NW gang concerns

EDITORIAL

Inexcusable ‘ignorance’

(Published August 11, 2003)

NW gang concerns

MPD hit for ignoring illegal acts

"…Recent interviews with residents and merchants in Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan revealed deep concerns about frequent and often blatant gang-related crime occurring in those areas.

But repeated attempts to get Metropolitan Police Department officials to talk about the problems and what’s being done about them were unsuccessful. Some police officials in the Third and Fourth Police Districts, which include the city’s heavily Hispanic neighborhoods, claimed little or no knowledge of any gang activities in their areas."

‘We do have a problem with Latino gangs,’ acknowledged one police officer who patrols the neighborhoods but asked that his name not be used. …"
The Common Denominator

Published July 16, 2001; Page 1

Residents and merchants in the District’s heavily Hispanic neighborhoods have been complaining for years about gang-related crime and violence – yet it has taken a series of recent deaths to make Mayor Anthony A. Williams and his administration direct some attention to the problems.

Likewise, in far Northeast Washington, where recent traffic deaths related to rampant auto thefts by juveniles living at the Benning Terrace public housing project recently brought concerned visits and pledges of help from the mayor and his deputies.

The level of feigned ignorance of these problems among city officials at various levels is absolutely shocking.

No one – least of all, elected officials who hear from their constituents every day – should be surprised that youth-related violence is proliferating in many parts of the District this summer. And anyone who thinks that greater police visibility alone will remedy the deep-seated causes of the violence is appallingly naïve.

Up to this point, the Williams administration's "ignorance is bliss" policy has only exacerbated the problems.

The mayor has continually failed to adequately implement and fund any comprehensive effort to engage the city's young people in fun activities that direct their energy toward productive pursuits. The mayor's hit-or-miss, one-shot strategy aimed at maximum publicity for his efforts has produced little in the way of sustainable programs, while his operating budgets have continued to woefully underfund the schools, recreation centers and libraries that should be the core of the District's activities for young people.

The mayor points to new schools and new recreation centers as a sign of his commitment to the city's children, but buildings do not produce programs. The District has numerous recreation centers, schools and libraries that often sit idle due to a lack of money to operate community programs. Simply constructing buildings does not make them the teeming centers of neighborhood activities that they should be.

Lack of genuine commitment, rather than lack of money, is the issue here. The D.C. government commits far too much of its financial resources to bucking up the local development community, rather than focusing on residents' needs. The mayor should rearrange his administration's priorities to put the necessary tax dollars into programs that help meet the needs of residents – including young people. Bricks and mortar should be secondary.