probably too many to tell you. Right off hand.

3002
03:00:06,458 --> 03:00:11,290
but I mean, we had there were some people that had like three

3003
03:00:11,290 --> 03:00:14,290
and four different leave packets.

3004
03:00:14,265 --> 03:00:18,203
and so really just getting to the bottom of it about like,

3005
03:00:18,203 --> 03:00:24,242
what is actually allowable or how did this, this get to be?

3006
03:00:24,242 --> 03:00:29,314
what is your policy around use it or lose it for or if at all,

3007
03:00:29,314 --> 03:00:31,149
for accumulated leave, earned leave.

3008
03:00:31,149 --> 03:00:35,860
so. We have people that are in use

3009
03:00:35,860 --> 03:00:37,622
that have used it or lose it status.

3010
03:00:37,622 --> 03:00:39,558
usually at the end of the summer, around september, we

3011
03:00:39,558 --> 03:00:42,360
start to tell supervisors, hey, you've got folks that you have

3012
03:00:42,360 --> 03:00:46,164
people that are going to use leave or going to either lose

3013
03:00:46,164 --> 03:00:47,899
their leave if they don't use it.

3014
03:00:47,899 --> 03:00:51,502
it used to be the position of the agency that we would just

3015
03:00:51,502 --> 03:00:55,173
ask for a rollover. I, we don't do that anymore.

3016
03:00:55,173 --> 03:01:00,945
this is this will be the third year that I will say to

3017
03:01:00,945 --> 03:01:03,281
employees, you're not rolling that leave over.

3018
03:01:03,281 --> 03:01:06,784
so please, let's come up with a game plan so that you can use

3019
03:01:06,784 --> 03:01:11,756
that leave because there are some employees that have worked

3020
03:01:11,756 --> 03:01:15,930
at ouc for 40 plus years, and they have hundreds and hundreds

3021
03:01:15,930 --> 03:01:19,330
of hours of leave because they, they get a lot of leave every

3022
03:01:19,330 --> 03:01:24,669
pay period. And so we've gotten to a place

3023
03:01:24,669 --> 03:01:27,505
after the pandemic where a lot of leave that wasn't used was

3024
03:01:27,505 --> 03:01:33,110
allowed to be rolled. And it just makes it hard to do

3025
03:01:33,110 --> 03:01:36,981
day to day operations and really affects things.

3026
03:01:36,981 --> 03:01:41,619
so my goal and what I feel that I have done successfully is

3027
03:01:41,619 --> 03:01:44,890
really just talk to people about what the expectation is.

3028
03:01:44,890 --> 03:01:46,457
this system doesn't work if you're not here.

3029
03:01:46,457 --> 03:01:48,826
so how do we get you here? And how do we make sure that you

3030
03:01:48,826 --> 03:01:54,198
can still use your leave and. The calls get answer, the calls

3031
03:01:54,198 --> 03:01:57,902
get dispatched. And so we do not I have not

3032
03:01:57,902 --> 03:02:01,305
asked for rollover leave for use or lose.

3033
03:02:01,305 --> 03:02:03,574
what do you mean not have asked for?

3034
03:02:03,574 --> 03:02:07,712
you can ask to give exemptions and let people roll over their

3035
03:02:07,712 --> 03:02:09,647
leave and I. I have not done that for the

3036
03:02:09,647 --> 03:02:12,584
last two years. Every year it is use it or lose

3037
03:02:12,584 --> 03:02:14,152
it. That's correct.

3038
03:02:14,152 --> 03:02:16,521
and over the last two years that you've been implementing that

3039
03:02:16,521 --> 03:02:20,858
new policy, have you seen staffing levels increase per

3040
03:02:20,858 --> 03:02:24,728
shift as a result of that? Yes, because, I mean, people

3041
03:02:24,728 --> 03:02:29,400
you've got to come to work. I mean, we can get creative.

3042
03:02:29,400 --> 03:02:32,270
we can let people leave early. You know, if you want to leave

3043
03:02:32,270 --> 03:02:37,208
early or use a couple hours here, a couple hours there when

3044
03:02:37,208 --> 03:02:40,279
things aren't as busy on an overnight shift, we'll let

3045
03:02:40,279 --> 03:02:42,647
people do that so that they don't lose it.

3046
03:02:42,647 --> 03:02:46,117
they don't have to take the whole 12 hours in a chunk in an

3047
03:02:46,117 --> 03:02:49,686
effort so that they don't lose it, but they know to use that

3048
03:02:49,686 --> 03:02:53,892
leave first so that they don't lose it.

3049
03:02:53,892 --> 03:02:57,495
all right. So I'm glad you mentioned 12

3050
03:02:57,495 --> 03:03:00,980
hours. Has there been any efforts over

3051
03:03:00,980 --> 03:03:04,501
the last year to move the optionality for eight hour

3052
03:03:04,501 --> 03:03:08,101
shifts? We've had the discussions and

3053
03:03:08,439 --> 03:03:11,976
people really like the 12 hours, because it is the shift that

3054
03:03:11,976 --> 03:03:15,213
offers them the every other weekend off.

3055
03:03:15,213 --> 03:03:20,251
there's not another shift out there that allows every other

3056
03:03:20,251 --> 03:03:23,888
weekend off. A lot of the shifts are sliding

3057
03:03:23,888 --> 03:03:29,194
shifts, so they might get one full weekend every 3 to 4

3058
03:03:29,194 --> 03:03:33,994
months. So we continue to ask people, we

3059
03:03:34,333 --> 03:03:38,360
continue to take the temperature on that.

3060
03:03:38,360 --> 03:03:40,873
they see our conversations at this, these hearings, and when I

3061
03:03:40,873 --> 03:03:46,844
get back, they'll be like, please, we love the 12 hours.

3062
03:03:46,844 --> 03:03:53,444
we I'm always open to the discussions of eights and tens

3063
03:03:53,951 --> 03:03:57,522
and often reminded that the tens didn't work previously when they

3064
03:03:57,522 --> 03:04:00,258
had them. But certainly I'm always open

3065
03:04:00,258 --> 03:04:05,363
to, to it. What about a combo pilot of some

3066
03:04:05,363 --> 03:04:08,766
people with an eight hour shift and some people with a 12 hour

3067
03:04:08,766 --> 03:04:12,837
shift or multiple shifts, so that if you're on an eight hour,

3068
03:04:12,837 --> 03:04:18,837
you still get, you know, weekends off in, in time.

3069
03:04:19,410 --> 03:04:24,749
we can we can look at that. The, the problem, I'll just be

3070
03:04:24,749 --> 03:04:28,786
really transparent with you is what, what happens is we have

3071
03:04:28,786 --> 03:04:34,786
this workforce of everything is done by seniority at uc.

3072
03:04:35,193 --> 03:04:37,463
so we have a workforce that has this like big divide in the

3073
03:04:37,463 --> 03:04:38,664
middle. People that I've worked there

3074
03:04:38,664 --> 03:04:41,933
for like 25 plus years and people that have are newer,

3075
03:04:41,933 --> 03:04:45,803
probably five or less years. The five or less years will

3076
03:04:45,803 --> 03:04:51,750
always work friday, saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday and have

3077
03:04:51,750 --> 03:04:53,812
like wednesday and thursday off because their lowest in

3078
03:04:53,812 --> 03:04:57,448
seniority. And they're the bigger group who

3079
03:04:57,448 --> 03:04:59,750
doesn't want they're the ones saying, we don't want that

3080
03:04:59,750 --> 03:05:03,697
because they want the weekends. They don't want the random

3081
03:05:03,697 --> 03:05:06,232
tuesday and wednesday off. So I'm open to that.

3082
03:05:06,232 --> 03:05:08,401
I can certainly take that back and work with our union

3083
03:05:08,401 --> 03:05:11,671
leadership to, to see what that looks like.

3084
03:05:11,671 --> 03:05:15,909
and again, like, you know, I, I trust that you are having these

3085
03:05:15,909 --> 03:05:18,311
conversations and that, you know, that people are telling

3086
03:05:18,311 --> 03:05:23,849
you that I guess I would still say one, I have heard from other

3087
03:05:23,849 --> 03:05:28,588
members who work at ou si about a concern about this, but two,

3088
03:05:28,588 --> 03:05:34,194
it is just such a long time period to be sitting and be

3089
03:05:34,194 --> 03:05:38,898
attentive and be fully focused on what you and I are in

3090
03:05:38,898 --> 03:05:44,938
agreement with is vital. Life or death work, and so I'm

3091
03:05:44,938 --> 03:05:49,476
totally sensitive to the reality that people want a weekend off.

3092
03:05:49,476 --> 03:05:54,347
that makes total sense. But is there another way then to

3093
03:05:54,347 --> 03:05:57,617
reshift it so that it's alternating, maybe smaller

3094
03:05:57,617 --> 03:06:03,656
cohorts doing each shift on a rotating basis, so that there's

3095
03:06:03,656 --> 03:06:07,694
still access to that time off? I just don't want to I

3096
03:06:07,694 --> 03:06:10,630
understand the weekend off concern, but it feels like there

3097
03:06:10,630 --> 03:06:13,900
might be a resolution that still accommodates for that and

3098
03:06:13,900 --> 03:06:18,204
recognizes that as human beings, we want people to be attentive

3099
03:06:18,204 --> 03:06:21,641
and handling this really, really important work that asking them

3100
03:06:21,641 --> 03:06:26,879
to do it for 12 hours at a time might not be.

3101
03:06:26,879 --> 03:06:29,879
the most sustainable. Absolutely agree.

3102
03:06:29,983 --> 03:06:34,120
and coming in at 5:00 in the morning or 530 in the morning

3103
03:06:34,120 --> 03:06:38,320
also too. So absolutely, I get it.

3104
03:06:39,692 --> 03:06:41,393
okay. I just feel as though we have

3105
03:06:41,393 --> 03:06:46,165
had this conversation for several years, and it feels like

3106
03:06:46,165 --> 03:06:49,470
it might not be the right answer, but I don't know that it

3107
03:06:49,470 --> 03:06:54,240
feels like any action has actually been taken around

3108
03:06:54,240 --> 03:06:57,844
trying something out that might lead to more attendance.

3109
03:06:57,844 --> 03:07:01,447
because again, I'm really focused on the attendance and

3110
03:07:01,447 --> 03:07:06,319
even these overtime costs, like in ways that we can reduce that.

3111
03:07:06,319 --> 03:07:10,556
so, you know, I think, you know, earlier when we, when staffing

3112
03:07:10,556 --> 03:07:14,227
was critically low, it's really hard to, to staff an 8 or 10

3113
03:07:14,227 --> 03:07:16,960
hour shift when you don't have staffing.

3114
03:07:16,960 --> 03:07:20,233
and so that was really a roadblock there.

3115
03:07:20,233 --> 03:07:23,469
now it's just seems like this is what, what people like, like

3116
03:07:23,469 --> 03:07:24,871
that's the feedback we're getting.

3117
03:07:24,871 --> 03:07:29,342
but what I can certainly do is make a commitment to, to work

3118
03:07:29,342 --> 03:07:35,314
with, with president knox from our union and get a survey out.

3119
03:07:35,314 --> 03:07:38,818
and we'll gladly share that with, with you as oversight and

3120
03:07:38,818 --> 03:07:43,456
say, here's what the people have said and will propose, you know,

3121
03:07:43,456 --> 03:07:45,992
we'll propose some things and look at the fiscal impact of

3122
03:07:45,992 --> 03:07:47,992
that, too. Okay.

3123
03:07:48,195 --> 03:07:50,196
thank you. Yes, absolutely.

3124
03:07:50,196 --> 03:07:52,331
okay. So one of the other pieces that

3125
03:07:52,331 --> 03:07:57,270
the oig reported was they said the agency lacks a comprehensive

3126
03:07:57,270 --> 03:08:02,800
risk management framework. What is your response to that

3127
03:08:02,800 --> 03:08:05,545
and what are the costs of our current quality assurance and

3128
03:08:05,545 --> 03:08:07,547
risk management tools? Yes.

3129
03:08:07,547 --> 03:08:14,147
so we have a risk manager. I'm just gonna look here.

3130
03:08:17,657 --> 03:08:21,257
where is that? On the page 12.

3131
03:08:24,764 --> 03:08:27,164
okay. The risk management.

3132
03:08:27,166 --> 03:08:31,366
okay. So right now the the risk

3133
03:08:32,705 --> 03:08:35,108
management framework, the quality assurance and risk

3134
03:08:35,108 --> 03:08:38,310
management. Right now we this is what I was

3135
03:08:38,310 --> 03:08:39,847
talking to councilmember frumin about.

3136
03:08:39,847 --> 03:08:46,219
we were only able to do about 30,000 of our total quality

3137
03:08:46,219 --> 03:08:49,522
assurance reviews on 911 and only about a about a third of

3138
03:08:49,522 --> 03:08:55,610
what we were doing on 311. So now that we have ai involved

3139
03:08:55,610 --> 03:09:01,610
and we're doing 100%, the cost of that is about $1.8 million.

3140
03:09:01,670 --> 03:09:05,267
and the risk management activity is about $38,000.

3141
03:09:05,571 --> 03:09:10,371
the framework was around like the physical risks.

3142
03:09:12,645 --> 03:09:16,749
and now what we can do with the with the ai system that we're

3143
03:09:16,749 --> 03:09:20,853
using comms coach through govworks is provide our risk

3144
03:09:20,853 --> 03:09:26,590
manager a comprehensive report to show like what the risk is.

3145
03:09:26,590 --> 03:09:30,930
so this morning I ran like a risk report based on all of the

3146
03:09:30,930 --> 03:09:36,930
calls that we've taken. And the risk was less than 1%

3147
03:09:37,570 --> 03:09:40,740
that people are compliant. They're doing things that we've

3148
03:09:40,740 --> 03:09:45,178
been able to flag individuals who are struggling.

3149
03:09:45,178 --> 03:09:47,747
and those are things that we weren't able to do.

3150
03:09:47,747 --> 03:09:50,916
when oig ran their report, because we weren't evaluating

3151
03:09:50,916 --> 03:09:55,188
all of our calls. So we've you know, we've

3152
03:09:55,188 --> 03:09:59,759
provided oig with with what we have now with the reporting from

3153
03:09:59,759 --> 03:10:04,300
the ai tool that we're using. And so I think that we've helped

3154
03:10:04,300 --> 03:10:07,599
to, to mitigate that and kind of build that framework out based

3155
03:10:07,599 --> 03:10:10,403
on the feedback that we're getting from, from the tools

3156
03:10:10,403 --> 03:10:14,300
that we have implemented. Thank you.

3157
03:10:15,740 --> 03:10:20,130
in terms of the technology and cad reliability, how much does

3158
03:10:20,130 --> 03:10:24,550
the capital budget for fy 27 dedicate to replacing or

3159
03:10:24,550 --> 03:10:29,188
upgrading the nine one, one and 311 hardware, software, radios,

3160
03:10:29,188 --> 03:10:33,625
servers, other firewall needs for the infrastructure of the

3161
03:10:33,625 --> 03:10:36,250
communications? Okay, that is.

3162
03:10:40,600 --> 03:10:44,800
$1,251,238. And that is for the upgrades to

3163
03:10:45,571 --> 03:10:49,171
911 and 311. And specifically the cad system.

3164
03:10:51,978 --> 03:10:56,778
the 311 system, the the 3111 upgrade, the 911 call routing

3165
03:10:57,917 --> 03:11:01,921
dashboard and the cad on call upgrade, which will allow us to

3166
03:11:01,921 --> 03:11:07,321
interconnect with the federal partners that we need to

3167
03:11:08,661 --> 03:11:11,431
integrate with, as well as like the folks that we take calls

3168
03:11:11,431 --> 03:11:15,741
for, but then send out to. So like us park police think us

3169
03:11:15,741 --> 03:11:18,610
park police, if you're in a crash on the rock creek parkway,

3170
03:11:18,610 --> 03:11:22,682
we take that, we dispatch out fims, but not mpd.

3171
03:11:22,682 --> 03:11:26,252
we send the call over to their dispatch so that they can send

3172
03:11:26,252 --> 03:11:31,652
out park police officers, as well as our neighbors.

3173
03:11:32,392 --> 03:11:37,696
arlington 911 has just gone to the cad, the on call, so we'll

3174
03:11:37,696 --> 03:11:40,700
be able to see their calls and the dispatch like as soon as we

3175
03:11:40,700 --> 03:11:43,903
put it in or they put it in, it'll go instantaneously for the

3176
03:11:43,903 --> 03:11:46,303
bridge responses. Okay, great.

3177
03:11:46,539 --> 03:11:50,309
and when are you anticipating that upgrade to be complete?

3178
03:11:50,309 --> 03:11:54,509
that is next year in 27. It's in 27.

3179
03:11:55,140 --> 03:11:58,284
right. But do we know when.

3180
03:11:58,284 --> 03:12:01,721
so we actually have a meeting with our vendor next month to

3181
03:12:01,721 --> 03:12:08,194
talk about roadmap for it. So we have to look at the, the

3182
03:12:08,194 --> 03:12:10,863
framework, how cad is set up. And so once we do that, so we

3183
03:12:10,863 --> 03:12:13,366
have a meeting next month. And then we come up with a

3184
03:12:13,366 --> 03:12:16,302
timeline to go with the upgrade. Okay.

3185
03:12:16,302 --> 03:12:20,739
but all of the money you need to carry out that upgrade is

3186
03:12:20,739 --> 03:12:23,309
included in this budget. Yes, yes.

3187
03:12:23,309 --> 03:12:25,309
okay. Okay.

3188
03:12:25,678 --> 03:12:29,810
it looks like you had some underspending across some of the

3189
03:12:29,810 --> 03:12:31,150
programs and divisions last year.

3190
03:12:31,150 --> 03:12:35,855
can you provide some clarity there of where from your

3191
03:12:35,855 --> 03:12:42,128
numbers, you see, has underspent and why you think that is?

3192
03:12:42,128 --> 03:12:43,929
so? A couple of things.

3193
03:12:43,929 --> 03:12:49,535
first, in fy 25, there was a spending freeze and also just

3194
03:12:49,535 --> 03:12:52,572
the implementation of some contracts, technology contracts

3195
03:12:52,572 --> 03:12:57,476
that are actually budgeted for fy 26 that we're working on now.

3196
03:12:57,476 --> 03:13:02,314
so those two items made up for most of the spending in fy 25.

3197
03:13:02,314 --> 03:13:04,116
okay. And which divisions were those

3198
03:13:04,116 --> 03:13:07,716
in in technology, both in technology?

3199
03:13:08,255 --> 03:13:10,220
yes. Yeah.

3200
03:13:10,220 --> 03:13:15,695
I think the other important thing too is we're still, as an

3201
03:13:15,695 --> 03:13:21,950
industry, suffering a little bit from supply chain issues.

3202
03:13:21,367 --> 03:13:24,270
and especially now with the tariffs and things happening

3203
03:13:24,270 --> 03:13:28,408
around that. So getting things in on time, or

3204
03:13:28,408 --> 03:13:32,311
when we had hoped we would get them in or being pushed out.

3205
03:13:32,311 --> 03:13:36,282
so and then now that they're coming in, it's costing more

3206
03:13:36,282 --> 03:13:38,784
than it would have it had they come in.

3207
03:13:38,784 --> 03:13:40,586
okay then. Okay, that makes sense.

3208
03:13:40,586 --> 03:13:44,230
but sorry, you said that there are two divisions that you had

3209
03:13:44,230 --> 03:13:46,559
underspending in, and then it was due to technology.

3210
03:13:46,559 --> 03:13:48,562
are those technology divisions or.

3211
03:13:48,562 --> 03:13:54,562
I'm sorry, I misspoke. Not two divisions, but two, two.

3212
03:13:55,100 --> 03:13:58,938
reasons why there was underspending was the in part,

3213
03:13:58,938 --> 03:14:01,775
the freeze and then implementation of I.t.

3214
03:14:01,775 --> 03:14:03,309
contracts. Understood.

3215
03:14:03,309 --> 03:14:05,309
thank you. Okay.

3216
03:14:05,411 --> 03:14:09,782
so you were not anticipating that type of underspending next

3217
03:14:09,782 --> 03:14:11,483
year, assuming congress allows us to spend our own budget?

3218
03:14:11,483 --> 03:14:13,185
no. That's correct.

3219
03:14:13,185 --> 03:14:15,121
okay. And things cost more, so.

3220
03:14:15,121 --> 03:14:17,121
yeah. Right.

3221
03:14:17,256 --> 03:14:21,456
okay. So our good old hotel occupancy

3222
03:14:22,595 --> 03:14:29,195
fee has risen again. Talk to me about this fee and

3223
03:14:30,536 --> 03:14:35,700
the special purpose revenue fund, how you've used those

3224
03:14:35,700 --> 03:14:39,311
funds over the last year. And if the use of those funds

3225
03:14:39,311 --> 03:14:41,414
are outpacing the revenue that you're yielding, why why you

3226
03:14:41,414 --> 03:14:44,414
think this is important? Sure.

3227
03:14:45,351 --> 03:14:48,788
so the ou see in washington, d.c., in this whole region has

3228
03:14:48,788 --> 03:14:52,988
always been a leader in next generation 911.

3229
03:14:53,590 --> 03:14:58,230
we we estimated just this week that since we started talking

3230
03:14:58,230 --> 03:15:04,403
about next gen in this region, that washington, d.c., has spent

3231
03:15:04,403 --> 03:15:08,300
about $10 million. I'm sorry, 50, $50 million in

3232
03:15:08,708 --> 03:15:13,846
ten years on the planning, implementation, and upkeep of

3233
03:15:13,846 --> 03:15:18,818
next generation 911. We are at a point right now

3234
03:15:18,818 --> 03:15:23,589
where we're on a regional esi net, which is the core services

3235
03:15:23,589 --> 03:15:26,993
that allows us to get location, transfer calls with location,

3236
03:15:26,993 --> 03:15:32,993
all the things that people have come accustomed to here.

3237
03:15:33,499 --> 03:15:37,370
we the region is recommitting that right now the contract is

3238
03:15:37,370 --> 03:15:39,738
is coming up. And so we have to recompete that

3239
03:15:39,738 --> 03:15:44,877
with the vendors. We're going to spend at least $2

3240
03:15:44,877 --> 03:15:49,810
million to enter into a new contract in the initial year,

3241
03:15:49,810 --> 03:15:54,487
and probably 2 to 5 each year after that, just for the

3242
03:15:54,487 --> 03:15:58,687
technology. And so and that doesn't include

3243
03:15:58,991 --> 03:16:02,461
any other newer technology that comes that we might have to

3244
03:16:02,461 --> 03:16:06,661
implement as cell phones expand their capabilities.

3245
03:16:06,798 --> 03:16:10,936
and so it's a very, very expensive endeavor.

3246
03:16:10,936 --> 03:16:14,540
and we're at a place right now where we're, we're getting down

3247
03:16:14,540 --> 03:16:18,511
to zero. And so if we don't do something,

3248
03:16:18,511 --> 03:16:23,382
we're going to be in a place where we're going to be looking

3249
03:16:23,382 --> 03:16:27,520
for money or having to make decisions between, do we have

3250
03:16:27,520 --> 03:16:31,391
people here to answer the call, or do we have the technology to

3251
03:16:31,391 --> 03:16:34,627
process the call? And that's where no.

3252
03:16:34,627 --> 03:16:39,265
911 center ever wants to be. So that's why it's really

3253
03:16:39,265 --> 03:16:44,650
important to us. That's why the $0.80 per night

3254
03:16:44,203 --> 03:16:51,403
of occupied rooms is important. I know that hotels pay a pbx,

3255
03:16:51,977 --> 03:16:58,283
but they they don't pay it in a way that every phone is paying

3256
03:16:58,283 --> 03:17:01,883
their. It's like it's, it's 8 to 1

3257
03:17:02,870 --> 03:17:04,423
ratio. So they're paying one fee for

3258
03:17:04,423 --> 03:17:09,223
every eight rooms right now. That's not sustainable.

3259
03:17:10,290 --> 03:17:14,433
I don't know specifically about individual hotels in washington,

3260
03:17:14,433 --> 03:17:17,837
dc, but nationwide hotels are starting to take phones out of

3261
03:17:17,837 --> 03:17:23,981
the room because carrie's law, which is a federal law, requires

3262
03:17:23,981 --> 03:17:28,785
that 911 has to be able to be dialed directly from a hotel

3263
03:17:28,785 --> 03:17:32,550
phone. That change over from having to

3264
03:17:32,550 --> 03:17:37,661
push nine and then 911 to get an outside line is very, very

3265
03:17:37,661 --> 03:17:40,731
expensive undertaking. And so a lot of hotels are just

3266
03:17:40,731 --> 03:17:44,868
taking the phones out so that they don't have to meet that

3267
03:17:44,868 --> 03:17:48,205
that law. And so one of two things is

3268
03:17:48,205 --> 03:17:51,675
going to have to happen. You know, a couple of things

3269
03:17:51,675 --> 03:17:55,679
have to happen here. Folks are are going to have to

3270
03:17:55,679 --> 03:18:01,790
make these big fundamental changes to their public exchange

3271
03:18:01,840 --> 03:18:05,255
systems in the hotels so that their carriers, law compliant,

3272
03:18:05,255 --> 03:18:11,895
or they're going to have to pay fines or I think we do this

3273
03:18:11,895 --> 03:18:16,266
because we have to be able to fund the 911 system.

