With the D.C. mayoral primary election less than two months away, more than two dozen justice reform advocates are proposing a plan they believe could help the next mayor and council solve the city鈥檚 crime problems.
Policing experts, former law enforcement, crime survivors, youth advocates, violence interrupters, public health experts, legal practitioners and reentry providers met on the steps of the John A. Wilson Building on Thursday to share the
鈥淚t really doesn’t matter who gets in office as it relates to the individual,鈥� Clinique Chapman, CEO of said. 鈥淲e want whoever that person is to be a courageous leader.鈥�
Chapman said four out of 10 D.C. residents are Black, but Black residents , and “nine out of 10 who are actually being held at the D.C. jail.鈥�
The advocates took aim at current mayor Muriel Bowser’s approach to criminal justice.
鈥淚t’s not working,鈥� Chapman said.
Chapman believes President Donald Trump鈥檚 law enforcement surge last summer, which brought the National Guard to D.C. and tasked federal agents with patrolling the streets, damaged the trust Washingtonians had for police.
When asked about the law enforcement surge, Chapman said it caused a lot of harm.
鈥淎s a forensic social worker, I know firsthand what trauma can do, and I think we sometimes forget that systems harm people just as much as individuals can,鈥� Chapman said. “D.C. is an over-policed city, yet there’s no accountability and no transparency, and that will do harm well beyond what we see today.鈥�
Chandra Dawson, the executive director of believes 鈥渢he city has changed鈥� over the last seven months.
鈥淲e will never be who we were prior to that federal surge,鈥� Dawson said. 鈥淲e are folks who experience what I call ‘systemic trauma’ most recently.”
Dawson told 海角精品黑料 she hopes the next mayor is 鈥渨illing to hear and listen to the community.鈥�
鈥淭he residents know their communities 鈥� better than any data, better than any commander or police officer walking the beat,鈥� Dawson said. 鈥淭hey can tell you who does what. They can tell you when it happens. They can tell you the triggers that lead to violence within their communities.鈥�
Dawson called the residents of D.C. the 鈥渞eal experts on not just what is happening, but what is needed.鈥�
Another group of experts Dawson points to are the researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland.
鈥淭hey have done substantial work around gun violence and spent the time looking at D.C. Why aren’t they invited to the table around collaboration?鈥� Dawson asked.
Another set of issues that the groups believe are being handled the wrong way are the juvenile curfew zones.聽
鈥淚 have lived in this city since 2002,鈥� Penelope Spain, co-founder and CEO of , said. 鈥淚 have never seen our city go backwards so fast as we have.鈥�
Spain said instead of making the city safer, curfews are a 鈥渇ailed use of resources.”
鈥淚 think curfews do nothing but criminalize young people, makes them feel like they are not welcome in their very own city,鈥� Spain said. 鈥淚t very much ostracizes our young people and forces them out of the conversation that they should be very centered in.鈥�
Chapman told 海角精品黑料 the 2026 DC Public Safety Policy Agenda has been sent to all mayoral candidates.
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