D.C. Can’t Dismiss Lawsuit Over Police Response to Mental Health Crises
Attorneys say the district’s practice of sending armed police officers to mental health emergencies violates the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Attorneys say the district’s practice of sending armed police officers to mental health emergencies violates the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The overall crime rate is nearly as low as it’s been in decades, but that hasn’t stopped officials from pushing draconian measures likely only to fuel mass incarceration and harm public safety. It’s time for a different approach.
The recently enacted Secure D.C. bill ignores demands from District residents while giving handouts to an unelected prosecutor desperate to consolidate power.
A new lawsuit alleges that the city is discriminating against people with mental health disabilities by continuing to send armed officers to mental health calls.
The party’s national director tells The Appeal about candidates in New York, Washington, D.C., and New Mexico that the WFP would like to see oust the establishment.
‘It seems like Black people are still being criminalized and are not free,’ one organizer said.
‘It is progressively getting worse, exponentially worse,’ a resident of one halfway house told The Appeal as part of a survey of facilities. ‘Something is going to happen and it’s not going to be good.’
Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed decriminalization legislation that advocates say would curb the discriminatory policing tactics associated with fare evasion enforcement. Today, the D.C. City Council will decide if it will override her veto.
Advocates say the city has dragged its feet on legislation meant to ensure transparency on the police practice, and that data released so far—from 2010 to 2016, nearly 82 percent of stops involved Black people—signals that it’s time to end stop-and-frisk entirely.
Prosecutors on the “J20” case faced grave allegations of misconduct after withholding exculpatory evidence contained in videos from defense attorneys. But this is far from the first time that this office has found itself in hot water.