3274
03:18:16,266 --> 03:18:21,171
those are that's kind of where we're at, and that's where a lot

3275
03:18:21,171 --> 03:18:24,875
of states are across the nation. We haven't had an increase in

3276
03:18:24,875 --> 03:18:30,480
our 911 fee in over 20 years, and we're we're stand alone at

3277
03:18:30,480 --> 03:18:33,216
this point. Are you nervous about hotels as

3278
03:18:33,216 --> 03:18:37,854
a result of this fee removing their phone lines and then that

3279
03:18:37,854 --> 03:18:40,691
ultimately decreasing the amount available to you in the special

3280
03:18:40,691 --> 03:18:45,529
purpose fund? I am, I am I'm nervous about it

3281
03:18:45,529 --> 03:18:50,534
because of the law. Because as the law starts to get

3282
03:18:50,534 --> 03:18:56,173
enforced, I think they will start to remove those phones.

3283
03:18:56,173 --> 03:19:00,877
also, as the fcc has ruled that copper lines can start to come

3284
03:19:00,877 --> 03:19:05,950
out, people are going to start getting rid of their landlines

3285
03:19:05,950 --> 03:19:11,822
because the fcc has just ruled that people who have the old

3286
03:19:11,822 --> 03:19:17,761
copper lines like that, verizon and at&t, those vendors, those

3287
03:19:17,761 --> 03:19:22,865
providers are those those telcos have been since march able to

3288
03:19:22,865 --> 03:19:27,437
now send out letters to people, letting them know that they they

3289
03:19:27,437 --> 03:19:31,274
are either going to have to switch to a cable provider like

3290
03:19:31,274 --> 03:19:37,274
fios or comcast, or, and the landline that they're accustomed

3291
03:19:37,780 --> 03:19:41,585
to is going to be gone because it's just incredibly expensive

3292
03:19:41,585 --> 03:19:48,185
to upkeep copper. So how does the fund work or how

3293
03:19:49,326 --> 03:19:54,640
will it change? So the fund would change in that

3294
03:19:54,640 --> 03:20:00,640
the hotels would have to remit $0.80 for every booked night

3295
03:20:00,504 --> 03:20:02,706
quarterly, just like the telephone companies have to

3296
03:20:02,706 --> 03:20:07,878
remit to us on a quarterly basis based on the fees that they

3297
03:20:07,878 --> 03:20:11,581
collect from the landlines. We would put that into a fund.

3298
03:20:11,581 --> 03:20:16,953
we would use that fund first and foremost to pay for the

3299
03:20:16,953 --> 03:20:19,353
technologies for next generation 901.

3300
03:20:20,825 --> 03:20:24,162
I know there's concern about there are allowable expenses

3301
03:20:24,162 --> 03:20:27,431
through the fcc. It does say that you can pay for

3302
03:20:27,431 --> 03:20:29,166
personnel and things of those nature.

3303
03:20:29,166 --> 03:20:32,702
but what we really see it as paying for is the technology

3304
03:20:32,702 --> 03:20:35,906
piece. It will be enough to cover the

3305
03:20:35,906 --> 03:20:40,477
technology at the ook. Is there a cap on the fund?

3306
03:20:40,477 --> 03:20:47,417
no, there's no cap with what the fcc says is that if you divert

3307
03:20:47,417 --> 03:20:51,254
funds, if you use funds for something that is not an

3308
03:20:51,254 --> 03:20:55,192
allowable expense, then you become ineligible for federal

3309
03:20:55,192 --> 03:20:57,394
grant funding. The last time that we received

3310
03:20:57,394 --> 03:21:01,231
federal grant funding was 2016. That was the last time that they

3311
03:21:01,231 --> 03:21:05,869
had federal grant funding for. For next generation 911.

3312
03:21:05,869 --> 03:21:10,207
it was from spectrum sale. So how much have you projected

3313
03:21:10,207 --> 03:21:13,807
to generate from the 80 cent? Seven.

3314
03:21:14,478 --> 03:21:17,347
it's about 7 million annually, about 7 million.

3315
03:21:17,347 --> 03:21:20,550
but in theory, if more is generated, that would still all

3316
03:21:20,550 --> 03:21:24,321
go to uc for a set of permitted uses.

3317
03:21:24,321 --> 03:21:27,321
that's it should correct. Okay.

3318
03:21:28,558 --> 03:21:34,131
and without that, 7 million, you were going to have to find 7

3319
03:21:34,131 --> 03:21:38,903
million somewhere to pay for the cost of next generation.

3320
03:21:38,903 --> 03:21:43,807
I want because. So we had a legacy 911 system in

3321
03:21:43,807 --> 03:21:46,376
washington dc. And then we moved to a next

3322
03:21:46,376 --> 03:21:49,112
generation 911 system. And at one point in time, we had

3323
03:21:49,112 --> 03:21:51,982
to keep both up, because that was the rule that the fcc said,

3324
03:21:51,982 --> 03:21:55,252
you have to keep both up to make sure that if next gen doesn't

3325
03:21:55,252 --> 03:21:58,689
take the call, the legacy system routes it to your center.

3326
03:21:58,689 --> 03:22:00,924
so we did that. And then we got to a point where

3327
03:22:00,924 --> 03:22:02,325
we were able to get rid of legacy.

3328
03:22:02,325 --> 03:22:06,163
so the cost went down a little bit, but not a lot.

3329
03:22:06,163 --> 03:22:09,433
now we have this next gen system.

3330
03:22:09,433 --> 03:22:12,403
we can't go back to legacy system because they're not

3331
03:22:12,403 --> 03:22:16,300
supported. Verizon was the provider that

3332
03:22:16,607 --> 03:22:19,209
provided that. And they don't provide 911

3333
03:22:19,209 --> 03:22:23,246
services anymore. So it's not like we can trade in

3334
03:22:23,246 --> 03:22:26,683
the new for something old that costs less.

3335
03:22:26,683 --> 03:22:32,723
we're we have what we have and this is what it costs.

3336
03:22:32,723 --> 03:22:38,128
and so what happens if that fund is does not reach 7 million.

3337
03:22:38,128 --> 03:22:42,332
we'll have to find it from other sources.

3338
03:22:42,332 --> 03:22:47,437
we'll have to to, to get it from the general fund would would be

3339
03:22:47,437 --> 03:22:51,307
the the crux of it, I guess. I mean, like, I'm always worried

3340
03:22:51,307 --> 03:22:56,179
about the hotel tax as is because I think that we are not

3341
03:22:56,179 --> 03:22:58,515
competitive where we need to be in the region, and especially

3342
03:22:58,515 --> 03:23:01,751
for group bookings, that is oftentimes cheaper.

3343
03:23:01,751 --> 03:23:05,550
and other locations. We're missing out on a lot of

3344
03:23:05,550 --> 03:23:09,659
that traffic here, but separately, my concern for uc

3345
03:23:09,659 --> 03:23:15,310
and you all having the budget that you need, why not just

3346
03:23:15,310 --> 03:23:18,667
budget through the general fund of what you need, as opposed to

3347
03:23:18,667 --> 03:23:20,536
relying on the special purpose fund?

3348
03:23:20,536 --> 03:23:25,336
that is a bit unpredictable. Those are certainly

3349
03:23:25,942 --> 03:23:29,145
conversations that that we can have, you know, with I don't

3350
03:23:29,145 --> 03:23:31,314
want to get ahead of the executive, but certainly

3351
03:23:31,314 --> 03:23:36,656
conversations we can have. But we each state has a special

3352
03:23:36,656 --> 03:23:40,927
purpose fund. Some fund it through a fee on

3353
03:23:40,927 --> 03:23:46,927
phone, some fund it through through a hotel occupancy tax.

3354
03:23:47,667 --> 03:23:49,535
so this is very common. This is common.

3355
03:23:49,535 --> 03:23:55,535
this is this is common in areas where there's tourism.

3356
03:23:56,410 --> 03:23:57,510
okay. Okay.

3357
03:23:57,510 --> 03:24:00,980
well thank you director. That concludes my questions for

3358
03:24:00,980 --> 03:24:02,314
you today. As always, I want to give you a

3359
03:24:02,314 --> 03:24:03,616
chance. If you want to highlight

3360
03:24:03,616 --> 03:24:05,985
anything about the budget that we didn't get a chance to talk

3361
03:24:05,985 --> 03:24:10,690
about or any closing thoughts. You know, I would just say that

3362
03:24:10,690 --> 03:24:15,161
our commitment remains to the residents and visitors of

3363
03:24:15,161 --> 03:24:17,998
washington, dc, to the people who show up each and every day

3364
03:24:17,998 --> 03:24:21,534
at the office of unified communications to do good work

3365
03:24:21,534 --> 03:24:24,871
for the public safety ecosystem. And I would just like to thank

3366
03:24:24,871 --> 03:24:29,343
mayor bowser for her commitment to ook deputy mayor pia, chief

3367
03:24:29,343 --> 03:24:31,511
carol and chief donnelly for their continued support.

3368
03:24:31,511 --> 03:24:35,814
thank you to you, council member pinto, to aloy and to your staff

3369
03:24:35,814 --> 03:24:37,550
for all their support. Thank you.

3370
03:24:37,550 --> 03:24:39,850
great. Thank you very much.

3371
03:24:39,850 --> 03:24:42,880
right back at you. Appreciate you all and look

3372
03:24:42,880 --> 03:24:44,624
forward to staying in close contact over the next couple of

3373
03:24:44,624 --> 03:24:47,493
weeks as we move through this will do.

3374
03:24:47,493 --> 03:24:50,564
thank you so much. Thank you.

3375
03:24:50,564 --> 03:24:53,833
all right. That concludes our portion of

3376
03:24:53,833 --> 03:24:57,350
the hearing today discussing the office of unified

3377
03:24:57,350 --> 03:24:59,105
communications. We are now turning to the

3378
03:24:59,105 --> 03:25:02,942
metropolitan police department, or mpd, where we will hear from

3379
03:25:02,942 --> 03:25:07,142
our interim chief of police, jeffrey carroll.

3380
03:26:11,911 --> 03:26:13,911
hi, everybody. Welcome.

3381
03:26:15,480 --> 03:26:17,916
if I could ask that everybody state their name and position

3382
03:26:17,916 --> 03:26:22,116
for the record, please start with you.

3383
03:26:22,855 --> 03:26:24,524
good afternoon. I'm jeff carroll, interim chief

3384
03:26:24,524 --> 03:26:27,524
of police. Metropolitan police department.

3385
03:26:28,193 --> 03:26:32,993
I'm an agency fiscal officer, metropolitan police department.

3386
03:26:33,990 --> 03:26:36,200
patricia campbell, director of resource accountability, mpd.

3387
03:26:36,200 --> 03:26:38,400
great. Well, welcome to you all.

3388
03:26:38,400 --> 03:26:41,541
thank you for being here. If I can ask that everybody turn

3389
03:26:41,541 --> 03:26:45,110
their microphones on, we're going to swear everybody in.

3390
03:26:45,110 --> 03:26:48,615
do you swear or affirm under penalty of law that the

3391
03:26:48,615 --> 03:26:50,850
testimony you're about to provide before this committee

3392
03:26:50,850 --> 03:26:53,386
and the council of the district of columbia is the truth, the

3393
03:26:53,386 --> 03:26:57,900
whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I do, I do thank you,

3394
03:26:57,900 --> 03:26:59,692
thank you all, chief carroll, welcome.

3395
03:26:59,692 --> 03:27:02,761
and I'd like to invite you to make any opening statement you

3396
03:27:02,761 --> 03:27:04,970
have. All right.

3397
03:27:04,970 --> 03:27:06,899
well, thank you, council councilman pinto.

3398
03:27:06,899 --> 03:27:08,168
good afternoon. My name is jeff carroll.

3399
03:27:08,168 --> 03:27:11,571
I'm the interim chief of police for the metropolitan police

3400
03:27:11,571 --> 03:27:13,439
department. I'm pleased to be here today to

3401
03:27:13,439 --> 03:27:18,239
discuss mpd's budget for fiscal year 2027 or fy 27.

3402
03:27:18,511 --> 03:27:21,140
I'm going to summarize my testimony to stay within the

3403
03:27:21,140 --> 03:27:23,449
time limit, but the full testimony is available on our

3404
03:27:23,449 --> 03:27:28,249
website at mpdc.dc.gov. Mayor bowser, steadfast

3405
03:27:28,589 --> 03:27:32,590
commitment to public safety into mpd is evident now in her 12th

3406
03:27:32,590 --> 03:27:35,628
budget, as it was in her first. A safe city is essential to

3407
03:27:35,628 --> 03:27:39,532
maintaining a strong dc, a principle that has guided mayor

3408
03:27:39,532 --> 03:27:42,101
bowser's administration over the past 12 years.

3409
03:27:42,101 --> 03:27:44,871
at a time when difficult decisions are being made, I

3410
03:27:44,871 --> 03:27:47,640
appreciate the mayor's budget ensures that mpd will be able to

3411
03:27:47,640 --> 03:27:51,144
continue full operations, including recruiting and hiring

3412
03:27:51,144 --> 03:27:56,483
new officers, and deploying technology to help combat crime.

3413
03:27:56,483 --> 03:28:00,420
first, I'll give you a brief overview of the budget mpd's fy

3414
03:28:00,420 --> 03:28:04,200
27 operating budget provides funding of approximately $688

3415
03:28:05,825 --> 03:28:10,396
million, an increase of 14% from the approved fy 26 budget.

3416
03:28:10,396 --> 03:28:14,567
as always, about nine out of every $10 in this budget is for

3417
03:28:14,567 --> 03:28:18,137
people, including salaries, benefits and overtime of the

3418
03:28:18,137 --> 03:28:21,373
local budget. Less than $2 million, or just

3419
03:28:21,373 --> 03:28:26,212
one third of 1%, is not already committed to salaries, benefits,

3420
03:28:26,212 --> 03:28:29,449
major contracts such as the police and fire clinic, and

3421
03:28:29,449 --> 03:28:32,184
vital programmatic spending. This fraction of a percent

3422
03:28:32,184 --> 03:28:36,222
covers a wide variety of small but necessary operating

3423
03:28:36,222 --> 03:28:39,822
expenditures, such as language access, interpretation,

3424
03:28:39,825 --> 03:28:42,561
translation, promotional testing, and subscriptions to

3425
03:28:42,561 --> 03:28:46,132
legal databases. In the mayor's fy 27 budget, it

3426
03:28:46,132 --> 03:28:49,100
supports mpd's mission with critical investments in people

3427
03:28:49,100 --> 03:28:54,600
and crime fighting technology. Mpd's top priority remains its

3428
03:28:54,600 --> 03:28:57,209
employees, especially hiring and retaining dedicated and talented

3429
03:28:57,209 --> 03:29:00,809
sworn officers. With 3157 sworn members right

3430
03:29:01,847 --> 03:29:03,949
now, mpd. Sworn staffing continues to

3431
03:29:03,949 --> 03:29:06,619
decline in the past five years. Mpd.

3432
03:29:06,619 --> 03:29:08,554
sworn staffing is down the equivalent of two police

3433
03:29:08,554 --> 03:29:12,558
districts, reaching the lowest level in more than 50 years.

3434
03:29:12,558 --> 03:29:14,894
mayor bowser's budget will enable mpd to hire as many

3435
03:29:14,894 --> 03:29:18,130
officers as we believe we can, but based on our current trends,

3436
03:29:18,130 --> 03:29:23,530
that is projected to be below 3100 officers by september 2027,

3437
03:29:24,203 --> 03:29:27,572
mpd struggle with staffing mirrors national trends in

3438
03:29:27,572 --> 03:29:30,376
december 2025, the national policing institute identified

3439
03:29:30,376 --> 03:29:35,247
the workforce crisis as the top high stakes trend impacting us

3440
03:29:35,247 --> 03:29:38,185
policing. Mpi also broadened, broadly

3441
03:29:38,185 --> 03:29:40,587
outlined the solution. The winning strategy will shift

3442
03:29:40,587 --> 03:29:44,257
from a singular focus on recruitment to a holistic one on

3443
03:29:44,257 --> 03:29:47,193
retention, wellness, job satisfaction and workforce

3444
03:29:47,193 --> 03:29:49,529
modernization. Mpd is focused on these issues

3445
03:29:49,529 --> 03:29:53,299
for years, so there aren't many low hanging fruit left to grab.

3446
03:29:53,299 --> 03:29:56,470
we have a nationally recognized recruiting and hiring program,

3447
03:29:56,470 --> 03:29:59,606
and we were one of the first local agencies to offer a hiring

3448
03:29:59,606 --> 03:30:02,342
bonus. The fy 27 budget continues to

3449
03:30:02,342 --> 03:30:05,145
fund the hiring bonus, along with short term housing

3450
03:30:05,145 --> 03:30:08,481
assistance for recruits moving into the city, and mayor

3451
03:30:08,481 --> 03:30:11,170
bowser's commitment to innovative technology helps keep

3452
03:30:11,170 --> 03:30:14,487
pace with emerging crime trends and innovative criminals.

3453
03:30:14,487 --> 03:30:17,890
so what else can we do? We know we can't outspend all

3454
03:30:17,890 --> 03:30:20,126
the agencies that we're competing against.

3455
03:30:20,126 --> 03:30:23,362
given that we looked at our top challenges and our competitive

3456
03:30:23,362 --> 03:30:26,499
advantages to identify low or no cost proposals to broaden our

3457
03:30:26,499 --> 03:30:30,303
recruiting pool, the budget support act, or bsa, includes

3458
03:30:30,303 --> 03:30:33,940
includes proposals to support hiring and retention.

3459
03:30:33,940 --> 03:30:36,743
first, I urge the council to reconsider the proposal from

3460
03:30:36,743 --> 03:30:40,460
last year to allow new recruits to be hired with no college

3461
03:30:40,460 --> 03:30:43,500
credits, and earn the 60 college credits through an mpd

3462
03:30:43,500 --> 03:30:46,190
partnership with an accredited college.

3463
03:30:46,190 --> 03:30:48,888
frederick community college has evaluated the mpd recruit

3464
03:30:48,888 --> 03:30:51,925
training program and agreed to grant 41 credits for successful

3465
03:30:51,925 --> 03:30:55,661
completion of a coursework. Under the proposed program, fcc

3466
03:30:55,661 --> 03:30:59,320
will provide 19 credits of classroom training at mpd for

3467
03:30:59,320 --> 03:31:01,934
each cohort. This change is absolutely

3468
03:31:01,934 --> 03:31:05,438
essential because in this region, only mpd and arlington

3469
03:31:05,438 --> 03:31:07,674
county police still require college credits for new

3470
03:31:07,674 --> 03:31:10,811
recruits. This leaves mpd at a significant

3471
03:31:10,811 --> 03:31:13,460
disadvantage in recruiting new officers.

3472
03:31:13,460 --> 03:31:16,810
our proposal does not eliminate the college credit requirement,

3473
03:31:16,810 --> 03:31:18,751
but it provides a different path for achieving it.

3474
03:31:18,751 --> 03:31:21,187
we appreciate that. Last year, the council approved

3475
03:31:21,187 --> 03:31:24,890
the compromise legislation by reducing the pre hiring

3476
03:31:24,890 --> 03:31:26,489
requirement from 60 to 40 credits.

3477
03:31:26,559 --> 03:31:29,429
however, since then we've not had any applicants applying

3478
03:31:29,429 --> 03:31:31,798
under it. One key reason is likely that

3479
03:31:31,798 --> 03:31:34,634
most college students who drop out of school do so in the first

3480
03:31:34,634 --> 03:31:38,504
academic year, according to recent data, 22% of all first

3481
03:31:38,504 --> 03:31:40,907
time, full time freshmen drop out of college.

3482
03:31:40,907 --> 03:31:44,178
this is more likely to impact first generation college

3483
03:31:44,178 --> 03:31:46,450
students. This proposal will give more

3484
03:31:46,450 --> 03:31:49,715
young adults a fair shot, while helping mpd to begin to rebuild

3485
03:31:49,715 --> 03:31:53,152
its sworn force. I urge the council to to pass

3486
03:31:53,152 --> 03:31:56,152
this amendment. If the 60 college.

3487
03:31:56,289 --> 03:31:59,225
excuse me if the 60 college credit requirement is one of the

3488
03:31:59,225 --> 03:32:04,430
top hurdles in hiring mpd cadet program is one of our strengths.

3489
03:32:04,430 --> 03:32:07,934
the cadet program allows mpd to bring in young adults to earn a

3490
03:32:07,934 --> 03:32:10,669
good salary for part time work, while completing college

3491
03:32:10,669 --> 03:32:14,340
coursework at udc. The program provides not just a

3492
03:32:14,340 --> 03:32:16,876
scholarship, but also life skills and lessons.

3493
03:32:16,876 --> 03:32:20,546
it can help keep young people on a positive path to success so

3494
03:32:20,546 --> 03:32:23,883
they'll be able to they'll be still be eligible to be hired as

3495
03:32:23,883 --> 03:32:27,860
recruit by the time they reach the necessary age.

3496
03:32:27,860 --> 03:32:30,891
the bsa expands mpd cadet eligibility while mpd may not be

3497
03:32:30,891 --> 03:32:34,127
the only cadet program in the region, it is one of the most

3498
03:32:34,127 --> 03:32:37,764
strongest and most established. We can use this competitive

3499
03:32:37,764 --> 03:32:40,234
advantage to recruit young adults graduating from high

3500
03:32:40,234 --> 03:32:42,769
school in the region, who may also want to become a police

3501
03:32:42,769 --> 03:32:44,971
officer. Our program harnesses that early

3502
03:32:44,971 --> 03:32:48,410
interest in law enforcement and keeps them employed and engaged

3503
03:32:48,410 --> 03:32:51,611
until they're eligible to apply to become recruits.

3504
03:32:51,611 --> 03:32:54,470
I recognize the cadet program has been, by design, a pathway

3505
03:32:54,470 --> 03:32:57,517
for d.c. Students and residents. I agree that it's important for

3506
03:32:57,517 --> 03:33:00,654
d.c. Students to have top priority, but mpd has been

3507
03:33:00,654 --> 03:33:02,923
authorized for 150 cadets for years.

3508
03:33:02,923 --> 03:33:06,793
yet actual cadet staffing has consistently hovered around 120

3509
03:33:06,793 --> 03:33:10,130
to 130 cadets. As we hire more cadets, others

3510
03:33:10,130 --> 03:33:12,310
graduate and transition into recruits.

3511
03:33:12,310 --> 03:33:14,834
under the proposal, d.c. Residents would still have a

3512
03:33:14,834 --> 03:33:18,338
hiring preference, but up to 25 slots could be filled by cadets

3513
03:33:18,338 --> 03:33:20,730
from jurisdictions within the metro.

3514
03:33:20,730 --> 03:33:22,308
washington council of governments area.

3515
03:33:22,308 --> 03:33:25,100
we think this pool of applicants is a good prospect for the

3516
03:33:25,100 --> 03:33:29,140
department and for the city. While the proposals regarding

3517
03:33:29,140 --> 03:33:31,551
college credit requirements and the cadet program would expand

3518
03:33:31,551 --> 03:33:34,822
the hiring pool, it's also important to consider retention

3519
03:33:34,822 --> 03:33:37,758
efforts. Mpd has strong pension plan is,

3520
03:33:37,758 --> 03:33:41,194
on the one hand, helpful for recruitment and on the other

3521
03:33:41,194 --> 03:33:43,663
makes retirement a financially sound decision.

3522
03:33:43,663 --> 03:33:46,498
swarm members are able to retire, collect their pension

3523
03:33:46,498 --> 03:33:50,690
and take another job or career. Impedes long standing senior

3524
03:33:50,690 --> 03:33:52,839
police officer program has provided an option to allow

3525
03:33:52,839 --> 03:33:56,443
members to apply to return to mpd after retirement, at a rate

3526
03:33:56,443 --> 03:34:00,480
of pay no more than the middle step of an officer's pay scale.

3527
03:34:00,480 --> 03:34:03,616
through this program, mpd and the city have been able to

3528
03:34:03,616 --> 03:34:07,153
retain trained and experienced members at a lower salary.

3529
03:34:07,153 --> 03:34:10,560
it's important to note that mpd retains the discretion of

3530
03:34:10,560 --> 03:34:12,992
whether to rehire the member. Poor performers are not.

3531
03:34:12,992 --> 03:34:15,392
welcome back. Unfortunately, legislation

3532
03:34:15,928 --> 03:34:19,331
passed by the council in 2022 had what we think was an

3533
03:34:19,331 --> 03:34:21,367
unintended impact on the program.

3534
03:34:21,367 --> 03:34:24,404
the council codified mpd practice by prohibiting hiring

3535
03:34:24,404 --> 03:34:27,440
any sworn members who had previously committed serious

3536
03:34:27,440 --> 03:34:29,809
misconduct to ensure that poor performers from other

3537
03:34:29,809 --> 03:34:32,645
departments did not get a job within mpd.

3538
03:34:32,645 --> 03:34:35,614
mpd supported this change as it was already our practice.

