WASHINGTON — In response to a hearing conducted by the DC Council Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety on the Addressing Crime Trends (ACT) Now Amendment Act of 2023, Dennis Corkery issued the following statement.
“The DC Council should reject the Addressing Crime Trends (ACT) Now Amendment Act of 2023. If enacted, this law would encourage more violence in the District.
“At a time when there is an urgent crisis of violence, rolling back hard-fought police reforms is an unnecessary and dangerous distraction. These reforms made the District safer by promoting responsible and Constitutional policing that focused on safety for officers, suspects, and communities.
“Now that violence is surging in our communities, the Mayor is calling for rolling back these reforms in the name of public safety. Unsafe policing by unaccountable officers will lead to more state violence and does nothing to stop the violence that we all want to prevent.
“The ACT Now Act rolls back transparency into officer discipline by limiting the timing for the release of records, what is released, and worst of all, officer names so that there is no accountability or way for the public to know if repeat offenders are being disciplined. Under this measure, chokeholds are legal, allowing an officer to hold onto someone’s neck to restrain their movement. Police officers do not need to consider the life of a suspect when engaging in a car chase, according to the legislation. By allowing officers to view body worn camera footage before writing reports with few exceptions, this law thwarts Constitutional accountability.
“The ACT Now Act sends the message that some lives are worth more than others. This law makes a mockery of Black Lives Matter Plaza.”