March 8, 2024

In an extended Council session on Tuesday, March 5, the Secure DC legislation passed its final vote 12-0 (with 1 voting present).

The Coalition that rallied against the measure (which includes Metro DC DSA) was able to organize 1,611 people to send over 24,963 letters to the DC Council and pull 62 organizations into opposition. Hundreds packed the Council meetings on February 6 and March 5 in opposition to the legislation. As a result of this push, several amendments have severely weakened the final legislative package, including:

• Capped pretrial detention provisions to expire and require reauthorization later this year;
• An amendment passed by CM Lewis George, and adopted by the majority of the Council, maintained (rather than lowered) the current threshold on felony thefts;
• Weakened DNA collection to occur only after probable cause is determined. This provision remains still alarming — CMs Lewis George, McDuffie and T. White voted against reentering this policy into the final version of Secure DC;
• Watered down and thwarted anti-mask provisions included in the bill, which include carve outs for people exercising first amendment rights;
• removed provisions that would withhold MPD officers’ names from adverse action proceedings.
• The final version of this legislation also includes “drug-free zones,” though it’s likely to be constitutionally challenged and overturned.

In the hearing, Councilmembers remained ambivalent about Secure DC’s effectiveness, doubting CM Pinto and Mayor Bowser’s belief that this legislation would significantly address and impact violence in the city. (Read more coverage: from The Washington Informer, 730DC’s March 6th coverage.) Metro DC DSA’s Abolition working group played a critical effort in the campaign, and will debrief at the next DC-based working group meeting on March 19. DSA members are encouraged to ask questions or get involved by joining the #abolition channel on the Metro DC DSA slack.