3539
03:34:35,614 --> 03:34:39,151
however, because our pspos are rehired, members with serious

3540
03:34:39,151 --> 03:34:41,354
misconduct in their history are no longer eligible.

3541
03:34:41,354 --> 03:34:44,523
this includes members who may have violated policy 10 or 20

3542
03:34:44,523 --> 03:34:46,892
years ago, but then have continued to serve mpd in the

3543
03:34:46,892 --> 03:34:50,396
city very well. After that, the bsa would modify

3544
03:34:50,396 --> 03:34:52,431
this prohibition for the sbu program.

3545
03:34:52,431 --> 03:34:55,501
they would be prohibited from being rehired only if a member

3546
03:34:55,501 --> 03:34:58,437
received a suspension of ten or more days in the five years

3547
03:34:58,437 --> 03:35:02,108
prior to retirement. To be clear, mpd would still

3548
03:35:02,108 --> 03:35:05,846
maintain the discretion not to rehire someone as an fto if they

3549
03:35:05,846 --> 03:35:09,490
would not be a valuable member. But the amendment would

3550
03:35:09,490 --> 03:35:11,830
acknowledge that discipline has been.

3551
03:35:11,830 --> 03:35:15,187
the discipline is intended to be rehabilitative, and mpd is in a

3552
03:35:15,187 --> 03:35:18,792
position to determine whether a retired mpd member can continue

3553
03:35:18,792 --> 03:35:23,529
to have a positive impact. Moving on from the staffing

3554
03:35:23,529 --> 03:35:25,698
discussion, strategic investments in technology make

3555
03:35:25,698 --> 03:35:29,235
our crime fighting efforts more effective and efficient.

3556
03:35:29,235 --> 03:35:32,371
technology can be a force multiplier, which is essential

3557
03:35:32,371 --> 03:35:34,807
given our current staffing levels.

3558
03:35:34,807 --> 03:35:38,278
mayor bowser's fy 27 budget continues to make strategic

3559
03:35:38,278 --> 03:35:41,180
investments to make our communities safer.

3560
03:35:41,180 --> 03:35:44,483
cctvs and license plate readers are proven technology that can

3561
03:35:44,483 --> 03:35:47,620
provide real time information to responding officers.

3562
03:35:47,620 --> 03:35:50,523
they support better investigations and prosecutions

3563
03:35:50,523 --> 03:35:53,846
that ultimately deter crime and help inform the deployment of

3564
03:35:53,846 --> 03:35:56,515
resources. Lpr have been valuable in

3565
03:35:56,515 --> 03:35:59,919
locating missing persons, carjack vehicles and vehicles

3566
03:35:59,919 --> 03:36:03,389
used in violent crime. Mpd has been able to leverage

3567
03:36:03,389 --> 03:36:06,259
these tools to even greater effect in our real time crime

3568
03:36:06,259 --> 03:36:08,661
center. Their use has contributed to

3569
03:36:08,661 --> 03:36:12,198
high closure rates for violent crime er closure rates.

3570
03:36:12,198 --> 03:36:14,867
currently and historically exceed the average for

3571
03:36:14,867 --> 03:36:18,504
comparable sized cities, as reported to the fbi.

3572
03:36:18,504 --> 03:36:21,273
closing cases is especially difficult for shootings in

3573
03:36:21,273 --> 03:36:24,110
public space, which has long driven dc's violent crime.

3574
03:36:24,110 --> 03:36:26,278
for instance. There is rarely dna in these

3575
03:36:26,278 --> 03:36:29,482
cases, and it can be harder to identify any relationship

3576
03:36:29,482 --> 03:36:31,584
between the victim and the suspect.

3577
03:36:31,584 --> 03:36:34,820
increased use of cameras helps to bridge this gap.

3578
03:36:34,820 --> 03:36:37,223
mayor bowser's fy 27 budget continues.

3579
03:36:37,223 --> 03:36:41,961
investment in this vital technology, with 145 cctvs and

3580
03:36:41,961 --> 03:36:45,398
50 lprs. In addition, the budget funds an

3581
03:36:45,398 --> 03:36:49,350
expansion of mpd's drone program with the purchase of six indoor

3582
03:36:49,350 --> 03:36:52,337
and eight outdoor drones. The indoor drones are needed for

3583
03:36:52,337 --> 03:36:55,740
use in barricades and other life safety missions.

3584
03:36:55,740 --> 03:36:57,610
the additional outdoor drones are needed to ensure equipment

3585
03:36:57,610 --> 03:37:01,480
is available for operations and training, even when some are

3586
03:37:01,480 --> 03:37:05,384
undergoing routine maintenance. Lastly, the budget includes an

3587
03:37:05,384 --> 03:37:09,584
annual planned investment in replacement vehicles with 240

3588
03:37:09,722 --> 03:37:14,522
marked and unmarked cruisers and 23 motorcycles and scooters.

3589
03:37:14,927 --> 03:37:17,596
in addition to the funding I've highlighted, the bsa includes a

3590
03:37:17,596 --> 03:37:20,199
provision to support greater efficiency in handling

3591
03:37:20,199 --> 03:37:22,902
fingerprinting and the fbi background checks.

3592
03:37:22,902 --> 03:37:27,672
this bsa provision will enable mpd to apply to the fbi for

3593
03:37:27,672 --> 03:37:29,410
authority to contract with a channeler.

3594
03:37:29,410 --> 03:37:33,279
to address this challenge. A channeler is an fbi approved

3595
03:37:33,279 --> 03:37:36,215
private contractor that acts as a liaison to submit fingerprints

3596
03:37:36,215 --> 03:37:40,752
to the fbi. Dc must be must be identified in

3597
03:37:40,752 --> 03:37:43,723
the law enforcement categories of individuals, subject to the

3598
03:37:43,723 --> 03:37:46,359
background check. And the fbi must approve the

3599
03:37:46,359 --> 03:37:49,462
legislation before mpd can contract with the chandler.

3600
03:37:49,462 --> 03:37:52,631
however, the fbi will not review proposed legislation or provide

3601
03:37:52,631 --> 03:37:56,302
feedback unless it's enacted. The language approved in the fy

3602
03:37:56,302 --> 03:38:00,372
26 bsa was deemed insufficient by the fbi, underscoring the

3603
03:38:00,372 --> 03:38:03,509
uncertainty of federal approval. This proposed revision is

3604
03:38:03,509 --> 03:38:08,948
informed by some feedback that the fbi did provide on the fy 26

3605
03:38:08,948 --> 03:38:10,650
bsa. Multiple agencies and industries

3606
03:38:10,650 --> 03:38:13,552
have asked for this opportunity to help streamline their

3607
03:38:13,552 --> 03:38:16,155
administrative processes. Last week, the committee of the

3608
03:38:16,155 --> 03:38:17,723
whole approved similar legislation.

3609
03:38:17,723 --> 03:38:21,923
the background check adjustment amendment act of 2025.

3610
03:38:22,610 --> 03:38:25,532
however, that bill focuses just on just one industry background

3611
03:38:25,532 --> 03:38:29,435
checks for entities providing services to children and youth.

3612
03:38:29,435 --> 03:38:32,400
I encourage the council to support the more expansive

3613
03:38:32,400 --> 03:38:35,809
program provision in the bsa. Lastly, I'd like to address the

3614
03:38:35,809 --> 03:38:39,912
use of overtime, a significant cost driver in mpd's budget.

3615
03:38:39,912 --> 03:38:42,147
first, let me reassure the council and our residents that

3616
03:38:42,147 --> 03:38:45,217
I'm committed to being a trustworthy, worthy steward of

3617
03:38:45,217 --> 03:38:47,686
dc resources. Since being named interim chief,

3618
03:38:47,686 --> 03:38:50,489
I've been working with my team to identify efficiencies and

3619
03:38:50,489 --> 03:38:54,393
overtime usage while maintaining a positive public safety impact

3620
03:38:54,393 --> 03:38:56,361
all over time. Must be approved by a

3621
03:38:56,361 --> 03:38:58,364
supervisor. In addition, overtime is

3622
03:38:58,364 --> 03:39:02,100
reviewed each pay period across the agency and by managers in

3623
03:39:02,100 --> 03:39:04,436
each bureau. There have been some initial

3624
03:39:04,436 --> 03:39:08,775
successes, with a 14% reduction almost 50,000 hours in non-court

3625
03:39:08,775 --> 03:39:11,644
local overtime hours when compared to the same period last

3626
03:39:11,644 --> 03:39:14,644
year. Drivers of overtime correlate

3627
03:39:16,115 --> 03:39:19,384
with historically low staffing. Mpd must be able to respond to

3628
03:39:19,384 --> 03:39:22,855
calls for service while continuing proactive crime

3629
03:39:22,855 --> 03:39:25,525
deterrent efforts and meeting the unique needs of the nation's

3630
03:39:25,525 --> 03:39:27,927
capital. Although the city has enjoyed a

3631
03:39:27,927 --> 03:39:30,996
positive start to 2026, with historic lows and serious

3632
03:39:30,996 --> 03:39:33,599
violent crime over the first three months, violence has

3633
03:39:33,599 --> 03:39:36,736
ticked up in april. Combating this upturn may

3634
03:39:36,736 --> 03:39:40,372
require local overtime. Other factors, such as the

3635
03:39:40,372 --> 03:39:42,875
continued prevalence of teen takeovers, will also draw a

3636
03:39:42,875 --> 03:39:46,545
line, will also draw on limited local resources.

3637
03:39:46,545 --> 03:39:50,883
in addition, as the country celebrates its 250th birthday,

3638
03:39:50,883 --> 03:39:54,200
d.c. Is expected to host numerous large scale events,

3639
03:39:54,200 --> 03:39:57,723
including a two week grand great america state fair, the grand

3640
03:39:57,723 --> 03:40:01,930
prix race and more. The district may be hosting

3641
03:40:01,930 --> 03:40:03,328
record breaking crowds throughout the summer.

3642
03:40:03,328 --> 03:40:06,980
mpd will certainly need to use additional overtime to staff

3643
03:40:06,980 --> 03:40:09,340
these events and maintain response to residents and a

3644
03:40:09,340 --> 03:40:12,370
presence in our neighborhoods. While most of this overtime will

3645
03:40:12,370 --> 03:40:14,773
likely be reimbursed by federal dollars, there may be some

3646
03:40:14,773 --> 03:40:18,877
impact on local overtime. Lastly, even if overtime

3647
03:40:18,877 --> 03:40:22,114
decreases, the costs will increase in fy 26.

3648
03:40:22,114 --> 03:40:25,250
this is the first year with a higher pay scale under a new

3649
03:40:25,250 --> 03:40:28,354
collective bargaining agreement for sworn members, the new pay

3650
03:40:28,354 --> 03:40:33,154
scale incorporates cumulative rates of 13% for fy 24 through

3651
03:40:33,592 --> 03:40:36,462
fy 26. In closing, I'd like to thank

3652
03:40:36,462 --> 03:40:39,597
you for the opportunity to present mayor bowser's fy 27

3653
03:40:39,597 --> 03:40:43,268
budget for mpd. Like several recent years, in

3654
03:40:43,268 --> 03:40:46,739
recent years, the fy 27 budget will require difficult choices.

3655
03:40:46,739 --> 03:40:49,341
this year started out very strong, with levels of lower

3656
03:40:49,341 --> 03:40:52,811
crime than d.c. Has experienced since perhaps the 1960s.

3657
03:40:52,811 --> 03:40:55,213
however, the violence the past month has been a stark reminder

3658
03:40:55,213 --> 03:40:58,150
that we still have far to go to ensure all of our neighborhoods

3659
03:40:58,150 --> 03:41:00,752
and residents are safe. In short, we cannot take our

3660
03:41:00,752 --> 03:41:03,689
foot off the gas. The funding for mpd and the

3661
03:41:03,689 --> 03:41:06,158
mayor's budget is critical so that we can continue the

3662
03:41:06,158 --> 03:41:07,993
significant progress. We've made.

3663
03:41:07,993 --> 03:41:10,796
a safe city makes all other progress possible.

3664
03:41:10,796 --> 03:41:13,332
therefore, I strongly urge this committee and the council to

3665
03:41:13,332 --> 03:41:17,532
fully fund mpd's fy 27 budget. Thank you.

3666
03:41:20,500 --> 03:41:23,175
great. Well, thank you very much, chief

3667
03:41:23,175 --> 03:41:25,911
carroll and team. And I want to thank everybody

3668
03:41:25,911 --> 03:41:30,111
who works at mpd who's here today.

3669
03:41:30,382 --> 03:41:34,186
and patrolling our streets and handling every position in a

3670
03:41:34,186 --> 03:41:37,590
very difficult year and environment, and appreciate all

3671
03:41:37,590 --> 03:41:41,392
of your service to the district and in keeping everybody safe.

3672
03:41:41,392 --> 03:41:43,429
yes, ma'am. Thank you.

3673
03:41:43,429 --> 03:41:49,168
so I want to start with a discussion around staffing, and

3674
03:41:49,168 --> 03:41:52,671
I appreciate that there's been a recognition in this budget that

3675
03:41:52,671 --> 03:41:57,309
we need to focus on hiring and building back up our our force

3676
03:41:57,309 --> 03:42:01,613
that is now facing, as you mentioned, a 50 year staffing

3677
03:42:01,613 --> 03:42:04,398
low. How does this budget

3678
03:42:04,398 --> 03:42:09,360
specifically focus on hiring so that it is not an inevitability

3679
03:42:09,360 --> 03:42:14,307
of what you said in october or september of 2027, that we are

3680
03:42:14,307 --> 03:42:16,707
still at 3000 officers. Yes.

3681
03:42:17,110 --> 03:42:20,110
the budget supports hiring 216 ftes.

3682
03:42:21,114 --> 03:42:24,184
it also maintains the hiring bonuses that we already have for

3683
03:42:24,184 --> 03:42:27,321
our members. It maintains the housing

3684
03:42:27,321 --> 03:42:29,790
allowance that we provide to new folks that join the department,

3685
03:42:29,790 --> 03:42:34,610
as well, and it also fully funds the the police officer retention

3686
03:42:34,610 --> 03:42:36,196
program, which helps to retain officers.

3687
03:42:36,196 --> 03:42:39,990
but outside of that, the real area, I think that can open up

3688
03:42:39,990 --> 03:42:42,169
the aperture is the the amendments in the budget support

3689
03:42:42,169 --> 03:42:45,739
act, like I mentioned inside my testimony, only mpd and

3690
03:42:45,739 --> 03:42:48,542
arlington county have. The 60 college credit

3691
03:42:48,542 --> 03:42:51,110
requirement. So the proposal in the bsa is to

3692
03:42:51,110 --> 03:42:53,681
allow folks to to join the department with no credits go

3693
03:42:53,681 --> 03:42:56,883
through the academy, which opens up a wider pool of applicants

3694
03:42:56,883 --> 03:42:59,820
than we currently have. And this is a limitation, like I

3695
03:42:59,820 --> 03:43:03,190
said, that we only we have in arlington, even places like

3696
03:43:03,190 --> 03:43:04,591
montgomery county have lowered that.

3697
03:43:04,591 --> 03:43:06,626
so what it does is it only lowers it to come in.

3698
03:43:06,626 --> 03:43:10,230
you still gain those credits and you still leave the police

3699
03:43:10,230 --> 03:43:12,310
academy with the required 60 college credits.

3700
03:43:12,310 --> 03:43:15,969
so it's just another way to, to actually get to that same goal

3701
03:43:15,969 --> 03:43:18,971
of everyone having 60 credits before they leave the police

3702
03:43:18,971 --> 03:43:21,508
academy actually hit the streets, but it opens up an

3703
03:43:21,508 --> 03:43:24,444
applicant pool to an area that we have not been able to, to

3704
03:43:24,444 --> 03:43:25,979
touch in some time. Okay.

3705
03:43:25,979 --> 03:43:29,983
and talk about what goes on at the police academy.

3706
03:43:29,983 --> 03:43:34,454
we've seen a change in requirements as a point of entry

3707
03:43:34,454 --> 03:43:37,240
for some of our federal agencies.

3708
03:43:37,240 --> 03:43:40,600
talk about why this would be different because of what goes

3709
03:43:40,600 --> 03:43:40,994
on at the police academy. Sure.

3710
03:43:40,994 --> 03:43:45,298
so there's no change other than the initial entry into the to be

3711
03:43:45,298 --> 03:43:47,768
hired into the credits. There is no change to any of the

3712
03:43:47,768 --> 03:43:51,238
other requirements. So the same requirements in the

3713
03:43:51,238 --> 03:43:53,473
police academy, physical requirements, educational

3714
03:43:53,473 --> 03:43:55,942
requirements are there. And actually they would get

3715
03:43:55,942 --> 03:43:58,411
additional credits. So they would finish the police

3716
03:43:58,411 --> 03:43:59,479
academy. There's still 19 credits.

3717
03:43:59,479 --> 03:44:01,248
they'd have to have to get to the 60.

3718
03:44:01,248 --> 03:44:05,152
so they received additional classes as a cohort from

3719
03:44:05,152 --> 03:44:07,220
frederick community college before they actually graduate.

3720
03:44:07,220 --> 03:44:09,757
so they would actually spend about an extra month or so in

3721
03:44:09,757 --> 03:44:11,625
the police academy to make sure they have all that.

3722
03:44:11,625 --> 03:44:14,270
so they go through all the regular things that police

3723
03:44:14,270 --> 03:44:18,398
officers get as far as dc code, you know, report writing,

3724
03:44:18,398 --> 03:44:21,301
driving emergency vehicles, firearms, and the different less

3725
03:44:21,301 --> 03:44:23,837
than lethal weapons that we use. Also, how to interact with

3726
03:44:23,837 --> 03:44:26,840
different types of community members, how to interact with

3727
03:44:26,840 --> 03:44:29,442
juveniles, all the things that we do as far as first aid and

3728
03:44:29,442 --> 03:44:32,378
those types of things, how to handle first demonstrations.

3729
03:44:32,378 --> 03:44:35,249
but on top of that, they would get additional coursework that

3730
03:44:35,249 --> 03:44:38,117
would also support that. So there's no lowering of any

3731
03:44:38,117 --> 03:44:40,387
standards of the academy. There's actually additional

3732
03:44:40,387 --> 03:44:42,155
education that this would provide.

3733
03:44:42,155 --> 03:44:45,692
great. Thank you for that clarity.

3734
03:44:45,692 --> 03:44:48,895
how many officers are we losing a month of for?

3735
03:44:48,895 --> 03:44:51,895
let's start with five. Six.

3736
03:44:52,933 --> 03:44:55,333
approximately 20 a month. Okay.

3737
03:44:58,138 --> 03:45:00,941
so we're losing about 240 officers a year.

3738
03:45:00,941 --> 03:45:03,876
yeah. We assume that we'll lose about

3739
03:45:03,876 --> 03:45:07,114
240 to 245 a year. Okay, so you just said that this

3740
03:45:07,114 --> 03:45:09,816
budget accounts for 216 new hires.

3741
03:45:09,816 --> 03:45:12,252
yes. We believe this budget will

3742
03:45:12,252 --> 03:45:17,190
support 216 new hires. So if that level of attrition

3743
03:45:17,190 --> 03:45:23,362
continues, this budget is still. There's still the no no, the

3744
03:45:23,362 --> 03:45:26,466
number is going to lead to a reduced force size.

3745
03:45:26,466 --> 03:45:28,968
no, it absolutely would. And so that's why we talk so

3746
03:45:28,968 --> 03:45:31,705
much about the budget support act and the need to open that

3747
03:45:31,705 --> 03:45:32,539
aperture. We believe we can fund.

3748
03:45:32,539 --> 03:45:35,442
we'll be able to make up the difference if we are able to get

3749
03:45:35,442 --> 03:45:37,377
more people in. But we didn't want to come in

3750
03:45:37,377 --> 03:45:41,114
with an unrealistic expectation. If those those amendments are

3751
03:45:41,114 --> 03:45:43,583
passed through there, we basically will sit in the same

3752
03:45:43,583 --> 03:45:44,785
the same boat that we're in right now.

3753
03:45:44,785 --> 03:45:47,854
as far as the applicant pool of who's there.

3754
03:45:47,854 --> 03:45:50,550
so really passing, that would allow us to go above that.

3755
03:45:50,550 --> 03:45:53,659
but we didn't want to, you know, underestimate what actually

3756
03:45:53,659 --> 03:45:55,195
would be there. So that's why it's so important

3757
03:45:55,195 --> 03:45:56,996
for me with some of the provisions that the budget

3758
03:45:56,996 --> 03:45:59,799
support act, as well as the spo portion of that, where we talk

3759
03:45:59,799 --> 03:46:03,336
about changing the requirements before that requirement was put

3760
03:46:03,336 --> 03:46:07,407
into place, we were maintaining a much higher number of senior

3761
03:46:07,407 --> 03:46:09,877
police officers in the agency. And that year we had had a big

3762
03:46:09,877 --> 03:46:12,120
drop. We have not really picked back

3763
03:46:12,120 --> 03:46:15,515
up that number of senior police officers since then.

3764
03:46:15,515 --> 03:46:16,316
which requirement? Sure.

3765
03:46:16,316 --> 03:46:19,285
so the sba requirement regarding the the serious misconduct.

3766
03:46:19,285 --> 03:46:20,887
so I referenced it in the testimony.

3767
03:46:20,887 --> 03:46:23,990
so under the the comprehensive police reform act, if you have

3768
03:46:23,990 --> 03:46:26,459
any serious misconduct, you cannot be hired.

3769
03:46:26,459 --> 03:46:28,862
the unintended consequence with that is you could be an mpd

3770
03:46:28,862 --> 03:46:33,833
officer who, you know, 28 years ago, you had sustained serious

3771
03:46:33,833 --> 03:46:36,102
misconduct. But for the prior 26 years,

3772
03:46:36,102 --> 03:46:37,837
since then, you've been a model employee.

3773
03:46:37,837 --> 03:46:40,174
you've done great things. You've had no other

3774
03:46:40,174 --> 03:46:42,142
reoccurrences. However, currently the law does

3775
03:46:42,142 --> 03:46:46,279
not does not allow us to rehire because technically it's a hire

3776
03:46:46,279 --> 03:46:49,182
that person back to as an employee, so they can't be a

3777
03:46:49,182 --> 03:46:52,185
senior police officer. So every year we rehire our

3778
03:46:52,185 --> 03:46:54,988
senior police officers. The year that was enacted came

3779
03:46:54,988 --> 03:46:57,456
through, we had a big drop in senior police officers because

3780
03:46:57,456 --> 03:47:00,126
of that new requirement. So this legislation would it

3781
03:47:00,126 --> 03:47:03,663
would still leave a requirement in there as it relates to

3782
03:47:03,663 --> 03:47:06,566
serious misconduct within the past five years, you cannot have

3783
03:47:06,566 --> 03:47:08,601
a suspension of more than ten days.

3784
03:47:08,601 --> 03:47:12,720
and it still allows mpd to make the determination if the person

3785
03:47:12,720 --> 03:47:16,309
should be an employee or not. And that authority still lies

3786
03:47:16,309 --> 03:47:17,410
with you. Yes.

3787
03:47:17,410 --> 03:47:19,680
so would lie with you under this proposed language.

3788
03:47:19,680 --> 03:47:21,281
exactly. It would still lie with us.

3789
03:47:21,281 --> 03:47:23,817
however, if you did have a more than a ten day suspension within

3790
03:47:23,817 --> 03:47:26,586
the past five years, you would not be eligible to come back.

3791
03:47:26,586 --> 03:47:29,824
so it really addresses that concern of folks who, you know,

3792
03:47:29,824 --> 03:47:32,493
more than five years ago may have had serious misconduct.

3793
03:47:32,493 --> 03:47:34,260
it would allow them to apply. It doesn't mean they would be

3794
03:47:34,260 --> 03:47:39,310
hired, but it would allow them to be considered for the

3795
03:47:39,310 --> 03:47:41,968
process. And how many officers do you

3796
03:47:41,968 --> 03:47:45,171
think that expanded authority for you would yield in the

3797
03:47:45,171 --> 03:47:47,741
senior officer program a year, let's say?

3798
03:47:47,741 --> 03:47:51,440
let me see if I know the year that we that it got implemented.

3799
03:47:51,440 --> 03:47:56,216
we had a fairly sizable drop in error in our spo numbers.

3800
03:47:56,216 --> 03:47:58,652
I don't know if I have that number right on hand right now,

3801
03:47:58,652 --> 03:48:00,787
but I can get back to you what it would look like.

3802
03:48:00,787 --> 03:48:03,690
but it's just a rehire designation.

3803
03:48:03,690 --> 03:48:07,127
so it's these are officers who already work at mpd, but they

3804
03:48:07,127 --> 03:48:09,528
wouldn't be able to become senior officers.

3805
03:48:09,528 --> 03:48:12,612
as a result, we're losing them entirely from the department.

3806
03:48:12,612 --> 03:48:14,212
so it's back to the retention portion of it.

3807
03:48:14,212 --> 03:48:16,416
so we would be able to retain because remember, to get our

3808
03:48:16,416 --> 03:48:18,284
numbers up, we need not only to get new people in the door, but

3809
03:48:18,284 --> 03:48:21,353
we need to retain the folks that we have now that's here.

