Police Checkpoints Debated at Hearing
The police are off the barricades in the District's Trinidad neighborhood--for now. But the debate over whether checkpoints in the violence-plagued area are doing more harm than good rages on.
At a D.C. Council public safety committee hearing this afternoon, foes and fans of the plan continue the debate over Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's and Chief Cathy Lanier's controversial plan that required those driving into Trinidad to explain to police why they were entering the neighborhood.
"I support this program," said Robert Vinson Brannum, chairman of the 5th District Citizens' Advisory Council. "The people of Trinidad need to be protected just like the people of Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase or downtown."
Kathy Henderson, immediate past president of the local advisory council, said, "We will gladly show our identification. We believe our civil rights are violated by the unacceptable crime in our community."
But other residents said the blockade, over a series of nights since June 7, was ineffective and a violation of people's civil rights.
Deborah Golden, who lives in the neighborhood and is a civil rights lawyer, said the stops are "clearly unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment," which protects citizens from unlawful searches and seizures. She wishes there could be stepped up patrols that would not target everyone entering Trinidad.
Lanier and interim Attorney General Peter Nickles are due later in the day to testify in defense of the checkpoints as well as several other Fenty administration crime-fighting initiatives.
Daniel LeDuc
By Marcia Davis |
June 16, 2008; 4:50 PM ET
| Category:
Crime and Public Safety
,
D.C. Council
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Posted by: JohnAdams1 | June 16, 2008 6:54 PM
Telecasting to the public in advance of any project defeats its purpose and will just shift where the crime will take place.
Posted by: Jonathan R. Rees | June 16, 2008 7:15 PM
"We could, of course, facilitate the process of administering justice to those who violate criminal laws by ignoring...the entire Bill of Rights--but it is the very purpose of the Bill of Rights to identify values that may not be sacrificed to expediency. In a just society those who govern, as well as those who are governed, must obey the law." Justice John Paul Stevens, Dissenting in United States v. Leon (1984)
Posted by: Concernedaboutdc | June 16, 2008 9:36 PM
I believe that this is just a reactionary measure to the violent crime in 5D. The Police Department needs to be more proactive. The Police can not do it all by themselves the Community as a whole need to proactive and work with the Police. If not nothing will change.
Posted by: John (NE DC) | June 16, 2008 10:04 PM
I agree with John that we should be more proactive. I would like the Supreme Court to hurry along the ruling related to the 2nd Amendment and the DC gun ban law. We should all be patrolling with arms in our pockets.
Posted by: Concerned NE DC Citizen | June 16, 2008 10:33 PM
Of course you all understand I mean guns in our pockets. It would be difficult to put your actual arms in your pockets.
Posted by: Concerned NE DC Citizen | June 16, 2008 10:35 PM
We need the police checks; we need to keep the streets safe. We need unannounced police checks and we need a curfew. I live right off Benning Road, I am sick of the shootings. Where the hell was NAACP, when these kids were being killed? The NAACP has lost touch with the urban problems of the inner city. The head of the DC chapter of the NAACP does not live in Northeast DC. The NAACP need to help these young children get summer jobs, not stop the police from doing their jobs.
Chief Lanner and Mr. Fenty are doing a wonderful job; these are tough times for city governments throughout this country. The people that complain about the check points, are up to no good, either they are looking for drugs and driving with expired driver's license. Please remember, one killing is too many, we cannot keep losing these young children to senseless violence. Keep the peace.
Posted by: Bo from Northeast | June 16, 2008 10:43 PM
NAACP? What era are you from man, lol? And why are they to "blame."
Posted by: Citizen Who is Laughing at the Moment | June 17, 2008 6:35 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
"I support this program," said Robert Vinson Brannum, chairman of the 5th District Citizens' Advisory Council. "The people of Trinidad need to be protected just like the people of Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase or downtown."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Is there any shred of evidence or concrete information that the spatial deployment of a handful of policemen will prevent crime, anywhere in this country?
Law abiding citizens create law abiding neighborhoods.
The citizen's advisory group needs to take the actions necessary to stem the causes of crime in their neighborhood. The police cannot do that it is the mayor's responsiblity.