D.C. Police Chief Pamela A. Smith walks near a wall where people congregated outside a McDonald's on Minnesota Avenue NE. Residents told her to help clean the area up. The low wall has since been removed. Detectives were wrapping up an investigation into a shooting in a McDonald’s parking lot in Northeast Washington when police in unmarked cars swooped in. Officers confronted people leaving the restaurant, a witness said, grabbing one.
The encounter on Minnesota Avenue is indicative of the challenges police face amid pressure to restore order, seize firearms and prevent shootings following thein D.C. in more than a quarter-century. Residents have demanded police clear areas where drugs are openly sold and used, and many people interviewed support the initiative. The first three drug-free zones expired Tuesday at Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road NE, Woodland Terrace in Southeast and Chinatown.
He said people typically gather along Mount Olivet Road NE. “They’re just sipping something, smoking something, minding their own business,” he said. “But sometimes, it brings out the worst in people, and that brings guns. That is what we want police to focus on.” White, the only council member to vote present on the bill, said he had long worried that the legislation would confer to police powers that could be abused. The other 12 lawmakers supported the legislation. White said he didn’t cast a no vote because of amendments he introduced, one of which was designed to maintain measures of police transparency in their disciplinary process.
Jay Brown, an activist who runs the Community Shoulders nonprofit counseling program, said he sees little evidence of social workers and counselors in drug-free zones helping people who are experiencing drug addiction and mental health issues.But Barbara J. Bazron, director of the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health, said her agency, along with community-based groups, are in the zones linking people to services and helping with medical issues, such as drug overdoses.
Ruff, the advisory neighborhood commissioner, said she had worked with city officials to remove the retaining wall, calling it “detrimental to the community.” She said people who gather there need help for addiction and mental health, not the type of police action she said happened after Wednesday’s shooting.
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