3810
03:48:21,353 --> 03:48:24,924
so it's a two fold system. Are there any other ways that we

3811
03:48:24,924 --> 03:48:29,950
can get more folks into the senior officer program?

3812
03:48:29,950 --> 03:48:31,300
I know there have been conversations about a drop

3813
03:48:31,300 --> 03:48:32,899
program. I don't know where we're at with

3814
03:48:32,899 --> 03:48:34,568
that. I know that's another area that

3815
03:48:34,568 --> 03:48:38,504
folks that have interest in, you know, the things that we do

3816
03:48:38,504 --> 03:48:41,907
right now as far as the police officer retention program, the

3817
03:48:41,907 --> 03:48:44,410
educational incentives both towards the end of their career

3818
03:48:44,410 --> 03:48:47,647
and that period between 3 and 8 years, that's been successful as

3819
03:48:47,647 --> 03:48:49,715
well. This budget does continue to to

3820
03:48:49,715 --> 03:48:56,315
fund that as well. So if we passed the portion of

3821
03:49:00,259 --> 03:49:08,134
the bsa that did what we tried to do last year as part of our

3822
03:49:08,134 --> 03:49:12,720
piece, d.c. Bill, we tried to change the standards for the

3823
03:49:12,720 --> 03:49:16,700
point of entry under recognition that a lot of people don't and

3824
03:49:16,700 --> 03:49:20,110
will not have a college degree in a traditional way moving

3825
03:49:20,110 --> 03:49:22,414
forward, and that we want that training to go through the mpd

3826
03:49:22,414 --> 03:49:24,283
academy. There were changes made to the

3827
03:49:24,283 --> 03:49:29,655
bill as we went through the legislative process, but if that

3828
03:49:29,655 --> 03:49:34,326
passed in this budget and the the spigot, so to speak, turned

3829
03:49:34,326 --> 03:49:39,732
on to allow for more applicants, then where would we find the

3830
03:49:39,732 --> 03:49:42,234
funding from to ensure that we can actually hire them?

3831
03:49:42,234 --> 03:49:47,634
if we've only accommodated for 216 officers and are losing 240?

3832
03:49:47,907 --> 03:49:49,342
absolutely. That's a great question.

3833
03:49:49,342 --> 03:49:52,430
so if we're able to bring in more officers, then we can start

3834
03:49:52,430 --> 03:49:54,247
shifting that money from the overtime expenditures, which

3835
03:49:54,247 --> 03:49:57,383
have gone up to the new officers, which have a much

3836
03:49:57,383 --> 03:49:59,850
lower salary. Same thing with their senior

3837
03:49:59,850 --> 03:50:02,321
police officer program, an officer who's got 25 years on as

3838
03:50:02,321 --> 03:50:04,824
an officer, or maybe even a sergeant or whatever, they make

3839
03:50:04,824 --> 03:50:07,293
a much higher salary than a senior police officer who comes

3840
03:50:07,293 --> 03:50:09,795
in a mid range of the officer scale.

3841
03:50:09,795 --> 03:50:12,865
so those are ways that getting new people in actually would,

3842
03:50:12,865 --> 03:50:15,602
over time would come down. So the money could start to

3843
03:50:15,602 --> 03:50:18,200
shift like that. Okay.

3844
03:50:19,238 --> 03:50:21,807
you mentioned that actually, I'm going to come back to that to

3845
03:50:21,807 --> 03:50:25,244
make sure I can ask about something else.

3846
03:50:25,244 --> 03:50:29,444
I'll return. So for overtime funding, you

3847
03:50:30,817 --> 03:50:36,217
know, I appreciate the agency's effort to more accurately,

3848
03:50:36,622 --> 03:50:39,358
accurately reflect what the overtime needs will be, which I

3849
03:50:39,358 --> 03:50:45,131
think has been misrepresented to some in the public that this is

3850
03:50:45,131 --> 03:50:48,267
an increase in the budget, when really it is an accurate

3851
03:50:48,267 --> 03:50:51,905
reflect, more accurate reflection of the projections

3852
03:50:51,905 --> 03:50:54,305
that we've seen. But.

3853
03:50:59,110 --> 03:51:03,181
I guess tell me about how decisions are made with

3854
03:51:03,181 --> 03:51:05,417
overtime. You mentioned that you found

3855
03:51:05,417 --> 03:51:07,386
some efficiencies in overtime spending.

3856
03:51:07,386 --> 03:51:13,920
what were those efficiencies and what types of events warrant

3857
03:51:13,920 --> 03:51:16,395
absolutely needed overtime versus events that may be able

3858
03:51:16,395 --> 03:51:19,998
to be handled a different way without reliance on overtime?

3859
03:51:19,998 --> 03:51:22,868
yeah. So overtime is a very

3860
03:51:22,868 --> 03:51:24,136
complicated issue. So there's certain things

3861
03:51:24,136 --> 03:51:26,572
overtime we talk about special events.

3862
03:51:26,572 --> 03:51:29,207
think about five keys marathons, things like that.

3863
03:51:29,207 --> 03:51:32,411
those are in most cases, unless it's, you know, like a july 4th

3864
03:51:32,411 --> 03:51:34,847
or something. Those are those are funded by

3865
03:51:34,847 --> 03:51:35,682
whatever entity is putting that on.

3866
03:51:35,682 --> 03:51:39,284
so that's a reimbursable detail. So of course that's overtime

3867
03:51:39,284 --> 03:51:42,154
that's funded through them. Members are paid that way.

3868
03:51:42,154 --> 03:51:44,857
then you have other overtime that we have to handle.

3869
03:51:44,857 --> 03:51:47,920
things like the president, united states, when he moves,

3870
03:51:47,920 --> 03:51:49,528
the vice president moves every day.

3871
03:51:49,528 --> 03:51:51,764
those members aren't on duty. And that's insertion of overtime

3872
03:51:51,764 --> 03:51:54,533
that comes with that. I think to the the

3873
03:51:54,533 --> 03:51:56,402
correspondents dinner this weekend, the staffing that we

3874
03:51:56,402 --> 03:51:59,238
had on the outside of that, that's mandatory overtime that

3875
03:51:59,238 --> 03:52:02,107
we have to staff to make sure the perimeter of those things

3876
03:52:02,107 --> 03:52:04,843
are are safe in coordination with the secret service.

3877
03:52:04,843 --> 03:52:06,512
there's overtime that's associated with that.

3878
03:52:06,512 --> 03:52:08,781
the same is true when the king is here in town.

3879
03:52:08,781 --> 03:52:10,649
the king is a high level dignitary.

3880
03:52:10,649 --> 03:52:13,850
so in order to staff the motorcade routes with that,

3881
03:52:13,850 --> 03:52:14,453
those are overtime that we have to staff.

3882
03:52:14,453 --> 03:52:16,722
so there's kind of that that bucket of overtime that's over

3883
03:52:16,722 --> 03:52:18,657
there. And then you have things like

3884
03:52:18,657 --> 03:52:21,860
our different sporting venues. So think about, you know, nats

3885
03:52:21,860 --> 03:52:25,330
park, capital one arena, audi field officers that provide

3886
03:52:25,330 --> 03:52:27,734
enhanced visibility around on the outside of those facilities

3887
03:52:27,734 --> 03:52:30,468
because the inside is handled by the organization.

3888
03:52:30,468 --> 03:52:33,872
but the city has an obligation on the outside of those areas to

3889
03:52:33,872 --> 03:52:36,542
provide enhanced presence, traffic closures and controls.

3890
03:52:36,542 --> 03:52:39,479
you can think about the officers that help to get the vehicles

3891
03:52:39,479 --> 03:52:41,880
out of there at the end of the games and the end of the

3892
03:52:41,880 --> 03:52:45,551
concerts and things like that. So that's another area of

3893
03:52:45,551 --> 03:52:47,686
overtime, we would say. And then you have court, you

3894
03:52:47,686 --> 03:52:50,355
know, when officers make an arrest, they have to go to

3895
03:52:50,355 --> 03:52:52,250
court. In many cases, unless the

3896
03:52:52,250 --> 03:52:53,692
officer is assigned to work day work.

3897
03:52:53,692 --> 03:52:56,761
a lot of times there's overtime that's incurred as it relates to

3898
03:52:56,761 --> 03:53:00,499
going to court to to testify, as well as going to the dmv.

3899
03:53:00,499 --> 03:53:02,902
if there's dmv hearings that are related with that.

3900
03:53:02,902 --> 03:53:07,272
and then we have, you know, overtime as it relates to just

3901
03:53:07,272 --> 03:53:08,607
operational activities. So what does that mean?

3902
03:53:08,607 --> 03:53:11,543
maybe you have an arrest at the end of your shift.

3903
03:53:11,543 --> 03:53:13,178
you can't just stop the arrest and go home.

3904
03:53:13,178 --> 03:53:16,315
you have to stay incur overtime to make sure the arrest is fully

3905
03:53:16,315 --> 03:53:19,840
processed. The paperwork is completed, and

3906
03:53:19,840 --> 03:53:21,520
to move on like that, then we may have crime trends, right?

3907
03:53:21,520 --> 03:53:24,957
we may have an uptick in violent crime that may require

3908
03:53:24,957 --> 03:53:27,260
additional resources to be deployed, maybe because we're

3909
03:53:27,260 --> 03:53:30,362
low on staffing, maybe because we've seen an uptick in crime in

3910
03:53:30,362 --> 03:53:33,766
a specific area. So we, the watch commanders,

3911
03:53:33,766 --> 03:53:35,967
along with the district commanders to look at that.

3912
03:53:35,967 --> 03:53:38,337
and they would use overtime to backfill to make sure we have

3913
03:53:38,337 --> 03:53:41,339
the appropriate resources that are on the street or to address,

3914
03:53:41,339 --> 03:53:43,642
and maybe an increase, for example, in violent crime inside

3915
03:53:43,642 --> 03:53:46,879
an area. So it's kind of a long answer,

3916
03:53:46,879 --> 03:53:49,214
but there's different buckets that are looked at at all over

3917
03:53:49,214 --> 03:53:52,451
time, has to be approved by a supervisor beforehand.

3918
03:53:52,451 --> 03:53:55,854
if overtime is used for an operational plan, like a thing

3919
03:53:55,854 --> 03:53:57,957
like I spoke about, whereas maybe there's an increase in

3920
03:53:57,957 --> 03:54:00,692
violent crime in the area, then the commanders would develop a

3921
03:54:00,692 --> 03:54:03,950
plan of how they're going to use that overtime to deploy those

3922
03:54:03,950 --> 03:54:05,298
resources in that area. And then we would evaluate that

3923
03:54:05,298 --> 03:54:07,766
to see, is it something how long do we need to continue that?

3924
03:54:07,766 --> 03:54:08,901
okay. All right.

3925
03:54:08,901 --> 03:54:11,360
thank you. I'm going to return to this, but

3926
03:54:11,360 --> 03:54:13,839
we've been joined by my at large colleague, councilmember robert

3927
03:54:13,839 --> 03:54:15,373
white. And I will turn to you now for a

3928
03:54:15,373 --> 03:54:19,211
ten minute round. Thank you very much, chairperson

3929
03:54:19,211 --> 03:54:23,258
pinto chief and miss mcgaffin, I thank you for being with us

3930
03:54:23,258 --> 03:54:25,461
today. I'm currently chairing my own

3931
03:54:25,461 --> 03:54:30,399
hearing, so I will be in and out and just want to touch on a

3932
03:54:30,399 --> 03:54:35,199
couple of issues. A a constituent recently reached

3933
03:54:35,438 --> 03:54:39,308
out after noticing what they believe may be a pattern

3934
03:54:39,308 --> 03:54:42,545
involving their clients. In one case, an individual

3935
03:54:42,545 --> 03:54:45,682
stopped near north capitol street and rhode island avenue

3936
03:54:45,682 --> 03:54:51,320
on march 2nd was arrested by mpd for an alleged expired tag

3937
03:54:51,320 --> 03:54:53,823
released from the second district station and then

3938
03:54:53,823 --> 03:54:56,526
detained by ice outside of the station.

3939
03:54:56,526 --> 03:55:00,831
in a second case. On march 25th, an uber driver

3940
03:55:00,831 --> 03:55:04,767
stopped near children's hospital for speeding, was arrested by

3941
03:55:04,767 --> 03:55:08,971
mpd, held overnight, transported to d.c. Superior court and later

3942
03:55:08,971 --> 03:55:13,771
taken into ice custody. What policies govern mpd

3943
03:55:13,876 --> 03:55:17,915
coordination or information sharing with federal immigration

3944
03:55:17,915 --> 03:55:19,716
authorities and situations like these?

3945
03:55:19,716 --> 03:55:23,186
yeah, so, I mean, there's a lot d.c. Code that discusses

3946
03:55:23,186 --> 03:55:25,320
specifically what information we can and can't share basically

3947
03:55:25,320 --> 03:55:28,991
kind of comes down to is once you're inside custody, you can't

3948
03:55:28,991 --> 03:55:30,659
share any information as it relates to that.

3949
03:55:30,659 --> 03:55:34,497
on the mpd side, the two instances that you refer to

3950
03:55:34,497 --> 03:55:37,867
specifically, I'm not familiar with, but that's kind of the

3951
03:55:37,867 --> 03:55:41,704
outline of what the law is. So mpd does not engage in civil

3952
03:55:41,704 --> 03:55:43,674
immigration enforcement. We shouldn't we're not asking

3953
03:55:43,674 --> 03:55:45,742
people. We're prohibited by law from

3954
03:55:45,742 --> 03:55:47,343
inquiring about their immigration status.

3955
03:55:47,343 --> 03:55:51,981
with that, is there a way for federal immigration authorities

3956
03:55:51,981 --> 03:55:56,219
to know whether someone that may be on their radar has been

3957
03:55:56,219 --> 03:55:59,122
arrested or is being released from a police station?

3958
03:55:59,122 --> 03:56:02,892
I would imagine there's a way for them to, to to know when I

3959
03:56:02,892 --> 03:56:04,727
say that, you know, when a person is arrested, they get

3960
03:56:04,727 --> 03:56:07,230
booked and then it goes into the correction system.

3961
03:56:07,230 --> 03:56:09,990
I don't know what kind of visibility they have, but I do

3962
03:56:09,990 --> 03:56:12,301
know, for example, when you get arrested, you know, if you're

3963
03:56:12,301 --> 03:56:16,306
held, you go from a dock custody to the us marshals, which is

3964
03:56:16,306 --> 03:56:19,509
obviously a federal agency. So there is information that in

3965
03:56:19,509 --> 03:56:22,311
those systems you get on the lockup list inside superior

3966
03:56:22,311 --> 03:56:24,880
court, which is part of the federal government as well.

3967
03:56:24,880 --> 03:56:27,383
so there's definitely information that goes across

3968
03:56:27,383 --> 03:56:29,783
those areas there. Okay.

3969
03:56:32,888 --> 03:56:35,858
the obviously we've seen I know you've seen it as well, videos

3970
03:56:35,858 --> 03:56:39,962
of of officers. What one video of officers

3971
03:56:39,962 --> 03:56:45,335
dragging two youth off bikes. Other videos of taunting youth

3972
03:56:45,335 --> 03:56:49,137
at metro stations, which has raised questions among residents

3973
03:56:49,137 --> 03:56:53,937
about whether these approaches. And improve public safety,

3974
03:56:55,811 --> 03:56:58,681
particularly with respect to to young people.

3975
03:56:58,681 --> 03:57:01,784
some young people from black swan academy told me that they

3976
03:57:01,784 --> 03:57:06,789
need what they need most are trusted, adult mentors, and the

3977
03:57:06,789 --> 03:57:09,725
council passed the youth mentorship through a community

3978
03:57:09,725 --> 03:57:13,896
engagement act in december of 2024, and these concerns

3979
03:57:13,896 --> 03:57:17,166
underscore why we need to identify funding in this budget

3980
03:57:17,166 --> 03:57:20,503
to implement the solutions young people themselves have

3981
03:57:20,503 --> 03:57:22,380
requested. So I'll be looking for

3982
03:57:22,380 --> 03:57:26,800
opportunities in this budget to work with my colleagues to fund

3983
03:57:26,800 --> 03:57:30,346
this and other similar measures. But while we work to fund these

3984
03:57:30,346 --> 03:57:33,849
prevention strategies, residents also deserve clarity about how

3985
03:57:33,849 --> 03:57:37,319
youth are treated when multiple law enforcement agencies are

3986
03:57:37,319 --> 03:57:41,230
present, when federal officers are operating alongside mpd in

3987
03:57:41,230 --> 03:57:44,694
areas with large youth gatherings, are they required to

3988
03:57:44,694 --> 03:57:48,894
follow mpd protocols for interacting with youth,

3989
03:57:49,365 --> 03:57:51,100
including de-escalation standards?

3990
03:57:51,100 --> 03:57:54,704
so mpd policy does not apply to any federal agency.

3991
03:57:54,704 --> 03:57:58,207
they're guided by whatever their home agency policies are.

3992
03:57:58,207 --> 03:58:00,476
so what does that mean? That means if you work for

3993
03:58:00,476 --> 03:58:03,579
united states marshal service, you're bound by the policies of

3994
03:58:03,579 --> 03:58:06,482
the marshal service. They don't have to follow air,

3995
03:58:06,482 --> 03:58:09,190
air rules and procedures. Obviously, mpd officers that are

3996
03:58:09,190 --> 03:58:11,621
assigned to the metropolitan police department, they received

3997
03:58:11,621 --> 03:58:13,889
training as it relates to juveniles and how to interact

3998
03:58:13,889 --> 03:58:15,691
with them. And then, as you mentioned,

3999
03:58:15,691 --> 03:58:18,494
there was, you know, an incident that gained some attention that

4000
03:58:18,494 --> 03:58:22,465
that incident is being investigated as well.

4001
03:58:22,465 --> 03:58:26,302
if they are not required to follow the same protocols as

4002
03:58:26,302 --> 03:58:31,974
mpd, do you think that runs the risk of creating safety issues

4003
03:58:31,974 --> 03:58:35,574
and. Creating distrust with with our

4004
03:58:35,878 --> 03:58:37,913
law enforcement? I don't know if it runs the risk

4005
03:58:37,913 --> 03:58:39,648
of that. What I would say is most law

4006
03:58:39,648 --> 03:58:41,751
enforcement agencies that I'm aware of do have a requirement

4007
03:58:41,751 --> 03:58:44,620
to, to de-escalate, but what their specific training is or

4008
03:58:44,620 --> 03:58:47,523
what that looks like, I can't really comment on.

4009
03:58:47,523 --> 03:58:50,260
I do know, you know, what we've seen in a lot of these large

4010
03:58:50,260 --> 03:58:53,128
scale teen takeovers are, you know, a lot of lot of folks that

4011
03:58:53,128 --> 03:58:54,931
are out there. And it takes a lot of resources,

4012
03:58:54,931 --> 03:58:57,867
as you alluded to, to, to try to get those things under control.

4013
03:58:57,867 --> 03:59:01,337
for us, the main thing is to let everyone, the young people,

4014
03:59:01,337 --> 03:59:03,672
community members, folks that are out there be in a safe

4015
03:59:03,672 --> 03:59:06,308
environment to be out and enjoy the evening or the nighttime,

4016
03:59:06,308 --> 03:59:08,210
whatever it may be. But that way everyone can be

4017
03:59:08,210 --> 03:59:10,179
safe. The young people and the other

4018
03:59:10,179 --> 03:59:13,483
folks that are out there in those different areas, the the

4019
03:59:13,483 --> 03:59:16,619
majority of young people in these large groups are not doing

4020
03:59:16,619 --> 03:59:19,388
anything illegal, aside from whether or not there may be a

4021
03:59:19,388 --> 03:59:22,224
curfew in place. But when there are a couple that

4022
03:59:22,224 --> 03:59:28,431
that may do something, does that create a safety issue for the

4023
03:59:28,431 --> 03:59:29,731
city? It definitely does.

4024
03:59:29,731 --> 03:59:32,635
I mean, unfortunately, we saw the incident where the young

4025
03:59:32,635 --> 03:59:35,571
person, you know, juvenile discharged a firearm in the navy

4026
03:59:35,571 --> 03:59:38,407
yard about last month when there was one of these large

4027
03:59:38,407 --> 03:59:40,609
takeovers, another another young person, juvenile, was seen

4028
03:59:40,609 --> 03:59:42,812
running from the scene. A firearm was recovered.

4029
03:59:42,812 --> 03:59:44,647
so, you know, things like that. I mean, it puts the safety of

4030
03:59:44,647 --> 03:59:47,516
all the young people and not just young people, but other

4031
03:59:47,516 --> 03:59:48,785
adults and folks that are out there.

4032
03:59:48,785 --> 03:59:51,954
in those cases, as you mentioned there, there is usually when

4033
03:59:51,954 --> 03:59:54,724
there is issues, a small group of individuals that are there.

4034
03:59:54,724 --> 03:59:58,195
so that's why even, for example, with the emergency legislation

4035
03:59:58,195 --> 04:00:01,970
and now the mayor's order as it relates to curfew, there's so

4036
04:00:01,970 --> 04:00:03,332
many things that are built into, as it relates to the size of the

4037
04:00:03,332 --> 04:00:06,736
group to be in violation. The information that we need to

4038
04:00:06,736 --> 04:00:09,605
designate the area, as well as the warnings that we give,

4039
04:00:09,605 --> 04:00:12,941
because the goal is not to bring someone as an a curfew violator,

4040
04:00:12,941 --> 04:00:15,211
it's to try to break the groups up so they're not so large to

4041
04:00:15,211 --> 04:00:17,612
make it more manageable and to make sure it's safe for

4042
04:00:17,612 --> 04:00:19,682
everyone. Now, obviously, people are

4043
04:00:19,682 --> 04:00:22,751
shooting guns off or carrying firearms or assaulting each

4044
04:00:22,751 --> 04:00:24,286
other. Then the appropriate police

4045
04:00:24,286 --> 04:00:26,356
action needs to be taken. But we want to make sure that

4046
04:00:26,356 --> 04:00:28,157
everyone's safe in those areas. Right?

4047
04:00:28,157 --> 04:00:32,400
and so yeah, so even if there are a lot of young people, the

4048
04:00:32,400 --> 04:00:37,500
few people doing very wrong things is still wrong with the

4049
04:00:37,500 --> 04:00:38,773
federal officers. If the majority of them are

4050
04:00:38,773 --> 04:00:42,430
doing something right. This incident with the federal

4051
04:00:42,430 --> 04:00:45,446
officer grabbing two young girls off the bike, was that wrong?

4052
04:00:45,446 --> 04:00:47,682
I think that that my understanding is that was not a

4053
04:00:47,682 --> 04:00:49,717
federal officer. That's an mpd officer that's

4054
04:00:49,717 --> 04:00:51,717
being investigated. Okay.

4055
04:00:52,186 --> 04:00:54,589
so we agree that's not okay. Absolutely.

4056
04:00:54,589 --> 04:00:57,580
that's why we're investigating to see exactly what happened and

4057
04:00:57,580 --> 04:01:00,695
look into that. How many officers are being

4058
04:01:00,695 --> 04:01:03,931
deployed to curfew zones. So it depends.

4059
04:01:03,931 --> 04:01:05,733
it depends on what information we have.

4060
04:01:05,733 --> 04:01:08,136
so it depends on how many curfew zones we have.

4061
04:01:08,136 --> 04:01:11,720
and then if we don't have curfew zones, we still deploy officers

4062
04:01:11,720 --> 04:01:14,175
inside certain areas where we've seen issues at.

4063
04:01:14,175 --> 04:01:16,277
so what does that mean. There's certain areas, for

4064
04:01:16,277 --> 04:01:19,547
example, the navy yard, where we see pretty much every weekend

4065
04:01:19,547 --> 04:01:23,484
some some level of juvenile activity, either based on on

4066
04:01:23,484 --> 04:01:25,887
fliers that are posted online. A lot of these things go on

4067
04:01:25,887 --> 04:01:28,989
social media, go around. So kind of the areas that we've

4068
04:01:28,989 --> 04:01:32,160
seen have also kind of shifted sometimes to as we've deployed

4069
04:01:32,160 --> 04:01:34,929
resources in areas, there's other areas where we start to

4070
04:01:34,929 --> 04:01:38,633
see the teen takeovers happen. Example would be the shift we

4071
04:01:38,633 --> 04:01:40,634
saw over noma and lithia tanner park.

4072
04:01:40,634 --> 04:01:42,370
we had issues that moved over there.

4073
04:01:42,370 --> 04:01:45,373
so putting resources in those areas to try to mitigate that.

4074
04:01:45,373 --> 04:01:49,176
if we have a juvenile curfew zone or not, it has been

4075
04:01:49,176 --> 04:01:52,179
successful to help tamp down those things, but it does take a

4076
04:01:52,179 --> 04:01:55,250
lot of resources. And of course, we have to have

4077
04:01:55,250 --> 04:01:58,652
the ability to shift those resources because, you know,

4078
04:01:58,652 --> 04:02:01,855
since, you know, young people may see officers over here, they

4079
04:02:01,855 --> 04:02:03,724
may go to another location. So we're going to have to have

4080
04:02:03,724 --> 04:02:06,861
the ability to shift those folks to address those issues.

