Facing Rising Crime, D.C. Mayor Proposes Budget Increase to Swell Police Ranks

Facing rising rates of homicides, gun violence and carjackings, coupled with slower responses to critical emergency calls, as well as mounting overtime pay for officers amid the loss of about 280 officers over 18 months that has left the department with its lowest staffing levels in two decades, Washington D.C. mayor Muriel E. Bowser is proposing a budget increase to hire 347 additional police officers in fiscal 2023, reports the Washington Post.

While the net gain would be a modest three dozen officers, when factoring in retirements and departures due to other attritions, Bowser actually wants to expand department ranks to 4,000, a goal that police estimate could take until 2031.

The mayor’s force-expansion plan costs $30 million and includes new incentive packages and money for recruiting. Most lawmakers stopped short of endorsing her long-term plan.

Meanwhile, social justice activists have complained that police reform initiatives that were hailed with fanfare a year ago have largely stalled, argue that adding more police is a politically expedient move that doesn’t help reduce violence, and say the proposal fails to confront the underlying issues and inequities that drive crime, such as poverty, joblessness, homelessness, substandard education and addiction.

Additional Reading: Why Police Defunding Should Remain on the Reform Agenda, by Yohana Beyene, The Crime Report, Feb. 24, 2022.