4081
04:02:06,861 --> 04:02:10,865
so. That the curfew zones have an

4082
04:02:10,865 --> 04:02:13,901
impact on police coverage in other parts of the city.

4083
04:02:13,901 --> 04:02:15,803
no, no. So we're staffing those with

4084
04:02:15,803 --> 04:02:17,471
overtime. So it has an effect on our

4085
04:02:17,471 --> 04:02:20,107
overtime usage is what it really does.

4086
04:02:20,107 --> 04:02:22,343
and then we have to shift resources to address that.

4087
04:02:22,343 --> 04:02:25,946
so for example, you know we're using overtime resources in the

4088
04:02:25,946 --> 04:02:28,883
navy yard to have increased staffing over there because of

4089
04:02:28,883 --> 04:02:30,151
what we're seeing inside that area.

4090
04:02:30,151 --> 04:02:33,386
with the uptick in visitation, more, more young people that are

4091
04:02:33,386 --> 04:02:36,986
there in those time frames. Okay.

4092
04:02:40,127 --> 04:02:44,927
the. There's one issue I want to make

4093
04:02:47,168 --> 04:02:52,640
sure I have time to, to get to. So let me go there now.

4094
04:02:52,640 --> 04:02:55,743
residents sometimes report to me that after a shooting or other

4095
04:02:55,743 --> 04:02:59,213
violent incident, police response ends quickly.

4096
04:02:59,213 --> 04:03:04,613
while communities continue to deal with trauma and disruption.

4097
04:03:05,860 --> 04:03:09,857
I recently spoke with the families of tio coates and milo

4098
04:03:09,857 --> 04:03:12,360
young. The two children killed near a

4099
04:03:12,360 --> 04:03:15,930
food truck during spring break. Their families and community

4100
04:03:15,930 --> 04:03:18,733
members said that they had received no outreach or support

4101
04:03:18,733 --> 04:03:23,471
after facing what is unimaginable loss after a

4102
04:03:23,471 --> 04:03:28,871
violent incident occurs. What role does mpd or partner

4103
04:03:29,430 --> 04:03:33,243
agencies play in coordinating with violence interruption

4104
04:03:33,381 --> 04:03:36,616
trauma services? Community and family support?

4105
04:03:36,616 --> 04:03:38,219
yes. So on that aspect, in those

4106
04:03:38,219 --> 04:03:41,489
cases, especially in homicide cases, we have a victim support

4107
04:03:41,489 --> 04:03:44,759
section within an era or homicide unit that does outreach

4108
04:03:44,759 --> 04:03:46,627
and connects those families. So I'll follow up and look and

4109
04:03:46,627 --> 04:03:51,320
see what that looks like there. Also, you know, in those areas,

4110
04:03:51,320 --> 04:03:53,433
we have put an increased presence over there, working

4111
04:03:53,433 --> 04:03:55,302
with the violence interrupters to try to get information.

4112
04:03:55,302 --> 04:03:59,775
you know, we continue to investigate those those deaths

4113
04:03:59,775 --> 04:04:01,174
intensely. And it's one of the highest

4114
04:04:01,174 --> 04:04:03,811
priorities that we have. So working with the community to

4115
04:04:03,811 --> 04:04:06,847
get information with that, but also the deployment of resources

4116
04:04:06,847 --> 04:04:10,151
in, in those areas is something that we work with other agencies

4117
04:04:10,151 --> 04:04:12,720
for, especially when we come to the juvenile area and pushing

4118
04:04:12,720 --> 04:04:15,657
that out to for awareness, not only to our partner agencies,

4119
04:04:15,657 --> 04:04:17,991
but to see what else they can do in those situations.

4120
04:04:17,991 --> 04:04:19,727
thank you. If we could work together on

4121
04:04:19,727 --> 04:04:24,650
that, and with my colleague councilmember felder, just, you

4122
04:04:24,650 --> 04:04:26,334
know, the impact on the other young people and the families

4123
04:04:26,334 --> 04:04:29,303
there is is tough to process. I know you and your team know

4124
04:04:29,303 --> 04:04:30,371
about that. So.

4125
04:04:30,371 --> 04:04:31,539
absolutely. Yes, sir.

4126
04:04:31,539 --> 04:04:33,341
thank you. Thank you very much.

4127
04:04:33,341 --> 04:04:36,341
thank you. Chairman, chairperson pinto.

4128
04:04:37,120 --> 04:04:38,179
absolutely. And thank you so much for

4129
04:04:38,179 --> 04:04:41,349
joining us. Good luck in your hearing.

4130
04:04:41,349 --> 04:04:44,919
and I think what that conversation lends itself to

4131
04:04:44,919 --> 04:04:49,156
another area of the budget that is concerning around the cut of

4132
04:04:49,156 --> 04:04:51,292
family services, out of the one's office.

4133
04:04:51,292 --> 04:04:55,930
and so if we're reducing another agency's ability to provide

4134
04:04:55,930 --> 04:04:59,500
those wraparound supports and grief counseling and funeral

4135
04:04:59,500 --> 04:05:03,871
expenses, which is now cut across all of our agencies, that

4136
04:05:03,871 --> 04:05:06,775
were supportive in that way. You know, a lot of people are

4137
04:05:06,775 --> 04:05:13,380
going to be relying on mpd to do even more and, you know, needs

4138
04:05:13,380 --> 04:05:15,683
to be we're working to resolve in the budget.

4139
04:05:15,683 --> 04:05:18,718
I do want to just clarify something about the conversation

4140
04:05:18,718 --> 04:05:21,722
you just had with councilmember white as it relates to the

4141
04:05:21,722 --> 04:05:26,522
juvenile curfew. Without this tool, can you speak

4142
04:05:29,930 --> 04:05:34,680
about what that would mean for the staffing strains and

4143
04:05:34,680 --> 04:05:39,273
overtime strains in order to respond to the large teen

4144
04:05:39,273 --> 04:05:44,730
takeovers? If you weren't able to say in

4145
04:05:44,111 --> 04:05:47,314
this specific area, we're going to use this as a preventative

4146
04:05:47,314 --> 04:05:49,449
tool to have an earlier curfew. Yes.

4147
04:05:49,449 --> 04:05:51,886
so more likely than not, what we'd have to do is we'd have to

4148
04:05:51,886 --> 04:05:54,556
deploy even more resources in the area, because then they

4149
04:05:54,556 --> 04:05:56,825
would come to the area. And now we have the ability, if

4150
04:05:56,825 --> 04:05:59,760
they're in those zones, to have them break into smaller groups,

4151
04:05:59,760 --> 04:06:01,895
which are more manageable, or they can go outside the

4152
04:06:01,895 --> 04:06:04,832
boundaries, it kind of thins out the crowd.

4153
04:06:04,832 --> 04:06:05,966
but without that, we'd have more people.

4154
04:06:05,966 --> 04:06:09,437
so just like when we have a large crowd anywhere, maybe

4155
04:06:09,437 --> 04:06:12,440
downtown or wherever, we need more resources and more officers

4156
04:06:12,440 --> 04:06:15,776
and more folks to be out there to ensure that they can monitor

4157
04:06:15,776 --> 04:06:17,244
the crowd. And if there are any issues or

4158
04:06:17,244 --> 04:06:19,747
if a fight breaks out, they can immediately intercede.

4159
04:06:19,747 --> 04:06:22,883
so it doesn't turn into a complete melee.

4160
04:06:22,883 --> 04:06:27,388
okay. So if we don't have the juvenile

4161
04:06:27,388 --> 04:06:31,325
curfew in place, we can expect more strain on officer staffing

4162
04:06:31,325 --> 04:06:32,626
and overtime. That's correct.

4163
04:06:32,626 --> 04:06:34,626
okay. Thank you.

4164
04:06:36,130 --> 04:06:41,168
okay, so just to make sure I have these these numbers again

4165
04:06:41,168 --> 04:06:47,168
for fy 2027, we're anticipating that we can bring on 216 new

4166
04:06:47,345 --> 04:06:49,281
recruits based on our current requirements.

4167
04:06:49,281 --> 04:06:53,483
as far as the spos and with the college requirement.

4168
04:06:53,483 --> 04:06:54,352
yes. Okay.

4169
04:06:54,352 --> 04:06:58,222
and how about new cadets? So with that, we we think

4170
04:06:58,222 --> 04:07:00,991
there'll be about 20 cadet conversions into that.

4171
04:07:00,991 --> 04:07:04,895
the cadet numbers, the cadet numbers really depends on how

4172
04:07:04,895 --> 04:07:08,980
many roll over. As I mentioned in my testimony,

4173
04:07:08,980 --> 04:07:10,435
as we talked about the the provision about the cadets, we

4174
04:07:10,435 --> 04:07:15,139
hover in that area about 120 and 1 to 130 with the cadet numbers,

4175
04:07:15,139 --> 04:07:18,709
we're authorized up to 150. That's why we're interested in

4176
04:07:18,709 --> 04:07:21,778
in the expansion of it to the immediate area around the city,

4177
04:07:21,778 --> 04:07:25,316
to see if we can fill those additional 20 spots with other

4178
04:07:25,316 --> 04:07:27,184
folks. If we do not get to that level

4179
04:07:27,184 --> 04:07:30,654
with folks from the city itself. But the reason why it's kind of

4180
04:07:30,654 --> 04:07:34,258
nuanced is you have some cadets that are in high school in their

4181
04:07:34,258 --> 04:07:37,561
last year, and they roll out. You have some that are that are

4182
04:07:37,561 --> 04:07:39,997
older, that have, you know, joined the program, but they

4183
04:07:39,997 --> 04:07:42,132
don't have the credits. And then you have some that are

4184
04:07:42,132 --> 04:07:44,803
kind of in that mid range where they hit 21, they'll be able to

4185
04:07:44,803 --> 04:07:47,871
come and officer. So depending on where they're at

4186
04:07:47,871 --> 04:07:51,809
as it relates to age and college credits, that's where it kind of

4187
04:07:51,809 --> 04:07:54,612
because some of them could have started inside high school and

4188
04:07:54,612 --> 04:07:57,882
be done earlier and could theoretically be just about

4189
04:07:57,882 --> 04:08:00,951
there to be 21 in some cases. You have folks that are over.

4190
04:08:00,951 --> 04:08:03,554
21. So they're not waiting to get to

4191
04:08:03,554 --> 04:08:05,222
21. They're just waiting to get the

4192
04:08:05,222 --> 04:08:07,358
appropriate college credits. So it comes back to kind of back

4193
04:08:07,358 --> 04:08:10,928
to the conversation about the college credits, but it's been a

4194
04:08:10,928 --> 04:08:14,632
very steady pipeline. Well, not many roads lead to

4195
04:08:14,632 --> 04:08:17,568
college credits, but it has been one of our best pipelines.

4196
04:08:17,568 --> 04:08:20,437
the cadet program has been as far as getting young people

4197
04:08:20,437 --> 04:08:23,441
inside the door, you know, giving them familiarity not only

4198
04:08:23,441 --> 04:08:26,844
with the agency, but how things work, but letting them get their

4199
04:08:26,844 --> 04:08:29,313
education, enrolling in. So it has been a very good

4200
04:08:29,313 --> 04:08:33,118
pipeline for us. So those 20 recruits expected

4201
04:08:33,118 --> 04:08:36,118
are part of the 217. Yes.

4202
04:08:36,620 --> 04:08:38,323
216 yes. So right now, what we we

4203
04:08:38,323 --> 04:08:42,523
estimate is 148 new recruits. 20 cadet conversions, and

4204
04:08:43,160 --> 04:08:44,795
potentially 48 senior officers is there.

4205
04:08:44,795 --> 04:08:47,264
that's our estimate. Of course, things could change

4206
04:08:47,264 --> 04:08:53,264
based on the bsa and what that would look like.

4207
04:08:53,404 --> 04:08:57,274
okay. And that does not include what

4208
04:08:57,274 --> 04:08:59,876
hopefully will be an increase if drop is finally passed.

4209
04:08:59,876 --> 04:09:02,846
that's correct. We wanted to make our estimate

4210
04:09:02,846 --> 04:09:05,846
as realistic as possible. Okay.

4211
04:09:08,419 --> 04:09:12,190
all right. So back to overtime.

4212
04:09:13,724 --> 04:09:19,724
so last year there was $39 million budgeted for overtime in

4213
04:09:20,230 --> 04:09:24,368
fy 26, the current year. But the actual amount spent on

4214
04:09:24,368 --> 04:09:27,368
overtime in fy 25 was 95 million.

4215
04:09:27,805 --> 04:09:31,976
in the proposed fy 27 budget, the mayor is allocated 81

4216
04:09:31,976 --> 04:09:36,800
million to overtime. But you spoke about earlier that

4217
04:09:36,800 --> 04:09:39,517
this year is going to be even more reliant on overtime because

4218
04:09:39,517 --> 04:09:43,320
of all of these federal events. And so while I appreciate this

4219
04:09:43,320 --> 04:09:47,591
budget moves towards more accurate reflection, is it an

4220
04:09:47,591 --> 04:09:51,128
accurate reflection? I do believe it's an accurate

4221
04:09:51,128 --> 04:09:52,529
reflection. But as you mentioned, there's a

4222
04:09:52,529 --> 04:09:55,200
lot of variables that are in there, including we talk about

4223
04:09:55,200 --> 04:09:57,268
the america 250 in a different funding sources.

4224
04:09:57,268 --> 04:10:00,400
so I'll let dan talk a little bit about kind of what that

4225
04:10:00,400 --> 04:10:02,539
breakdown looks like and kind of where we think that we will be

4226
04:10:02,539 --> 04:10:03,608
at with that. That would be great.

4227
04:10:03,608 --> 04:10:10,414
and as you do that, can you also talk about where the epsf

4228
04:10:10,414 --> 04:10:13,751
funding went to and how that changed our own local budget

4229
04:10:13,751 --> 04:10:16,387
allocations? With the increase in federal

4230
04:10:16,387 --> 04:10:18,387
funding, reimbursement? Sure.

4231
04:10:19,857 --> 04:10:23,693
so can you clarify the fund that we usually get reimbursed from

4232
04:10:23,693 --> 04:10:26,764
the federal government? That was usually about 50

4233
04:10:26,764 --> 04:10:28,899
million, that we got $90 million this year?

4234
04:10:28,899 --> 04:10:31,602
correct. Much of that hopefully will go

4235
04:10:31,602 --> 04:10:34,872
to reimbursement of expenses to cover federal.

4236
04:10:34,872 --> 04:10:40,644
but I'm curious exactly how much mpd received from that bucket of

4237
04:10:40,644 --> 04:10:44,140
money and how that changed our local allocation of dollars that

4238
04:10:44,140 --> 04:10:46,383
we had anticipated, because we weren't sure we were going to

4239
04:10:46,383 --> 04:10:47,351
get that money. Yeah.

4240
04:10:47,351 --> 04:10:50,787
so our current forecast of what we think we'll need from e, p,

4241
04:10:50,787 --> 04:10:54,726
s, f and mpd, and particularly mpd overtime, uses the majority

4242
04:10:54,726 --> 04:10:57,194
across the district. I know fire uses some and I

4243
04:10:57,194 --> 04:10:59,363
believe corrections. It is it is getting close to 90.

4244
04:10:59,363 --> 04:11:03,670
so we are having conversations with sema and others in terms of

4245
04:11:03,670 --> 04:11:05,536
you know, they're the ones that manage it centrally with the cfo

4246
04:11:05,536 --> 04:11:08,405
as well in terms of what we can do about that and potentially

4247
04:11:08,405 --> 04:11:10,874
working with the mayor, because it's definitely america.

4248
04:11:10,874 --> 04:11:15,446
250 alone. The iran middle east ramp up of

4249
04:11:15,446 --> 04:11:17,681
of mpd resources is also going to epsf.

4250
04:11:17,681 --> 04:11:21,351
so there's other factors at play that haven't been there in the

4251
04:11:21,351 --> 04:11:24,755
past. So even though the 90 is a lot,

4252
04:11:24,755 --> 04:11:27,958
the vast majority of that is going to be mpd over time.

4253
04:11:27,958 --> 04:11:31,128
are there any other sources of money that the federal

4254
04:11:31,128 --> 04:11:34,198
government can just directly pay for some of these security

4255
04:11:34,198 --> 04:11:37,768
expenses that are due to federal government activity?

4256
04:11:37,768 --> 04:11:41,380
so in my ideal world, we'd have a whole bunch of new moas

4257
04:11:41,380 --> 04:11:43,507
because we have various task forces in place where we do have

4258
04:11:43,507 --> 04:11:45,843
existing moas, and we become a reimbursable special purpose

4259
04:11:45,843 --> 04:11:47,745
revenue. Obviously, that takes time and

4260
04:11:47,745 --> 04:11:49,848
more paperwork and agreement with these various federal

4261
04:11:49,848 --> 04:11:53,917
entities, and it doesn't seem to have been the case so far in

4262
04:11:53,917 --> 04:11:56,454
this current environment. But, you know, that would pave

4263
04:11:56,454 --> 04:12:00,991
the way because we've had for years dozens of federal task

4264
04:12:00,991 --> 04:12:03,930
forces and regional. And those work very well.

4265
04:12:03,930 --> 04:12:05,329
there's there's agreements in place, there's reimbursable

4266
04:12:05,329 --> 04:12:06,696
rates in place, and a special purpose revenue.

4267
04:12:06,696 --> 04:12:10,468
so it doesn't even get to epsf or the need for another federal

4268
04:12:10,468 --> 04:12:12,903
payment. I do know anecdotally, there are

4269
04:12:12,903 --> 04:12:15,340
conversations from the cfo side and the mayor's side, I believe

4270
04:12:15,340 --> 04:12:17,941
directly with congress to to talk about a potential

4271
04:12:17,941 --> 04:12:20,100
additional federal payment. Federal payment would be great

4272
04:12:20,100 --> 04:12:22,980
because there's not usually the same requirements as a grant

4273
04:12:22,980 --> 04:12:26,350
with strings attached, if you will, because it's money we can

4274
04:12:26,350 --> 04:12:27,751
utilize and have more flexibility.

4275
04:12:27,751 --> 04:12:34,191
but I'm not aware of anything in writing at this point.

4276
04:12:34,191 --> 04:12:36,894
so is the only way the federal government ever really helpful

4277
04:12:36,894 --> 04:12:41,999
in this regard is through this epsf fund that we then apply for

4278
04:12:41,999 --> 04:12:43,300
reimbursement to? That's right.

4279
04:12:43,300 --> 04:12:48,573
well, epsf is is is easy in, in a in a sense, because it is it

4280
04:12:48,573 --> 04:12:52,644
is it is reimbursable. But there are there are it's

4281
04:12:52,644 --> 04:12:56,148
broader and its application and how we can use it.

4282
04:12:56,148 --> 04:12:59,418
it's just this year is, is with america.

4283
04:12:59,418 --> 04:13:00,919
250 and some of these other events.

4284
04:13:00,919 --> 04:13:03,988
it's, it's far beyond what we would normally need in a, in a

4285
04:13:03,988 --> 04:13:06,958
fiscal year. Well, it feels like america is.

4286
04:13:06,958 --> 04:13:10,610
250 is a perfect example of something that is unique.

4287
04:13:10,610 --> 04:13:14,320
and that's not accounted for in our annual budgeting, that if

4288
04:13:14,320 --> 04:13:17,669
there was ever a time for the federal government to directly

4289
04:13:17,669 --> 04:13:21,740
pay for some of those security and personnel costs, it would be

4290
04:13:21,740 --> 04:13:23,875
the programing around. To me, it would be just like the

4291
04:13:23,875 --> 04:13:25,643
inaugurations. Every four years we get an

4292
04:13:25,643 --> 04:13:27,413
additional federal payment for the inauguration from.

4293
04:13:27,413 --> 04:13:29,914
from my standpoint, that would that would make sense.

4294
04:13:29,914 --> 04:13:32,684
similar size, similar scope. But imagine if the inauguration

4295
04:13:32,684 --> 04:13:35,220
was only once in every 250 years.

4296
04:13:35,220 --> 04:13:37,889
yeah, exactly. I mean, really.

4297
04:13:37,889 --> 04:13:40,592
okay. And so some of the inauguration

4298
04:13:40,592 --> 04:13:44,729
expenses I thought were part of the epsf reimbursement.

4299
04:13:44,729 --> 04:13:46,598
yes. Although the majority of it is,

4300
04:13:46,598 --> 04:13:49,801
is actually designated. It's similar, but it's actually

4301
04:13:49,801 --> 04:13:52,203
accounted for separately. It's a separate paper agency.

4302
04:13:52,203 --> 04:13:54,372
so sometimes I think the numbers may be shown together, but

4303
04:13:54,372 --> 04:13:57,175
they're actually separate. And how much was that that

4304
04:13:57,175 --> 04:13:58,911
separate fund received for the inauguration.

4305
04:13:58,911 --> 04:14:01,113
from that I'd have to I don't have it right in front of me.

4306
04:14:01,113 --> 04:14:02,714
okay. I'm just curious about what the

4307
04:14:02,714 --> 04:14:06,384
range would be. It's in the tens of millions.

4308
04:14:06,384 --> 04:14:08,384
yeah. Okay.

4309
04:14:09,688 --> 04:14:13,858
and are those conversations going on now around setting up a

4310
04:14:13,858 --> 04:14:17,562
similar funding structure for americas 250 as far as I'm

4311
04:14:17,562 --> 04:14:20,398
aware, right now, we're just looking at it in terms of epsf.

4312
04:14:20,398 --> 04:14:23,868
so I think I think I do believe there's conversations at higher

4313
04:14:23,868 --> 04:14:27,205
levels of the cfo and the mayor in terms of trying to work with

4314
04:14:27,205 --> 04:14:28,873
congress on getting an additional federal payment.

4315
04:14:28,873 --> 04:14:31,810
I don't we haven't there's no structure or anything that's

4316
04:14:31,810 --> 04:14:34,546
been set up to accommodate that. Okay.

4317
04:14:34,546 --> 04:14:37,349
well, chief, you serve on the safe and beautiful task force,

4318
04:14:37,349 --> 04:14:39,749
right? Yeah, I do.

4319
04:14:40,185 --> 04:14:42,754
so is this something that you can ask them for?

4320
04:14:42,754 --> 04:14:46,358
yeah, we can definitely bring up the conversation about it just

4321
04:14:46,358 --> 04:14:48,426
to kind of give a little context, though, about task

4322
04:14:48,426 --> 04:14:50,761
force and things like that. The task force don't usually pay

4323
04:14:50,761 --> 04:14:53,899
for all the officers. They usually pay for task force

4324
04:14:53,899 --> 04:14:55,633
expenses that are associated with that.

4325
04:14:55,633 --> 04:14:57,835
so think about officers, for example, that we have to serve

4326
04:14:57,835 --> 04:14:59,505
on the joint terrorism task force.

4327
04:14:59,505 --> 04:15:01,373
the fbi doesn't pay for their salaries.

4328
04:15:01,373 --> 04:15:05,443
they pay for overtime. That's associated with with

4329
04:15:05,443 --> 04:15:08,313
their duties with the fbi. They may provide a vehicle, but

4330
04:15:08,313 --> 04:15:11,117
they don't pay their salary. So it's just want to provide

4331
04:15:11,117 --> 04:15:12,718
clarity. It's not like they would pay for

4332
04:15:12,718 --> 04:15:13,918
everything. Yes.

4333
04:15:13,918 --> 04:15:16,121
understood. But I think if the

4334
04:15:16,121 --> 04:15:18,890
recommendation came from the task force to ensure that

4335
04:15:18,890 --> 04:15:23,528
expenses around america's two 50th didn't come out of dc local

4336
04:15:23,528 --> 04:15:26,765
overtime budget, but was separately allocated, you know,

4337
04:15:26,765 --> 04:15:28,933
it could save the america 250 isn't.

4338
04:15:28,933 --> 04:15:30,736
although the task force has some visibility.

4339
04:15:30,736 --> 04:15:32,872
it's not like ran by the task force itself.

4340
04:15:32,872 --> 04:15:35,872
but we definitely. Point taken.

4341
04:15:36,708 --> 04:15:38,610
okay. I want to recognize we've been

4342
04:15:38,610 --> 04:15:41,479
joined by my ward 7 colleague, council member wendell felder.

4343
04:15:41,479 --> 04:15:44,716
I'll turn to you now for a ten minute round.

4344
04:15:44,716 --> 04:15:49,754
thank you, chairperson pinto chief is always good to see you,

4345
04:15:49,754 --> 04:15:53,658
sir, as well as members of your senior leadership.

4346
04:15:53,658 --> 04:15:58,596
just diving right in, chief, as you are aware, agencies across

4347
04:15:58,596 --> 04:16:02,299
the district have seen a significant decrease in their

4348
04:16:02,299 --> 04:16:05,899
budgets. However, mpd has seen a

4349
04:16:06,404 --> 04:16:08,305
significant increase in your budget.

4350
04:16:08,305 --> 04:16:13,445
could you speak to how the increase in funds is helping to

4351
04:16:13,445 --> 04:16:15,246
keep families across the district safe?

4352
04:16:15,246 --> 04:16:17,183
sure. So as we talked about the a lot

4353
04:16:17,183 --> 04:16:20,385
of the increase that we see in funds is really partially to

4354
04:16:20,385 --> 04:16:23,721
make up for the the increase overtime we actually have been

4355
04:16:23,721 --> 04:16:25,757
using to make sure we can keep the city safe.

4356
04:16:25,757 --> 04:16:29,595
and also the increased that came from the collective bargaining

4357
04:16:29,595 --> 04:16:32,131
agreement that went into place last year that's now being put

4358
04:16:32,131 --> 04:16:34,999
into this year's budget, that the I believe it's a 13%

4359
04:16:34,999 --> 04:16:37,999
increase from fy 24 through fy 26.

4360
04:16:38,200 --> 04:16:40,472
so some of that is really pushing that up.

4361
04:16:40,472 --> 04:16:43,740
the number up because of the collective bargaining agreement

4362
04:16:43,740 --> 04:16:45,844
with that, with this budget allows us to do is to deploy

4363
04:16:45,844 --> 04:16:47,813
officers across the city, not only for special events and

4364
04:16:47,813 --> 04:16:49,547
others. You know, a lot of talk about

4365
04:16:49,547 --> 04:16:50,615
america 250 and that kind of stuff.

4366
04:16:50,615 --> 04:16:53,151
but I mean, our number one priority is to keep crime down

4367
04:16:53,151 --> 04:16:55,587
across the city and be across the communities and make sure we

4368
04:16:55,587 --> 04:16:58,923
have the resources that we need across the city for that.

4369
04:16:58,923 --> 04:17:02,493
and may it be addressing concerns with with young people

4370
04:17:02,493 --> 04:17:05,263
inside certain areas or violent crime that's starting to tick up

4371
04:17:05,263 --> 04:17:07,299
over in the sixth and seventh district.

4372
04:17:07,299 --> 04:17:09,901
we have to make sure that we have the appropriate resources.

4373
04:17:09,901 --> 04:17:12,370
the officers that are out there, you know, when we talk about our

4374
04:17:12,370 --> 04:17:14,905
budget, I mentioned it earlier, kind of my introductory

4375
04:17:14,905 --> 04:17:16,441
testimony. There's such a small percentage

4376
04:17:16,441 --> 04:17:18,743
of it that is not personnel costs.

4377
04:17:18,743 --> 04:17:21,279
the people that actually do the work and the things that we have

4378
04:17:21,279 --> 04:17:24,782
to have out there. That's what drives, you know,

4379
04:17:24,782 --> 04:17:27,852
99% of our budget is that that cost, that salary, the benefits

4380
04:17:27,852 --> 04:17:30,922
the officers we have, and we need those officers to be out in

4381
04:17:30,922 --> 04:17:34,526
those areas across the city as we continue to face that, the

4382
04:17:34,526 --> 04:17:37,194
short staffing that we have, as I mentioned, it's the lowest

4383
04:17:37,194 --> 04:17:40,531
we've had in over 50 years. We have to supplement that with

4384
04:17:40,531 --> 04:17:41,499
overtime. That's that's the only way we

4385
04:17:41,499 --> 04:17:44,302
can do that to make sure we have the resources that we need.

4386
04:17:44,302 --> 04:17:46,872
and of course, it does drive up the cost with that.

4387
04:17:46,872 --> 04:17:52,544
and so you see that within your proposed budget, a little over

4388
04:17:52,544 --> 04:17:55,313
42 million is an increase in overtime.

4389
04:17:55,313 --> 04:18:00,218
how many officers could you get with that in the event that that

4390
04:18:00,218 --> 04:18:03,555
money would go to officers, new officers rather?

4391
04:18:03,555 --> 04:18:05,958
yeah. So I'll let dan or patricia kind

4392
04:18:05,958 --> 04:18:07,792
of give you the number. But what I'd say before we get

4393
04:18:07,792 --> 04:18:11,996
there is, you know, with the ability to get back to our

4394
04:18:11,996 --> 04:18:15,266
budget support act, some of those provisions in there,

4395
04:18:15,266 --> 04:18:17,668
providing the ability to get new people in the door, open up that

4396
04:18:17,668 --> 04:18:20,906
new pool of applicants is really important because that would

4397
04:18:20,906 --> 04:18:24,175
allow us to do just that, right? Get new officers in the force

4398
04:18:24,175 --> 04:18:26,512
that make a lower salary to take up those spots.

4399
04:18:26,512 --> 04:18:29,314
and also we talk about, you know, work life balance and the

4400
04:18:29,314 --> 04:18:32,183
well-being of our members, bring down some of the hours that they

4401
04:18:32,183 --> 04:18:35,687
have to spend, you know, working these details that we have.

4402
04:18:35,687 --> 04:18:38,791
and also the other provision as we talk about the senior police

4403
04:18:38,791 --> 04:18:40,992
officers, the ability to potentially bring in folks that

4404
04:18:40,992 --> 04:18:43,195
have experience, that have been deployed across the city, that

4405
04:18:43,195 --> 04:18:46,197
are currently prohibited based on that legislation, to let them

4406
04:18:46,197 --> 04:18:49,667
come back at a lower salary, also provides us the ability to

4407
04:18:49,667 --> 04:18:51,870
to get more people out there. And then dan can kind of give

4408
04:18:51,870 --> 04:18:55,730
you a number on the number itself.

4409
04:18:55,730 --> 04:18:55,873
sure. Yeah.

4410
04:18:55,873 --> 04:18:58,108
theoretically, that would hire about 500 officers.

4411
04:18:58,108 --> 04:19:00,562
you know, obviously you wouldn't see the savings in overtime in

4412
04:19:00,562 --> 04:19:03,650
year one because they'd have to go through the academy.

4413
04:19:03,650 --> 04:19:06,100
I will say overtime budget, though, is a reflection of what

4414
04:19:06,100 --> 04:19:09,237
they are actually spending. And even then it's going to be

4415
04:19:09,237 --> 04:19:12,541
tough to hit that mark. And as well as chief carol

4416
04:19:12,541 --> 04:19:14,843
mentioned earlier, actually getting those officers in the

4417
04:19:14,843 --> 04:19:17,512
door is the harder part. We have ftes.

4418
04:19:17,512 --> 04:19:21,830
we're sitting currently on about 18% vacancy savings rate.

4419
04:19:21,830 --> 04:19:24,119
so, you know, a healthy vacancy savings for an agency, the size

4420
04:19:24,119 --> 04:19:27,222
is more like 5%. So I don't think it's an issue

4421
04:19:27,222 --> 04:19:28,858
of getting authority from our officers.

4422
04:19:28,858 --> 04:19:30,692
I think it's really more an issue of getting them in the

4423
04:19:30,692 --> 04:19:33,362
door, because we certainly have the budget for it.

4424
04:19:33,362 --> 04:19:37,320
from a financial perspective, it makes much more sense to hire an

4425
04:19:37,320 --> 04:19:40,603
officer at $75,000 a year than pay an officer, an experienced

4426
04:19:40,603 --> 04:19:43,710
officer at $85 an hour on overtime.

4427
04:19:43,710 --> 04:19:45,474
it's, you know, they're all getting time and a half on

4428
04:19:45,474 --> 04:19:47,542
overtime. Thank you for that.

4429
04:19:47,542 --> 04:19:53,348
now, chief, I know that allowing officers to take advantage of

4430
04:19:53,348 --> 04:19:56,951
overtime is a band aid. It's not the overall solution.

4431
04:19:56,951 --> 04:20:01,756
could you speak to what's the long term strategy to get more

4432
04:20:01,756 --> 04:20:04,260
officers through the door? And how does your budget reflect

4433
04:20:04,260 --> 04:20:06,128
that? I know you mentioned some of the

4434
04:20:06,128 --> 04:20:08,930
language in the bsa, but could you speak a little?

4435
04:20:08,930 --> 04:20:14,302
could you go into greater detail on what the long term strategy

4436
04:20:14,302 --> 04:20:14,970
consists of? Sure.

4437
04:20:14,970 --> 04:20:18,840
so so what the bsa does the provision in there as far as

4438
04:20:18,840 --> 04:20:21,909
allowing us to hire officers with college credit when they

4439
04:20:21,909 --> 04:20:25,247
come in the door, provide them with those credits through a

4440
04:20:25,247 --> 04:20:28,500
cooperative agreement that we will establish with frederick

4441
04:20:28,500 --> 04:20:30,510
community college. So they would get credits for

4442
04:20:30,510 --> 04:20:32,187
going through the academy. And then before they leave the

4443
04:20:32,187 --> 04:20:34,589
academy, they would stay additional month or so to pick

4444
04:20:34,589 --> 04:20:37,559
up the additional 19 credits. So when they graduate fully,

4445
04:20:37,559 --> 04:20:39,861
they would have those 60 college credits.

4446
04:20:39,861 --> 04:20:42,598
so this would allow us to open up an applicant pool that we

4447
04:20:42,598 --> 04:20:45,300
currently can't tap right now in this region.

4448
04:20:45,300 --> 04:20:49,905
us in arlington county are the only agencies that require the

4449
04:20:49,905 --> 04:20:51,306
college credit to come in the door.

4450
04:20:51,306 --> 04:20:53,842
I believe in july, arlington county's starting salary is

4451
04:20:53,842 --> 04:20:57,612
going to $90,000. So a big difference from our

4452
04:20:57,612 --> 04:21:00,348
starting salary of just over $75,000.

4453
04:21:00,348 --> 04:21:04,860
so for us, this provision of the bsa would open up a new

4454
04:21:04,860 --> 04:21:06,288
applicant pool. You know, we tried last year

4455
04:21:06,288 --> 04:21:10,459
when we got the the entrance number of credits down to 40,

4456
04:21:10,459 --> 04:21:13,595
but we have not seen anyone who's in that, that range where

4457
04:21:13,595 --> 04:21:17,766
they need to make up just those 20 credits to get to 60.

4458
04:21:17,766 --> 04:21:20,736
so this new provision, if we can get this passed, would open up a

4459
04:21:20,736 --> 04:21:23,906
whole new applicant pool that would really help to get people

4460
04:21:23,906 --> 04:21:25,775
in the door. The other portion of the

4461
04:21:25,775 --> 04:21:28,944
provision I mentioned before is the spo portion of it.

4462
04:21:28,944 --> 04:21:31,980
being able to take some of those folks that may have had serious

4463
04:21:31,980 --> 04:21:35,217
misconduct 23 years ago, but have been a stellar employee

4464
04:21:35,217 --> 04:21:37,190
since then. Right now, the legislation

4465
04:21:37,190 --> 04:21:39,988
doesn't allow them to, to, quote unquote, rehire them or to bring

4466
04:21:39,988 --> 04:21:43,625
them back as a senior police officer because of that

4467
04:21:43,625 --> 04:21:45,993
prohibition, the amended language in the bsa would allow

4468
04:21:45,993 --> 04:21:48,597
for folks that have not had any serious misconduct in the past

4469
04:21:48,597 --> 04:21:51,733
five years of ten days or more. To be considered doesn't mean we

4470
04:21:51,733 --> 04:21:55,370
have to hire them, but it would allow us to consider to bring

4471
04:21:55,370 --> 04:21:57,406
them back. So we kind of go back to not

4472
04:21:57,406 --> 04:22:00,275
only the new hire piece, which is very important, but also

4473
04:22:00,275 --> 04:22:02,878
retaining people to stop the the number of folks that we're

4474
04:22:02,878 --> 04:22:05,148
seeing leave each year. We have to look at something

4475
04:22:05,148 --> 04:22:06,215
different. There's no way we're going to be

4476
04:22:06,215 --> 04:22:09,510
able to compete with the hiring bonuses.

4477
04:22:09,510 --> 04:22:12,287
right now, park police is offering a $70,000 hiring bonus.

4478
04:22:12,287 --> 04:22:16,558
now the secret service is offering a $75,000 hiring bonus.

4479
04:22:16,558 --> 04:22:19,162
we were one of the first agencies to offering a higher

4480
04:22:19,162 --> 04:22:21,297
bonus. We still provide that of

4481
04:22:21,297 --> 04:22:23,198
$25,000, but we're never going to be able to continue to go up

4482
04:22:23,198 --> 04:22:25,234
and up. So we have to look at different

4483
04:22:25,234 --> 04:22:28,236
strategies to really address and open up that applicant pool to

4484
04:22:28,236 --> 04:22:30,907
get folks in here. So if you make me feel like I'm

4485
04:22:30,907 --> 04:22:35,578
in the wrong occupation now, I mentioned earlier that there was

4486
04:22:35,578 --> 04:22:37,513
an overall increase in your budget.

4487
04:22:37,513 --> 04:22:40,549
now, to be honest, I was a little disappointed to see that

4488
04:22:40,549 --> 04:22:46,549
the data analytics and research there was a reduction by $1.4

4489
04:22:46,854 --> 04:22:48,658
million. And chief, could you speak to

4490
04:22:48,658 --> 04:22:52,227
why is data and analytic capacity being reduced at a time

4491
04:22:52,227 --> 04:22:54,730
when data driven policies is critical?

4492
04:22:54,730 --> 04:22:55,864
sure. A great question.

4493
04:22:55,864 --> 04:22:58,600
I'm gonna let dan answer that because some of this is just

4494
04:22:58,600 --> 04:23:01,403
technical shifting in the budget.

4495
04:23:01,403 --> 04:23:02,537
yeah. Thanks, counselor.

4496
04:23:02,537 --> 04:23:05,974
the majority of that, actually all of that is a 12 ftes that

4497
04:23:05,974 --> 04:23:09,277
were shifted out to special operations division and the

4498
04:23:09,277 --> 04:23:11,679
crime analysts and investigative analysts.

4499
04:23:11,679 --> 04:23:15,830
so I would say it was more of a shifting around program.

4500
04:23:15,830 --> 04:23:17,319
it's a realignment from one bureau to another.

4501
04:23:17,319 --> 04:23:21,556
yeah. Now, chief, I was happy to see

4502
04:23:21,556 --> 04:23:23,825
investments in capital improvements.

4503
04:23:23,825 --> 04:23:30,425
could you speak to how those funds will help improve overall

4504
04:23:32,401 --> 04:23:36,405
conditions and facilities across ward 7, which is comprised of

4505
04:23:36,405 --> 04:23:40,475
the first district, the fifth district and the sixth district?

4506
04:23:40,475 --> 04:23:42,430
yes. So so one of the biggest ones

4507
04:23:42,430 --> 04:23:44,780
that we have is actually on the capital project side isn't

4508
04:23:44,780 --> 04:23:48,830
inside those words, but it's actually inside our 70

4509
04:23:48,830 --> 04:23:49,384
headquarters renovation. This is something that we've

4510
04:23:49,384 --> 04:23:51,653
been working on for, for many years.

4511
04:23:51,653 --> 04:23:53,989
and at this point, it looks like we'll actually begin

4512
04:23:53,989 --> 04:23:55,824
construction inside fiscal year 27.

4513
04:23:55,824 --> 04:23:58,794
so the design function, all that has been worked through by the

4514
04:23:58,794 --> 04:24:01,830
end of this fiscal year, the design and permitting will be

4515
04:24:01,830 --> 04:24:03,800
fully completed. The goal is to start

4516
04:24:03,800 --> 04:24:07,102
construction in fiscal year 27, and then it should be completed

4517
04:24:07,102 --> 04:24:10,271
in fiscal year 28. The seventh district is probably

4518
04:24:10,271 --> 04:24:12,507
the. The facility we have is in the

4519
04:24:12,507 --> 04:24:14,209
worst condition that we have at this time.

4520
04:24:14,209 --> 04:24:18,246
so that's a big impact inside of our seventh district to bring

4521
04:24:18,246 --> 04:24:19,814
that up. Also, areas that we've been

4522
04:24:19,814 --> 04:24:22,984
working on is the renovations of er detention centers inside of

4523
04:24:22,984 --> 04:24:25,286
our district, cell blocks to make sure to bring them up.

4524
04:24:25,286 --> 04:24:29,900
so we renovated a couple of them, currently 40 and five are

4525
04:24:29,900 --> 04:24:31,559
being renovated, 40 is almost complete.

4526
04:24:31,559 --> 04:24:34,897
five d is in progress. So by the end of fiscal year 26,

4527
04:24:34,897 --> 04:24:39,000
they should both be completed. Following that, we have to then

4528
04:24:39,000 --> 04:24:42,237
renovate the second district detention area and the third

4529
04:24:42,237 --> 04:24:45,840
district detention area. Inside some of our renovation

4530
04:24:45,840 --> 04:24:46,776
project. There's issues that we have.

4531
04:24:46,776 --> 04:24:50,177
many of our facilities have more minor issues.

4532
04:24:50,177 --> 04:24:51,813
I'd say plumbing issues, things like that.

4533
04:24:51,813 --> 04:24:54,383
so working with the team on small projects to.

4534
04:24:54,383 --> 04:24:55,783
sorry for interrupting you, chief.

4535
04:24:55,783 --> 04:24:57,552
sure. I'm trying to get two questions

4536
04:24:57,552 --> 04:25:02,352
in really quickly. The the first question, even

4537
04:25:02,924 --> 04:25:07,395
though you saw an increase in your budget, does this budget

4538
04:25:07,395 --> 04:25:09,910
adequately keep residents safe from your opinion?

4539
04:25:09,910 --> 04:25:12,813
yes, it does it. Yes it does.

4540
04:25:12,813 --> 04:25:16,717
and if you if we're talking about public safety from an

4541
04:25:16,717 --> 04:25:20,253
overall public safety ecosystem, when you look at programs like

4542
04:25:20,253 --> 04:25:25,559
pathways, which is supposed to be the front line defense with

4543
04:25:25,559 --> 04:25:27,628
deescalating neighborhood feuds, unfortunately, that program has

4544
04:25:27,628 --> 04:25:30,897
seen a a decrease in their budget.

4545
04:25:30,897 --> 04:25:33,966
my question, chief, are you under the impression that maybe

4546
04:25:33,966 --> 04:25:38,706
there's an opportunity to reprogram any additional funds

4547
04:25:38,706 --> 04:25:42,843
that you may have to support other agencies that overall

4548
04:25:42,843 --> 04:25:45,379
contribute to the work that your agency is doing?

4549
04:25:45,379 --> 04:25:47,247
yeah. What I'd say is those agencies

4550
04:25:47,247 --> 04:25:49,250
do a lot of good work, but the challenge is basically what we

4551
04:25:49,250 --> 04:25:52,419
have right now with what appears to be an increase is really just

4552
04:25:52,419 --> 04:25:55,255
right sizing of the overtime. And it's actually last year, the

4553
04:25:55,255 --> 04:25:57,691
collective bargaining agreement was was passed.

4554
04:25:57,691 --> 04:26:01,261
so 13% increase in salaries is really where you see a majority

4555
04:26:01,261 --> 04:26:03,197
of that come to. It's not extra money that we

4556
04:26:03,197 --> 04:26:04,531
have. Appreciate that.

4557
04:26:04,531 --> 04:26:07,531
thank you chief. Yes, sir.

4558
04:26:10,804 --> 04:26:13,373
thank you. Council member felder.

4559
04:26:13,373 --> 04:26:16,209
we've also been joined by our ward one colleague, council

4560
04:26:16,209 --> 04:26:19,790
member brian nadeau, and I'll turn to you now for a ten minute

4561
04:26:19,790 --> 04:26:21,682
round. Thank you very much, madam

4562
04:26:21,682 --> 04:26:23,116
chair. Hi, chief.

4563
04:26:23,116 --> 04:26:27,916
good afternoon ma'am. Chief, in fy 26, mpd spent $41.6

4564
04:26:29,956 --> 04:26:33,193
million on overtime. Is that right?

4565
04:26:33,193 --> 04:26:34,227
yeah. I'm.

4566
04:26:34,227 --> 04:26:39,650
dan's going to yeah. In terms of fy in fy 26 in

4567
04:26:39,650 --> 04:26:40,734
current year. Yes.

4568
04:26:40,734 --> 04:26:42,269
and through q2 through the end of march.

4569
04:26:42,269 --> 04:26:43,670
that's correct. Okay.

4570
04:26:43,670 --> 04:26:47,270
okay. And the mayor's fy 27 proposed

4571
04:26:47,574 --> 04:26:52,974
budget, the percentage of overtime pay increased by about

4572
04:26:54,916 --> 04:26:57,316
56.7 million. Is that right?

4573
04:26:57,684 --> 04:27:01,188
it was that's correct. It was.

4574
04:27:01,188 --> 04:27:05,580
it's over the fy 25 amount. There was a $15 million one time

4575
04:27:05,580 --> 04:27:08,950
that was eliminated. So the net increase was closer

4576
04:27:08,950 --> 04:27:11,664
to 42. It got it just the way it's

4577
04:27:11,664 --> 04:27:13,399
reflected. Yes it's correct, but I just

4578
04:27:13,399 --> 04:27:14,669
wanted to clarify that. That makes sense.

4579
04:27:14,669 --> 04:27:17,804
but it is like 100% increase essentially.

4580
04:27:17,804 --> 04:27:19,804
correct. Okay.

4581
04:27:19,806 --> 04:27:22,876
so chief, you testified that the agency is using overtime funds

4582
04:27:22,876 --> 04:27:26,646
to staff and enforce the curfew. Is that right to deploy

4583
04:27:26,646 --> 04:27:28,950
additional resources in the curfew areas and other areas

4584
04:27:28,950 --> 04:27:31,385
where we see in teen gatherings? That's correct.

4585
04:27:31,385 --> 04:27:34,540
and how much has been used? How much money has been used for

4586
04:27:34,540 --> 04:27:38,254
overtime staffing on curfew enforcement during fy 26?

4587
04:27:39,159 --> 04:27:41,561
yes. Miss campbell can can give you

4588
04:27:41,561 --> 04:27:45,565
an idea. We approximately have about a

4589
04:27:45,565 --> 04:27:47,565
thousand. Sorry, j.

4590
04:27:51,772 --> 04:27:57,772
thus far we've spent about. $113,000, but that was only as

4591
04:28:01,348 --> 04:28:04,948
of the march 2021 pay period ending.

4592
04:28:07,200 --> 04:28:10,457
okay, okay. Chief, you also testified that

4593
04:28:10,457 --> 04:28:13,360
overtime usage will increase if the permanent version of the

4594
04:28:13,360 --> 04:28:16,529
curfew isn't passed. Do I have that right?

4595
04:28:16,529 --> 04:28:20,400
yeah, I believe we'd have to deploy more officers

4596
04:28:20,400 --> 04:28:22,800
potentially. Why is that?

4597
04:28:25,500 --> 04:28:27,407
because we don't have the ability to break them into

4598
04:28:27,407 --> 04:28:29,143
smaller groups or have them go outside the zone areas.

4599
04:28:29,143 --> 04:28:31,612
and we need to probably deploy more resources to monitor them

4600
04:28:31,612 --> 04:28:32,779
while the large groups are there.

4601
04:28:32,779 --> 04:28:35,749
so it's just kind of like we would do for any, any large

4602
04:28:35,749 --> 04:28:38,952
crowd right now, when we have the zones, we have the ability

4603
04:28:38,952 --> 04:28:41,922
to if they don't go into smaller groups to, you know, give them

4604
04:28:41,922 --> 04:28:44,290
warnings to break them into groups that are less than nine

4605
04:28:44,290 --> 04:28:46,493
or they, of course, they can go outside the boundary areas,

4606
04:28:46,493 --> 04:28:48,428
which kind of spreads out those groups.

4607
04:28:48,428 --> 04:28:51,631
but if you have more compact crowding, then you'd need more

4608
04:28:51,631 --> 04:28:54,868
members to monitor that just to make sure there aren't issues.

4609
04:28:54,868 --> 04:28:59,806
got it. Okay, so just to to clarify the

4610
04:28:59,806 --> 04:29:02,676
fiscal impact statement for the permanent bill states that mpd

4611
04:29:02,676 --> 04:29:05,511
funds are sufficient with current resources to implement

4612
04:29:05,511 --> 04:29:07,911
the bill. That's correct.

4613
04:29:09,416 --> 04:29:11,151
yes. That's correct.

4614
04:29:11,151 --> 04:29:17,224
and the resources to implement the bill is that also overtime?

4615
04:29:17,224 --> 04:29:19,392
yes, I'd say so. The budget includes the overtime

4616
04:29:19,392 --> 04:29:21,662
that we need. We need the overtime to be able

4617
04:29:21,662 --> 04:29:24,297
to to do what we need to do as the agency.

4618
04:29:24,297 --> 04:29:26,297
okay. Okay.

4619
04:29:28,769 --> 04:29:32,969
just some more questions about curfew enforcement.

4620
04:29:33,840 --> 04:29:36,777
when minors are found to be in violation of the curfew, do

4621
04:29:36,777 --> 04:29:40,213
officers arrest or detain the minor?

4622
04:29:40,213 --> 04:29:42,816
so if you're in violation of the curfew, it.

4623
04:29:42,816 --> 04:29:44,584
when I say it, it depends. Right.

4624
04:29:44,584 --> 04:29:45,818
so what curfew are we talking about?

4625
04:29:45,818 --> 04:29:49,489
we're talking about the citywide curfew that begins at 11 or 12.

4626
04:29:49,489 --> 04:29:52,359
that one, once the citywide curfew is in effect, if you're

4627
04:29:52,359 --> 04:29:54,794
in violation, there are multiple exceptions.

4628
04:29:54,794 --> 04:29:57,296
for example, if you're out in front of your house or if you're

4629
04:29:57,296 --> 04:29:59,766
with a parent, or if you're on a direction from aaron, from a

4630
04:29:59,766 --> 04:30:02,569
parent without stopping. So there are there are many

4631
04:30:02,569 --> 04:30:03,836
exceptions. So what would happen initially

4632
04:30:03,836 --> 04:30:06,773
if you're in the citywide curfew area, the officer would have to

4633
04:30:06,773 --> 04:30:09,909
stop, talk to the individual, determine are they one of the

4634
04:30:09,909 --> 04:30:11,778
exceptions to the regulations or not?

4635
04:30:11,778 --> 04:30:14,448
let's just say, for example, they're not an exception to the

4636
04:30:14,448 --> 04:30:16,649
regulation. The officer can either take the

4637
04:30:16,649 --> 04:30:19,119
young person home or if they couldn't take them home, they

4638
04:30:19,119 --> 04:30:22,722
could take them to a drs where they would stay and their parent

4639
04:30:22,722 --> 04:30:25,492
would come pick them up. When we talk about the juvenile

4640
04:30:25,492 --> 04:30:29,996
curfew zones, the ones that are designated areas, usually

4641
04:30:29,996 --> 04:30:31,731
between 8 and 11, and those cases it's a little bit

4642
04:30:31,731 --> 04:30:33,767
different. So those are defined areas where

4643
04:30:33,767 --> 04:30:37,403
we put signs up at once. That time comes if they're in

4644
04:30:37,403 --> 04:30:39,372
violation and to be in violation, you have to have nine

4645
04:30:39,372 --> 04:30:42,475
or more folks that are in violation that are in the group.

4646
04:30:42,475 --> 04:30:44,811
with that, you have to give two warnings.

4647
04:30:44,811 --> 04:30:47,815
if it's not an emergency situation, you know, letting

4648
04:30:47,815 --> 04:30:49,816
them know that they're in violation of the curfew and they

4649
04:30:49,816 --> 04:30:52,152
can break into smaller groups. So then they come in compliance

4650
04:30:52,152 --> 04:30:53,620
with that. Or they could also go outside

4651
04:30:53,620 --> 04:30:56,589
the areas of the boundary. If it's an excellent

4652
04:30:56,589 --> 04:30:59,493
circumstance, think like a fight or something, you could give one

4653
04:30:59,493 --> 04:31:00,827
warning. And then if they don't comply,

4654
04:31:00,827 --> 04:31:02,495
they will be taken as a curfew violator.

4655
04:31:02,495 --> 04:31:05,165
so the same thing they would go to, you know, either go home to

4656
04:31:05,165 --> 04:31:07,600
their parents or go to where their parent would come pick

4657
04:31:07,600 --> 04:31:11,338
them up for curfew violation. Folks would only be arrested if

4658
04:31:11,338 --> 04:31:12,373
they committed a criminal offense.

4659
04:31:12,373 --> 04:31:15,107
you know, like they rob somebody had a firearm or something like

4660
04:31:15,107 --> 04:31:17,107
that. Okay.

4661
04:31:18,378 --> 04:31:22,358
so if they haven't committed a criminal offense, they're and

4662
04:31:22,358 --> 04:31:24,460
they haven't been arrested, should I assume that they are

4663
04:31:24,460 --> 04:31:27,130
not handcuffed? They're curfew violators so they

4664
04:31:27,130 --> 04:31:29,499
could be handcuffed? It depends on the situation.

4665
04:31:29,499 --> 04:31:31,701
okay. Are they read their miranda

4666
04:31:31,701 --> 04:31:33,200
rights when that occurs? No.

4667
04:31:33,200 --> 04:31:35,405
but people don't get read their miranda rights like on tv.

4668
04:31:35,405 --> 04:31:38,274
you see people get put in handcuffs and get read miranda

4669
04:31:38,274 --> 04:31:39,750
rights. You're only mirandized.

4670
04:31:39,750 --> 04:31:40,944
we're going to ask custodial interrogation.

4671
04:31:40,944 --> 04:31:43,913
we're going to ask you questions about the crime that you

4672
04:31:43,913 --> 04:31:46,816
committed, curfew violators aren't aren't buying, aren't

4673
04:31:46,816 --> 04:31:49,252
criminals like that. So even in most cases, when you

4674
04:31:49,252 --> 04:31:52,488
are arrested, no one reads your miranda rights on the scene that

4675
04:31:52,488 --> 04:31:53,957
that happens. If a detective is going to

4676
04:31:53,957 --> 04:31:56,426
interview you, then you'd be mirandized.

4677
04:31:56,426 --> 04:31:57,760
okay. Thank you.

4678
04:31:57,760 --> 04:32:00,160
that's clear. Are they?

4679
04:32:01,764 --> 04:32:04,300
taken in the back of a police car when this occurs?

4680
04:32:04,300 --> 04:32:07,904
if they're being removed from the area.

4681
04:32:07,904 --> 04:32:10,440
so we have a curfew and truancy wagons.

4682
04:32:10,440 --> 04:32:12,107
so that's what's usually used. And you've probably seen them

4683
04:32:12,107 --> 04:32:13,709
out there. They're kind of like passenger

4684
04:32:13,709 --> 04:32:16,580
wagons. And it says curfew slash truancy

4685
04:32:16,580 --> 04:32:18,314
enforcement on the side of it. And that's what they're used to

4686
04:32:18,314 --> 04:32:22,318
transport them in. For those who are transported to

4687
04:32:22,318 --> 04:32:25,188
is are they processed there? No, they're not arrested.

4688
04:32:25,188 --> 04:32:27,323
they're they're put inside beds until their parents come to get

4689
04:32:27,323 --> 04:32:28,858
them. Like they're given a place to

4690
04:32:28,858 --> 04:32:30,660
stay. So that way officers don't don't

4691
04:32:30,660 --> 04:32:32,127
have to stay with them. They can go back out on the

4692
04:32:32,127 --> 04:32:33,663
street. That way they have the

4693
04:32:33,663 --> 04:32:35,998
appropriate supervision while their parents are coming to get

4694
04:32:35,998 --> 04:32:37,967
them. So they're staying on the

4695
04:32:37,967 --> 04:32:41,404
non-secure side. The specifics of the actual

4696
04:32:41,404 --> 04:32:45,641
facility, I don't know. I can't speak to that.

4697
04:32:45,641 --> 04:32:49,278
okay. And what happens to the youth

4698
04:32:49,278 --> 04:32:53,916
whose parents don't come to pick them up from is, I mean,

4699
04:32:53,916 --> 04:32:56,180
potentially if no parent ever came to pick them up, they would

4700
04:32:56,180 --> 04:32:58,870
be turned over to child and family services.

4701
04:32:58,870 --> 04:33:01,290
in that case, I don't know if that's ever happened or not

4702
04:33:01,290 --> 04:33:03,290
though. Okay.

4703
04:33:03,860 --> 04:33:08,131
does mpd have any data collected on the following?

4704
04:33:08,131 --> 04:33:10,767
I guess you can just say yes or no.

4705
04:33:10,767 --> 04:33:14,704
number of arrests made during in these curfew zones?

4706
04:33:14,704 --> 04:33:17,441
yes we do. How about the number of kids

4707
04:33:17,441 --> 04:33:21,111
driven home by police officers? We don't have that per se.

4708
04:33:21,111 --> 04:33:23,450
I think we have we have the number of curfew violators

4709
04:33:23,450 --> 04:33:23,981
though. So that would mean they were

4710
04:33:23,981 --> 04:33:26,249
either driven home or taken to curfew center.

4711
04:33:26,249 --> 04:33:28,649
we have that. Okay.

4712
04:33:33,589 --> 04:33:39,262
and then the number of kids held on detention after an arrest for

4713
04:33:39,262 --> 04:33:42,331
curfew violation. I'm not quite sure what that

4714
04:33:42,331 --> 04:33:44,200
means. An arrest?

4715
04:33:44,200 --> 04:33:46,435
how about an arrest in a curfew zone?

4716
04:33:46,435 --> 04:33:47,337
yes. We have.

4717
04:33:47,337 --> 04:33:49,380
yes, we have arrest and curfew zones.

4718
04:33:49,380 --> 04:33:50,840
yes, ma'am. Okay.

4719
04:33:50,840 --> 04:33:55,545
and then would you have the number of kids identified as

4720
04:33:55,545 --> 04:33:59,145
unhoused? We don't generally ask about

4721
04:33:59,682 --> 04:34:02,552
their housing status unless they were to volunteer that we don't,

4722
04:34:02,552 --> 04:34:04,353
you know, we'd ask their address, their parents phone

4723
04:34:04,353 --> 04:34:06,823
number, that kind of stuff. So I don't think we'd have that

4724
04:34:06,823 --> 04:34:09,493
on hand. Do you know if you've ever

4725
04:34:09,493 --> 04:34:12,795
returned children to a shelter? I do not know.

4726
04:34:12,795 --> 04:34:15,365
that's something we have the the curfew paperwork, so that's

4727
04:34:15,365 --> 04:34:17,200
probably something we could probably find out.

4728
04:34:17,200 --> 04:34:20,200
but I don't know. Okay.

4729
04:34:21,871 --> 04:34:23,606
okay. Thank you.

4730
04:34:23,606 --> 04:34:29,606
you were just talking about with councilmember felder, the cadet

4731
04:34:30,179 --> 04:34:33,516
program and expanding the eligibility in the bsa.

4732
04:34:33,516 --> 04:34:38,188
I think that's great. In 2023 and 2025, I introduced

4733
04:34:38,188 --> 04:34:41,657
legislation that would increase cadet pay from 35 k to 60 k,

4734
04:34:41,657 --> 04:34:44,961
because the cost of living is so high in dc and pay is so low.

4735
04:34:44,961 --> 04:34:48,564
and my bill also expanded eligibility up to age 33 from

4736
04:34:48,564 --> 04:34:53,469
the current age of 24, with the goal of increasing the number of

4737
04:34:53,469 --> 04:34:55,939
applicants eligible. What would you think about

4738
04:34:55,939 --> 04:35:00,430
including some of that in the bsa as well?

4739
04:35:00,430 --> 04:35:01,545
I don't necessarily think I'm against it.

4740
04:35:01,545 --> 04:35:04,748
what I would say is, I think, for example, raising the age to

4741
04:35:04,748 --> 04:35:08,351
33, I think we would probably do a much better service to those

4742
04:35:08,351 --> 04:35:11,954
folks to remove the entry requirement for the college

4743
04:35:11,954 --> 04:35:14,358
credit and allow them to gain that that college credit,

4744
04:35:14,358 --> 04:35:17,960
because it really puts them on a track much faster and lets them

4745
04:35:17,960 --> 04:35:20,763
actually become a police officer faster and make higher salaries.

4746
04:35:20,763 --> 04:35:23,567
so I think that that would be probably a better solution

4747
04:35:23,567 --> 04:35:26,135
overall than raising the age to let folks to come into the

4748
04:35:26,135 --> 04:35:29,805
program because, you know, you get 33, it's harder the ability

4749
04:35:29,805 --> 04:35:33,900
to potentially be done and have the 60 credits in the

4750
04:35:33,900 --> 04:35:36,812
abbreviated time, I think would be probably overall beneficial

4751
04:35:36,812 --> 04:35:38,812
to everybody. Okay.

4752
04:35:39,150 --> 04:35:41,484
well, thank you very much. I appreciate your testimony.

4753
04:35:41,484 --> 04:35:42,551
yes, ma'am. Thank you.

4754
04:35:42,551 --> 04:35:47,351
thank you, madam chair. Thank you, councilmember nadeau.

4755
04:35:47,523 --> 04:35:52,395
and chief, I just want to reclarify again that.

4756
04:35:52,395 --> 04:35:56,650
but for the curfew, it is your position that more money would

4757
04:35:56,650 --> 04:35:58,534
be spent on overtime. That's correct.

4758
04:35:58,534 --> 04:36:01,904
and again, we're assuming that they continue with these these

4759
04:36:01,904 --> 04:36:03,138
teen takeovers to continue. Yes.

4760
04:36:03,138 --> 04:36:05,674
we'd have to deploy more officers to monitor the large

4761
04:36:05,674 --> 04:36:08,244
crowds, however long they're there.

4762
04:36:08,244 --> 04:36:11,130
okay. I just don't want that to be.

4763
04:36:11,130 --> 04:36:13,950
misunderstood by anyone that yes, of course, it requires a

4764
04:36:13,950 --> 04:36:17,787
deployment of officers, but fewer than would be required if

4765
04:36:17,787 --> 04:36:20,890
you couldn't use this tool. Yes, ma'am.

4766
04:36:20,890 --> 04:36:23,291
okay. I also want to clarify a

4767
04:36:23,291 --> 04:36:25,695
conversation you just had with councilor bernardo about

4768
04:36:25,695 --> 04:36:28,765
handcuffs. It was my understanding that if

4769
04:36:28,765 --> 04:36:32,235
a young person was in a curfew zone and that was their only

4770
04:36:32,235 --> 04:36:34,369
violation, they would not be handcuffed.

4771
04:36:34,369 --> 04:36:36,105
again. It depends, for example, if the

4772
04:36:36,105 --> 04:36:38,373
young person, depending on how they're going to say how they're

4773
04:36:38,373 --> 04:36:40,443
acting, if they turn violent or something like that, there is

4774
04:36:40,443 --> 04:36:42,311
the potential they could be handcuffed.

4775
04:36:42,311 --> 04:36:45,781
so it depends on the situation. But in general, violation of a

4776
04:36:45,781 --> 04:36:46,315
zone. Yeah.

4777
04:36:46,315 --> 04:36:47,582
just yeah. Well, if they're just in

4778
04:36:47,582 --> 04:36:49,185
violation of the zone, we would try to gain compliance.

4779
04:36:49,185 --> 04:36:52,221
so the goal would be not even to bring them into curfew at all.

4780
04:36:52,221 --> 04:36:54,990
we try to to have them leave the zone or break into smaller

4781
04:36:54,990 --> 04:36:56,590
groups. But if we had to bring them in

4782
04:36:56,590 --> 04:37:01,970
as a curfew violator, okay. And if you had to bring them in,

4783
04:37:01,970 --> 04:37:02,931
would they? They would not be handcuffed.

4784
04:37:02,931 --> 04:37:04,000
yeah. The goal would be not to

4785
04:37:04,000 --> 04:37:05,867
handcuff them unless something precipitated that.

4786
04:37:05,867 --> 04:37:09,604
we had to like a use of violence or assaulting an officer.

4787
04:37:09,604 --> 04:37:10,739
yeah. And then then potentially it

4788
04:37:10,739 --> 04:37:13,843
would change from a curfew violation to an arrest.

4789
04:37:13,843 --> 04:37:15,878
okay. But that's a different kind of

4790
04:37:15,878 --> 04:37:17,880
category, right? So if someone, if a young person

4791
04:37:17,880 --> 04:37:22,840
is just in a zone violating a curfew zone, they're not

4792
04:37:22,840 --> 04:37:24,954
handcuffed for that violation in and of itself in general.

4793
04:37:24,954 --> 04:37:28,595
no. I don't want to give you

4794
04:37:28,595 --> 04:37:30,563
absolutes, right? Because there's always one off

4795
04:37:30,563 --> 04:37:31,698
situation that could could happen, right?

4796
04:37:31,698 --> 04:37:34,801
because for example, you may stop a person and you may place

4797
04:37:34,801 --> 04:37:36,637
my handcuffs because you're not, you're still investigating,

4798
04:37:36,637 --> 04:37:39,139
right? So you see that lots of times in

4799
04:37:39,139 --> 04:37:41,442
regular investigations, for example, we're in the area

4800
04:37:41,442 --> 04:37:44,440
canvasing for a robbery suspect. We see an individual who meets

4801
04:37:44,440 --> 04:37:45,179
that lookout. They could be a young person.

4802
04:37:45,179 --> 04:37:46,980
they could be an old person. It doesn't really matter.

4803
04:37:46,980 --> 04:37:49,750
we may handcuff and detain them. While we're investigating, we

4804
04:37:49,750 --> 04:37:52,185
determine, okay, a crime didn't didn't happen.

4805
04:37:52,185 --> 04:37:54,588
so that's why I don't want to give you absolutes to say that

4806
04:37:54,588 --> 04:37:57,491
under no circumstance ever depends on if they stop the

4807
04:37:57,491 --> 04:37:59,861
young person, because there's a potential of a robbery in the

4808
04:37:59,861 --> 04:38:01,928
area, they may stop them, they may handcuff them, they may

4809
04:38:01,928 --> 04:38:04,164
determine they weren't involved in a robbery, but then they may

4810
04:38:04,164 --> 04:38:05,565
determine they were curfew violator.

4811
04:38:05,565 --> 04:38:07,735
so that would then have been a curfew violator in handcuffs.

4812
04:38:07,735 --> 04:38:09,469
so it depends. Right.

4813
04:38:09,469 --> 04:38:14,208
but all the examples that you're using are for for other crimes

4814
04:38:14,208 --> 04:38:16,208
potentially. Yes.

4815
04:38:16,576 --> 04:38:18,545
solely if you're solely a curfew violator.

4816
04:38:18,545 --> 04:38:23,583
in most cases, yes. You will not be handcuffed.

4817
04:38:23,583 --> 04:38:26,286
okay. But again, all of the examples

4818
04:38:26,286 --> 04:38:29,823
that you've used are not about sole curfew violators, right?

4819
04:38:29,823 --> 04:38:32,920
well, that's because you may not know if they're curfew violator

4820
04:38:32,920 --> 04:38:32,693
first. You understand?

4821
04:38:32,693 --> 04:38:34,828
I'm saying like you may not know if they were curfew violent when

4822
04:38:34,828 --> 04:38:37,300
you initially stopped them or not, because the same thing, if

4823
04:38:37,300 --> 04:38:40,967
you stop somebody and it turns out they're not a young person,

4824
04:38:40,967 --> 04:38:44,505
they wouldn't even be a curfew violator.

4825
04:38:44,505 --> 04:38:46,907
so in general, if you're just a curfew violator, no, you will

4826
04:38:46,907 --> 04:38:49,907
not be handcuffed. Okay, okay.

4827
04:38:51,678 --> 04:38:54,948
all right. So back to overtime.

4828
04:38:54,948 --> 04:38:59,953
so the 14% reduction that you found in overtime efficiencies,

4829
04:38:59,953 --> 04:39:03,523
what were those efficiencies? So I wouldn't I wouldn't

4830
04:39:03,523 --> 04:39:04,657
necessarily categorize them as efficiencies.

4831
04:39:04,657 --> 04:39:06,993
it's just more so looking at the programs that we have in place

4832
04:39:06,993 --> 04:39:09,730
and see, are there places where we could reduce the numbers of

4833
04:39:09,730 --> 04:39:11,799
officers that were working those, or were there some areas

4834
04:39:11,799 --> 04:39:15,369
where we had operational plans where we could shift resources

4835
04:39:15,369 --> 04:39:17,871
at, especially as we saw crime go down, you know, during the

4836
04:39:17,871 --> 04:39:20,340
winter months or other times where we could have less

4837
04:39:20,340 --> 04:39:23,543
officers working some of our initiatives with in mind being

4838
04:39:23,543 --> 04:39:26,280
that if things change or as we get into the summertime, we will

4839
04:39:26,280 --> 04:39:28,882
probably have to increase the number of folks that are working

4840
04:39:28,882 --> 04:39:31,510
those initiatives. Things like our robbery

4841
04:39:31,510 --> 04:39:34,651
suppression initiative and our operation atlas.

4842
04:39:35,655 --> 04:39:37,357
what was that last word you said?

4843
04:39:37,357 --> 04:39:40,160
operation atlas? It's one of our initiatives we

4844
04:39:40,160 --> 04:39:43,300
do where we deploy additional resources inside areas.

4845
04:39:43,300 --> 04:39:46,366
for example, maybe the area has seen an uptick in violent crime.

4846
04:39:46,366 --> 04:39:49,436
we deploy additional officers in that area to do increased

4847
04:39:49,436 --> 04:39:52,372
traffic enforcement, provide increased visibility.

4848
04:39:52,372 --> 04:39:54,341
so it's one of the initiatives that we do.

4849
04:39:54,341 --> 04:39:57,941
okay. And so are there opportunities

4850
04:39:58,111 --> 04:40:00,581
for other efficiencies to be found with overtime?

4851
04:40:00,581 --> 04:40:03,985
I mean, even some of the examples you talked about with

4852
04:40:03,985 --> 04:40:09,122
races that might happen with work on the with hcm, on the

4853
04:40:09,122 --> 04:40:13,393
vehicular terrorism task force, are there other opportunities to

4854
04:40:13,393 --> 04:40:16,130
use infrastructure that could reduce the reliance on personnel

4855
04:40:16,130 --> 04:40:18,599
for some of these events? Potentially?

4856
04:40:18,599 --> 04:40:20,733
there are. And you mentioned the terrorism

4857
04:40:20,733 --> 04:40:23,137
task force is looking at that. The one challenge I would say

4858
04:40:23,137 --> 04:40:25,740
with that is sometimes, folks, you still have to have police

4859
04:40:25,740 --> 04:40:28,308
officers to monitor certain areas and certain things.

4860
04:40:28,308 --> 04:40:31,412
so we don't build out operational plans, for example,

4861
04:40:31,412 --> 04:40:34,480
for, for five keys or things like that, to, to pad an extra

4862
04:40:34,480 --> 04:40:36,116
officers. That's not the goal.

4863
04:40:36,116 --> 04:40:37,851
we have enough things that we have to do.

4864
04:40:37,851 --> 04:40:40,921
we really try to keep it as thin as possible as relates to

4865
04:40:40,921 --> 04:40:42,488
traffic postings and crowd control.

4866
04:40:42,488 --> 04:40:46,693
so it's an evaluation of what we know as it relates to potential

4867
04:40:46,693 --> 04:40:49,595
intelligence as it may be. Also, you know, traffic postings

4868
04:40:49,595 --> 04:40:51,698
like the route that's in there, and then crowd control based on

4869
04:40:51,698 --> 04:40:53,366
the number of individuals that are in there.

4870
04:40:53,366 --> 04:40:54,900
so we're always looking at these things.

4871
04:40:54,900 --> 04:40:57,103
we're always changing our operational plans.

4872
04:40:57,103 --> 04:41:00,372
if you look at how we did nats park 20 years ago or when it

4873
04:41:00,372 --> 04:41:02,942
first opened versus how we do it now, a lot of things have

4874
04:41:02,942 --> 04:41:06,378
changed in that area as far as not only the the layout of the

4875
04:41:06,378 --> 04:41:09,490
land with some of our bike lanes and things like that, but other

4876
04:41:09,490 --> 04:41:11,384
commercial establishments. So as things change, we have to

4877
04:41:11,384 --> 04:41:14,384
also adapt their operational strategies.

4878
04:41:14,587 --> 04:41:18,787
okay. And so are you looking at

4879
04:41:18,792 --> 04:41:20,727
additional strategies that could be changed for.

4880
04:41:20,727 --> 04:41:21,728
we always are. Yeah.

4881
04:41:21,728 --> 04:41:24,464
so for example, you know, some of the things we do a couple

4882
04:41:24,464 --> 04:41:26,265
years ago, I think was last year, the year before we bought

4883
04:41:26,265 --> 04:41:28,735
some of our different types of barriers that we can use to

4884
04:41:28,735 --> 04:41:30,970
cover down certain alleys and things like that, because we

4885
04:41:30,970 --> 04:41:33,730
have less officers. So we're trying to look at

4886
04:41:33,730 --> 04:41:37,900
different ways to do things. You know, that lighten that

4887
04:41:37,900 --> 04:41:38,311
load. So that's why I'll be talking

4888
04:41:38,311 --> 04:41:40,580
about technology. We talk about cameras, things

4889
04:41:40,580 --> 04:41:42,615
like that. These are different technologies

4890
04:41:42,615 --> 04:41:44,950
and things that we can do to streamline what we do.

4891
04:41:44,950 --> 04:41:47,821
also, of course, keeping a close eye on the overtime is very

4892
04:41:47,821 --> 04:41:49,821
important. Okay.

4893
04:41:50,900 --> 04:41:52,492
and so how much has the department spent in local

4894
04:41:52,492 --> 04:41:56,692
dollars on overtime to date in fy 26?

4895
04:41:56,796 --> 04:42:00,396
yeah, yeah. It's it's actually 75 million.

4896
04:42:00,633 --> 04:42:03,203
so 75.5. I know actually I misspoke when

4897
04:42:03,203 --> 04:42:06,774
councilmember nadeau asked she her number, coincidentally

4898
04:42:06,774 --> 04:42:09,976
referenced the current deficit. So it's and it's quite high

4899
04:42:09,976 --> 04:42:13,780
right now, in large part because there was a large back pay in

4900
04:42:13,780 --> 04:42:17,380
november pursuant to the cba agreement.

4901
04:42:17,684 --> 04:42:21,884
so about that amount is about $16.7 million.

4902
04:42:21,921 --> 04:42:24,824
we expect to we expect to be able to shift that off.

4903
04:42:24,824 --> 04:42:28,796
but even so, it's the burn rate is is already over budget, even

4904
04:42:28,796 --> 04:42:32,650
if you adjust for that and other things, we expect to adjust.

4905
04:42:32,650 --> 04:42:34,334
epsf. So at the end of q2, all of

4906
04:42:34,334 --> 04:42:37,637
those adjustments taking place. We're still, I think, a couple

4907
04:42:37,637 --> 04:42:41,474
million in the red right now. And our in our forecast is

4908
04:42:41,474 --> 04:42:43,710
showing the same that we're going to end probably where we

4909
04:42:43,710 --> 04:42:46,946
ended last year, which is around $92 million in overtime

4910
04:42:46,946 --> 04:42:49,349
spending. The only reason we're able to

4911
04:42:49,349 --> 04:42:53,549
absorb that is through through vacancy savings.

4912
04:42:55,455 --> 04:42:59,920
so there's 18 million for overtime included in the

4913
04:42:59,920 --> 04:43:01,594
supplemental budget. Will that be sufficient?

4914
04:43:01,594 --> 04:43:05,799
it will it will close the gap. Our q1 frp showed about a $50

4915
04:43:05,799 --> 04:43:09,736
million gap. So that'll bring us closer to

4916
04:43:09,736 --> 04:43:13,473
the $3,231 million range of, you know, current with our current

4917
04:43:13,473 --> 04:43:14,708
assumptions in place. Yeah.

4918
04:43:14,708 --> 04:43:15,375
it helps. Okay.

4919
04:43:15,375 --> 04:43:22,575
so it won't be we'll still be in a $30 million deficit, correct?

4920
04:43:25,952 --> 04:43:30,152
okay. So if that happens and your

4921
04:43:48,777 --> 04:43:51,113
projections are correct, and we're still in a $30 million

4922
04:43:51,113 --> 04:43:55,170
deficit, what happens? We have to work with the with

4923
04:43:55,170 --> 04:43:56,285
the mayor on finding additional funding.

4924
04:43:56,285 --> 04:43:58,954
I know we did quite a bit of that last year as well, with

4925
04:43:58,954 --> 04:44:01,857
multiple reprograming. And did those reprograming come

4926
04:44:01,857 --> 04:44:04,326
from within mpd vacancy savings or other.

4927
04:44:04,326 --> 04:44:06,428
it was both. So we absorbed some through

4928
04:44:06,428 --> 04:44:08,431
vacancy savings. We had some savings at the very

4929
04:44:08,431 --> 04:44:11,301
end of the year. And then we, we, the majority of

4930
04:44:11,301 --> 04:44:14,702
it though, came through either supplemental funding or other

4931
04:44:14,702 --> 04:44:15,904
agencies. So.

4932
04:44:15,904 --> 04:44:21,304
and so it's kind of a mix of everything.

4933
04:44:21,443 --> 04:44:26,470
okay. I guess just kind of just goes

4934
04:44:26,470 --> 04:44:28,283
back to what we were talking about earlier, that it feels

4935
04:44:28,283 --> 04:44:31,520
like we're taking some steps to more accurately reflect over

4936
04:44:31,520 --> 04:44:35,120
time, but it's still not accurate.

4937
04:44:36,125 --> 04:44:37,526
I mean, it's still a forecast, right?

4938
04:44:37,526 --> 04:44:39,595
I mean, we're working on vacancy savings.

4939
04:44:39,595 --> 04:44:42,531
but again, when we talk about the pay rate is higher this year

4940
04:44:42,531 --> 04:44:45,401
than last year. So even shaving off hours will

4941
04:44:45,401 --> 04:44:47,136
not translate into a cheaper cost.

4942
04:44:47,136 --> 04:44:49,171
so I don't want to lose sight of that person.

4943
04:44:49,171 --> 04:44:49,838
potentially. Totally.

4944
04:44:49,838 --> 04:44:54,943
but but my point is not moving away from the efficiency point.

4945
04:44:54,943 --> 04:44:57,746
just assuming that you need all the overtime that you need.

4946
04:44:57,746 --> 04:44:59,547
we need to know what that number is.

4947
04:44:59,547 --> 04:45:03,850
and it sounds like this budget does not reflect that reality.

4948
04:45:03,850 --> 04:45:05,487
I think it's it's close on the overall level.

4949
04:45:05,487 --> 04:45:09,359
what I will say is, is in the, in the out, I guess you're

4950
04:45:09,359 --> 04:45:12,695
talking about fy 26. Fy 26 is tough.

4951
04:45:12,695 --> 04:45:15,764
we have we have to we're going to have to work internally and

4952
04:45:15,764 --> 04:45:17,933
with potentially other agencies in the mayor to look for

4953
04:45:17,933 --> 04:45:18,967
additional funding. Okay.

4954
04:45:18,967 --> 04:45:23,767
but fy 27, fy 27, there's potential for additional hiring.

4955
04:45:23,772 --> 04:45:26,308
and we'd be happy to shift overtime over to to salaries and

4956
04:45:26,308 --> 04:45:28,177
pay. Granted, a lot of that won't be

4957
04:45:28,177 --> 04:45:33,481
until q4 if the recruits come out, but that that's the goal is

4958
04:45:33,481 --> 04:45:36,919
to is, you know, at the end of the day, salaries and fringe is,

4959
04:45:36,919 --> 04:45:40,189
you know, cheaper and better than overtime.

4960
04:45:40,189 --> 04:45:46,189
how many new recruits were funded in the fy 26 budget?

4961
04:45:47,596 --> 04:45:50,650
well, I think funded versus actually hired.

4962
04:45:50,650 --> 04:45:52,901
funded was, was again, much higher.

4963
04:45:52,901 --> 04:45:56,873
I think the initial plan called for something like, I think 250

4964
04:45:56,873 --> 04:45:59,208
if I'm if I'm not mistaken, the additional hires were actually

4965
04:45:59,208 --> 04:46:04,800
hires were only 185. The hires to date in.

4966
04:46:07,149 --> 04:46:08,183
oh, sorry. Our project.

4967
04:46:08,183 --> 04:46:10,386
I'm sorry. That's our projected for for I

4968
04:46:10,386 --> 04:46:13,889
was thinking you said were you saying 25 or 26?

4969
04:46:13,889 --> 04:46:15,889
26, 26. Our projected is 185.

4970
04:46:16,425 --> 04:46:22,425
our hires to date. For fy 26, our recruit hires to

4971
04:46:32,400 --> 04:46:34,400
date is 61. Okay.

4972
04:46:35,143 --> 04:46:39,343
and we're over halfway through the year.

4973
04:46:40,215 --> 04:46:45,150
yes, ma'am. And we funded 185 or we funded

4974
04:46:45,788 --> 04:46:47,856
250. I'll have to get back to you the

4975
04:46:47,856 --> 04:46:51,327
exact number that we funded. I just remember I, I know it was

4976
04:46:51,327 --> 04:46:53,562
higher than what we've actually been able to obtain because our,

4977
04:46:53,562 --> 04:46:56,666
we, we, we budgeted for. 26 I think with the hiring

4978
04:46:56,666 --> 04:46:59,668
assumption of something like. 20 a class, I want to say, and

4979
04:46:59,668 --> 04:47:03,171
the actuals are coming in at like 13 or 14, a class.

4980
04:47:03,171 --> 04:47:06,575
okay. So we have the same tuition

4981
04:47:06,575 --> 04:47:11,975
assistance, same bonuses, I guess a 13% increase in pay.

4982
04:47:12,800 --> 04:47:16,985
we talked about the, the credit changes, but did the, or the

4983
04:47:16,985 --> 04:47:20,255
credit changes going to account for that big of a delta and what

4984
04:47:20,255 --> 04:47:22,758
we can reasonably expect to hire for next year?

4985
04:47:22,758 --> 04:47:24,694
I don't think there's any silver bullet.

4986
04:47:24,694 --> 04:47:26,895
I mean, if there was some some magical solution, we would have

4987
04:47:26,895 --> 04:47:29,831
done it a long time ago. I think maintaining what we have

4988
04:47:29,831 --> 04:47:33,368
right now, opening up the aperture for the recruits as far

4989
04:47:33,368 --> 04:47:37,339
as the college credits and the ability to keep sboe is also the

4990
04:47:37,339 --> 04:47:40,776
other lens with that. Also, by pumping up the cadet

4991
04:47:40,776 --> 04:47:43,311
numbers gives us a little more additional that are in there.

4992
04:47:43,311 --> 04:47:46,782
you know, we really looked at what else can we do?

4993
04:47:46,782 --> 04:47:50,118
and, you know, that's pretty much everything.

4994
04:47:50,118 --> 04:47:53,221
you know, we talk about our retention bonuses that we have

4995
04:47:53,221 --> 04:47:56,910
as far as the for the port portion, for education, for

4996
04:47:56,910 --> 04:47:58,560
those folks that are between the, the three and eight years

4997
04:47:58,560 --> 04:48:00,395
or close to retirement. So we have a lot of things that

4998
04:48:00,395 --> 04:48:03,197
are in there incentive wise, not only for new people, but also

4999
04:48:03,197 --> 04:48:06,601
some things to keep folks that have been here a while.

5000
04:48:06,601 --> 04:48:09,538
but also, you mentioned the increase in pay that they they

5001
04:48:09,538 --> 04:48:10,872
did get last time. So there's, there's a lot of

5002
04:48:10,872 --> 04:48:12,874
different things in there. But, but really none of those

5003
04:48:12,874 --> 04:48:15,443
other things open up a new applicant pool, right?

5004
04:48:15,443 --> 04:48:18,613
the only thing that really does that is the not having to have

5005
04:48:18,613 --> 04:48:21,160
the credits when you come in the door and getting them while

5006
04:48:21,160 --> 04:48:24,619
you're in the academy, that's what really will open up a new,

5007
04:48:24,619 --> 04:48:27,155
you know, area, exactly what that looks like.

5008
04:48:27,155 --> 04:48:29,925
I think we'll have to see because a lot of these other

5009
04:48:29,925 --> 04:48:32,461
agencies we talk about, they too, also don't require that

5010
04:48:32,461 --> 04:48:34,196
already. I mentioned only us in arlington

5011
04:48:34,196 --> 04:48:37,796
who's paying $90,000 have that right now.

5012
04:48:38,533 --> 04:48:40,936
so just a level set. Okay.

5013
04:48:40,936 --> 04:48:45,807
and what else are you all doing around quality of life in the

5014
04:48:45,807 --> 04:48:50,112
job and supporting our officers to continue supporting

5015
04:48:50,112 --> 04:48:50,679
retention? Yes.

5016
04:48:50,679 --> 04:48:53,382
we have our organizational culture and wellness bureau has

5017
04:48:53,382 --> 04:48:55,584
been working on a lot of different things and programing

5018
04:48:55,584 --> 04:48:59,540
to try to to help, you know, policing is a very challenging

5019
04:48:59,540 --> 04:48:59,988
job. So there's a lot of different

5020
04:48:59,988 --> 04:49:02,658
pulls, not only on the officer but their families.

5021
04:49:02,658 --> 04:49:05,928
so working on mentoring programs within the agency, one of the

5022
04:49:05,928 --> 04:49:08,230
things they were able to roll out this year is the wellness

5023
04:49:08,230 --> 04:49:10,465
rooms across the districts for the officers.

5024
04:49:10,465 --> 04:49:13,835
so they can go in there, decompress, you know, do

5025
04:49:13,835 --> 04:49:15,537
different activities. They want yoga and things like

5026
04:49:15,537 --> 04:49:17,839
that to try to work, you know, through that.

5027
04:49:17,839 --> 04:49:21,276
the other thing is having some programing for the officers.

5028
04:49:21,276 --> 04:49:23,745
different districts have done different things to bring in not

5029
04:49:23,745 --> 04:49:28,160
only to show appreciation, but to allow them to, again, get the

5030
04:49:28,160 --> 04:49:30,753
expectations of what they need. And listening to the members,

5031
04:49:30,753 --> 04:49:32,387
you know, what would be beneficial to them?

5032
04:49:32,387 --> 04:49:36,224
I mean, wellness is a really big, big issue, especially as we

5033
04:49:36,224 --> 04:49:38,693
talk about the increase in overtime that we have and what

5034
04:49:38,693 --> 04:49:41,596
we can do to try to help officers with that, because it

5035
04:49:41,596 --> 04:49:45,233
is a really big pull not only on them, but also on their

5036
04:49:45,233 --> 04:49:47,169
families. And how much does this budget

5037
04:49:47,169 --> 04:49:53,169
invest in wellness? I don't think we have that right

5038
04:49:59,315 --> 04:50:00,583
in front of us. We can follow up with you,

5039
04:50:00,583 --> 04:50:02,184
though, and let you know. Thank you.

5040
04:50:02,184 --> 04:50:04,184
yes, ma'am. Okay.

5041
04:50:04,186 --> 04:50:07,356
so as you know, something I've been worried about for a while

5042
04:50:07,356 --> 04:50:12,756
is the need to improve our district substations and

5043
04:50:13,995 --> 04:50:16,131
headquarters. And so I'm excited about the

5044
04:50:16,131 --> 04:50:18,531
seventh district headquarters renovation.

5045
04:50:20,102 --> 04:50:23,940
the capital budget shows that there's $20 million in fy 27,

5046
04:50:23,940 --> 04:50:27,811
but only 1. Million in 28. Are you anticipating that

5047
04:50:27,811 --> 04:50:30,120
basically all of the renovations will take place through the

5048
04:50:30,120 --> 04:50:33,682
course of 27? Miss campbell will talk about

5049
04:50:33,682 --> 04:50:35,840
that. Okay.

5050
04:50:35,840 --> 04:50:37,920
yes, ma'am. We're actually working with the

5051
04:50:37,920 --> 04:50:41,560
with dgs on this project. So a majority of it is going to

5052
04:50:41,560 --> 04:50:46,195
happen after the groundbreaking in quarter one of fy 27.

5053
04:50:46,195 --> 04:50:49,764
they're hoping to finish the renovation by the end of fy 27.

5054
04:50:49,764 --> 04:50:54,903
and then all of the other little things, I believe it's through.

5055
04:50:54,903 --> 04:50:58,607
paygo is going to happen in fy 28.

5056
04:50:58,607 --> 04:51:01,410
okay. And so that would be a pretty

5057
04:51:01,410 --> 04:51:04,980
fast renovation for our standards of something of this

5058
04:51:04,980 --> 04:51:09,780
size through dgs, wouldn't it. Yeah that's correct.

5059
04:51:10,252 --> 04:51:13,856
and we're I'm sure that we will evaluate throughout the fiscal

5060
04:51:13,856 --> 04:51:16,291
year. And then potentially, if there's

5061
04:51:16,291 --> 04:51:20,562
any adjustments that need to be made, can propose that in fy 28.

5062
04:51:20,562 --> 04:51:23,562
okay. The capital budget has $3.8

5063
04:51:24,366 --> 04:51:28,300
million towards building renovations and construction in

5064
04:51:28,300 --> 04:51:31,807
27, but no further money in the entire rest of the cip that I

5065
04:51:31,807 --> 04:51:35,276
see. You know, I think we have pretty

5066
04:51:35,276 --> 04:51:40,349
great deeds for renovations at virtually all of our

5067
04:51:40,349 --> 04:51:45,149
headquarters. How, I guess, a, how would you

5068
04:51:46,355 --> 04:51:49,355
prioritize the 3.8 million that's there?

5069
04:51:50,225 --> 04:51:54,329
and how are you thinking about as we talk about morale and

5070
04:51:54,329 --> 04:52:00,329
retention and supporting our officers, how can we improve the

5071
04:52:00,569 --> 04:52:04,238
daily circumstances of where they're sitting if so many if

5072
04:52:04,238 --> 04:52:07,476
there are still so many challenges around heating and ac

5073
04:52:07,476 --> 04:52:11,980
and leaks and the deep need to have new buildings?

5074
04:52:11,980 --> 04:52:13,249
sure. So I'll let dan talk a little

5075
04:52:13,249 --> 04:52:16,418
bit about the, the kind of the money portion of it.

5076
04:52:16,418 --> 04:52:20,756
but with us, we have a liaison that works daily with dgs to

5077
04:52:20,756 --> 04:52:24,659
prioritize what needs to be, what the issues are across the

5078
04:52:24,659 --> 04:52:27,196
entire portfolio of facilities. For us, kind of the priority or

5079
04:52:27,196 --> 04:52:28,931
the, the immediate officer areas.

5080
04:52:28,931 --> 04:52:32,701
so the restrooms, the roll call rooms, excuse me, the report

5081
04:52:32,701 --> 04:52:34,369
writing rooms. So meeting with them and working

5082
04:52:34,369 --> 04:52:37,572
on those areas that have been identified to get the most

5083
04:52:37,572 --> 04:52:40,700
impact as a priority. When we start looking at that,

5084
04:52:40,700 --> 04:52:44,346
I'll let dan talk a little bit about how the funding is.

5085
04:52:44,346 --> 04:52:47,482
yes, I think it's common for the small caps capital project to be

5086
04:52:47,482 --> 04:52:49,217
funded one year at a time. It's been my experience.

5087
04:52:49,217 --> 04:52:51,860
at least I've seen that at fire as well.

5088
04:52:51,860 --> 04:52:54,223
maybe it's not ideal, but I do usually see that get trued up

5089
04:52:54,223 --> 04:52:56,825
because that is, as you said, a very important.

5090
04:52:56,825 --> 04:52:58,727
that's personally my favorite one because it's the one that

5091
04:52:58,727 --> 04:53:01,329
keeps everything else going. You know, everybody loves the

5092
04:53:01,329 --> 04:53:04,533
new stations and things, but the small caps for me is, is

5093
04:53:04,533 --> 04:53:06,301
critically important. So on the cfo side, we are

5094
04:53:06,301 --> 04:53:09,504
always making that point. I will say they are currently

5095
04:53:09,504 --> 04:53:13,443
sitting on a, a almost a $6 million balance.

5096
04:53:13,443 --> 04:53:17,713
so they are they do have money that will carry forward as they

5097
04:53:17,713 --> 04:53:19,514
as they expend this year's allotment as well.

5098
04:53:19,514 --> 04:53:22,717
so it's not just that that 3.8, it's anything that's carried

5099
04:53:22,717 --> 04:53:25,187
forward that they can then use as well.

5100
04:53:25,187 --> 04:53:28,322
okay. And where would you prioritize

5101
04:53:28,322 --> 04:53:31,926
first? The areas I spoke of, right, the

5102
04:53:31,926 --> 04:53:34,950
bathrooms, the roll call rooms, the places that officers spend

5103
04:53:34,950 --> 04:53:37,165
most of their times. Those are the areas I mean,

5104
04:53:37,165 --> 04:53:39,868
you'd prioritize kind of all of that for all of the district,

5105
04:53:39,868 --> 04:53:41,135
starting with the district stations.

5106
04:53:41,135 --> 04:53:43,772
to me, most of our members are in the district stations.

5107
04:53:43,772 --> 04:53:46,942
that's where, you know, I'd say a majority, you know, for for

5108
04:53:46,942 --> 04:53:49,611
one, it's a not a new building, but it's a newer facility that

5109
04:53:49,611 --> 04:53:52,810
people are in. So I would say it's in better

5110
04:53:52,810 --> 04:53:54,216
condition. But a majority of our officers

5111
04:53:54,216 --> 04:53:57,180
sit across the districts, and that's where we need to have

5112
04:53:57,180 --> 04:53:59,354
those those areas. And again, it's the immediate

5113
04:53:59,354 --> 04:54:01,423
touchpoints of the officers, the roll call room, the report

5114
04:54:01,423 --> 04:54:03,225
writing room, the bathrooms, things of that nature.

5115
04:54:03,225 --> 04:54:05,600
that's the area that I want to focus on.

5116
04:54:05,600 --> 04:54:09,260
okay. And so when you mentioned that

5117
04:54:09,499 --> 04:54:12,668
there might be more money available for small cap, what do

5118
04:54:12,668 --> 04:54:16,705
you anticipate will actually be the realistic number?

5119
04:54:16,705 --> 04:54:19,841
I was just reflecting that because it's capital and carries

5120
04:54:19,841 --> 04:54:21,376
forward, it doesn't lapse like operating.

5121
04:54:21,376 --> 04:54:23,312
that was just my point that I'm just checking the current

5122
04:54:23,312 --> 04:54:25,847
balance to say, okay, if they theoretically didn't touch it,

5123
04:54:25,847 --> 04:54:28,784
but but that could theoretically be used by year end.

5124
04:54:28,784 --> 04:54:30,786
but this money hasn't been committed yet on a poa.

5125
04:54:30,786 --> 04:54:34,589
so it does tell me there's some likelihood that some of that

5126
04:54:34,589 --> 04:54:37,794
balance will carry forward. I'm sure there's plans for that

5127
04:54:37,794 --> 04:54:39,327
money. So I'm not advocating to get

5128
04:54:39,327 --> 04:54:41,996
swept either, but I did. I didn't want it to look like

5129
04:54:41,996 --> 04:54:45,330
the new allotment was the only money available to them.

5130
04:54:45,330 --> 04:54:46,340
got it. Okay.

5131
04:54:46,340 --> 04:54:49,971
thank you. Let me ask you about the new

5132
04:54:49,971 --> 04:54:53,875
heliport facility that this capital budget allocates $2

5133
04:54:53,875 --> 04:54:56,411
million towards building the budget says that the existing

5134
04:54:56,411 --> 04:54:59,281
facility is currently in dire need of renovations.

5135
04:54:59,281 --> 04:55:03,952
so is this for clarity? A new facility entirely or

5136
04:55:03,952 --> 04:55:06,588
renovation dollars to the existing facility?

5137
04:55:06,588 --> 04:55:08,957
my understanding is renovation to the existing facility.

5138
04:55:08,957 --> 04:55:12,940
I don't know if it's a full take down or not, but there's a lot

5139
04:55:12,940 --> 04:55:15,431
of challenges at the heliport. It's a very old building and

5140
04:55:15,431 --> 04:55:18,367
also making sure that the helipad is completely level so

5141
04:55:18,367 --> 04:55:20,835
that over on south capitol street is where heliport sat.

5142
04:55:20,835 --> 04:55:24,139
but the facility is very old and it's in bad condition.

5143
04:55:24,139 --> 04:55:25,640
this is the south capitol location.

5144
04:55:25,640 --> 04:55:26,975
yes, the south capitol street helipad.

5145
04:55:26,975 --> 04:55:30,145
and is this our only helipad location for mpd?

5146
04:55:30,145 --> 04:55:32,781
it is the only mpd helipad location.

5147
04:55:32,781 --> 04:55:35,500
and of course, as most folks are aware, there's very few places

5148
04:55:35,500 --> 04:55:37,786
in the city you can actually land a helicopter.

5149
04:55:37,786 --> 04:55:38,921
it's the only helipad that we've had.

5150
04:55:38,921 --> 04:55:44,192
we've had this facility for many years, and any other agencies

5151
04:55:44,192 --> 04:55:46,495
use that facility? Yes.

5152
04:55:46,495 --> 04:55:50,465
other so no other agency store, store, their store, their

5153
04:55:50,465 --> 04:55:52,367
helicopters, their per se. But we do.

5154
04:55:52,367 --> 04:55:55,203
however, other helicopters do land there and get fuel from the

5155
04:55:55,203 --> 04:55:57,939
south capitol street helipad. It's a it's a vendor that that

5156
04:55:57,939 --> 04:55:59,762
runs the overall. The only other place that there

5157
04:55:59,762 --> 04:56:02,763
is a helipad is a park. Police have a helipad on the

5158
04:56:02,763 --> 04:56:08,763
other side of the river, and then military facilities really.

5159
04:56:09,437 --> 04:56:14,237
there was some conversation yesterday among my colleagues

5160
04:56:14,910 --> 04:56:19,381
about the opportunity to co-locate an nps facility with

5161
04:56:19,381 --> 04:56:21,783
mpd. Tell me what your response to

5162
04:56:21,783 --> 04:56:23,585
that suggestion is. So that's a that's an idea we

5163
04:56:23,585 --> 04:56:27,221
had we've had talked about for years the ability to potentially

5164
04:56:27,221 --> 04:56:28,724
do that. It's something that we've never

5165
04:56:28,724 --> 04:56:31,926
been able to bring to fruition. It's something that we started,

5166
04:56:31,926 --> 04:56:34,463
you know, when chief conte was here, maybe even chief newsham,

5167
04:56:34,463 --> 04:56:36,464
having those conversations about the ability.

5168
04:56:36,464 --> 04:56:38,667
the challenge is, is park police, they have more

5169
04:56:38,667 --> 04:56:41,136
helicopters than we have. And they also have much larger

5170
04:56:41,136 --> 04:56:43,404
helicopters. There's are capable for medevac.

5171
04:56:43,404 --> 04:56:46,342
so the ability for them and the spacing, there's not enough

5172
04:56:46,342 --> 04:56:50,542
space at their current facility to to