Last night, about 80 neighbors attended the follow-up meeting on the Capitol Hill car-jackings sponsored by Councilmember Tommy Wells and ANC 6A Commissioner Mary Beatty.

As at the December meeting, MPD Chief Lanier brought her team and this time, had much better news to report. After the spike of car-jackings and the meeting in December, Chief Lanier committed more resources, more officers and more attention to the problem. Last night, she shared details with neighbors of the multiple levels of added enforcement – one of which earned the moniker “Ring of Steel” – as well as coordination put in place between police districts. MPD studied the crimes and very quickly established specific “escape routes.” They adjusted based on the data, and in some cases, had officers ready and waiting as the criminals tried to escape the neighborhood.

The good news… MPD has closed several of the car-jacking cases and arrested over a dozen individuals in these crimes. Since the added focus, car-jackings have decreased significantly, with the last one occurring in early January. MPD acknowledged quickly though, that doesn’t mean their work is done and they will maintain this heightened level for the near future.

In addition, MPD has a high level of confidence of where many of the offenders live, noting that half of all the cars recovered were found within a block of each other. They are targeting resources to the neighborhood – which MPD did not disclose, but is not located in Ward 6.

In the arrests noted above, all but one were juveniles. That turned the conversation to the US Attorneys Office and how the juveniles were prosecuted.

Last year, the Council passed an omnibus crime bill that among other things, gave prosecutors more ammunition to pursue stiffer penalties and sentences for crimes of violence. Under DC Code, a car-jacking, whether committed with a gun or not, is considered a crime of violence.

The Council also has put in place “three strikes” legislation for violent crimes. The law passed by the Council last year changed the three strikes law for violent offenses from a permissive “may” to a mandatory “shall” minimum 15 year sentence.

The US Attorneys Office discussed their work and desires to prosecute violent offenses to their fullest. They noted that the legal changes by Council gave them greater ability in the courtroom, but noted a significant struggle as it relates to car-jackings.

An individual can only be charged with a car-jacking if they are caught in the act. If police make the arrest an hour later, even though an individual is in a stolen vehicle, the arresting charge is often Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle (UUV). A UUV will be prosecuted, but it is not considered a violent crime. Unless MPD and the US Attorneys Office can make a clear link between the driver of the vehicle at the time of arrest, and the crime of the car-jacking itself, they cannot make a car-jacking charge. It's very difficult to make this link because the criminals are often wearing masks or victims are traumatized such that they can't identify their attacker with 100% confidence.

Tommy also talked about two additional legislative initiatives he’s been trying to move at Council.

The first is to cut in half the number of unexcused absences allowed for a child before social services are involved. Skipping school is often the first red flag that a youth is at-risk or headed in the wrong direction. The law would reverse a recent DC Office of the State Superintendent for Education (OSSE) change to the District’s truancy regulations related to educational neglect; which now allows children between the ages of 5 and 13 to accrue 10 consecutive days, or 20 total days (one full month of school days), of unexcused absences within a school year before a referral is made to the Child and Family Services Administration (CFSA). Tommy’s bill would require authorities begin looking into the child and family who has more than 10 unexcused absences within a school year.

You can read more about the “Safe Children and Safe Neighborhoods Educational Neglect Mandatory Reporting Amendment Act of 2009” by clicking here.

The second legislative initiative is to help break through the veil of juvenile confidentiality laws. Although intended as a protection for the youth themselves, confidentiality laws just as often prevent the public from being able to hold agencies accountable for providing services to at-risk youth and their family.  They also prevent agencies from recognizing warning signs and intervening before a youth hits the point of no return – ideally, we want to stop a youth from committing a violent act before it ever occurs. For example, under current confidentiality laws, a youth may have skipped school for 5 days, been kicked out of a recreation center for a fight, and been picked up by police for riding in a stolen car. Individually, each incident may register as a concern, but together, they connect the dots that something is dangerously wrong with where a youth is headed and the decisions they are making. Current law prohibits the school, the recreation center and the police to share the information with each, and they miss the red flags going up.

You can read more about the information sharing and confidentiality legislation by clicking here.

Both Tommy and Commissioner Beatty agreed that if needed, another follow-up meeting will be scheduled. But neighbors generally congratulated and thanked Chief Lanier, Commander Kamperin and their officers for their outstanding efforts and added attention to address the car-jackings.

DC’s Field to Fork Network and America the Beautiful Fund cordially invite you to Rooting DC, a full day, free conference on urban gardening. The conference will take place on February 20th 9:30am – 4:00pm at the Historical Society of Washington (801 K Street, NW); convenient to the Convention Center (green line) and Gallery Place (red line) stops. 

Registration is required! Please call (202) 638-1649 to register for the event.  

Here’s the skinny on Rooting DC:

- In its third year, Rooting DC promotes gardening as a low-cost way to provide food for families, particularly in areas where fresh, affordable food is hard to come by because of a lack of supermarkets. Plus, healthy diets are good for your body and for the planet.

- This year they are focusing on Food Production, Distribution, Preparation and Preservation.  One workshop track will focus on teaching how to teach gardening to kids and will be led by experienced professionals from the Washington Youth Garden and City Blossoms.  There will also be presentations that touch on growing ethnic foods from Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, nutrition, food demos, basic gardening and urban agriculture, and emergency food resources.  Some of the workshops will even be in Spanish.

- The keynote speakers include Joe Nasr (one of the “founding fathers” of urban agriculture) and Robert Egger (DC Central Kitchen). There will also be a presentation from Tony Cohen of the Historic Button Farm at Seneca Creek State Park, Maryland.  This incredibly unique facility has an “Underground Railroad Immersion Experience.”

For more information please visit http://fieldtoforknetwork.org/rootingdc/ 

What’s below: Planning Begins for Electric Vehicles in DC; Update on Rosedale Community Center & Library Construction; Real Housewives of DC Comes to H Street; Downtown Neighborhood Survey Now Online; Poll: Where did you live prior?; Navy Yard to Expand, Will Need Additional Office Space; Waterfront Metro Entrance Now on West Side; Navy Museum Move to SW Waterfront.
 
 
Planning Begins for Electric Vehicles in DC - DDOT recently announced a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit ideas for installing a network of electric vehicle charging stations.  See how you can give input to DDOT on the initiative on the Hill is Home. 
 
Update on Rosedale Community Center & Library Construction – Rosedale Citizens Alliance gives highlights from Mayor Fenty and Councilmember Wells Rosedale Community Center update, press announcement last Friday.
 
Real Housewives of DC Come to H Street? - Apparently, Bravo's reality TV series, Real Housewives of DC made a stop at Sova last Thursday and there is a bit of chatter between several blogs. Check it out here on Frozen Tropics. 

Downtown Neighborhood Survey Now Online - The third annual Downtown Neighborhood Survey, a data gathering effort sponsored by theDowntown BID, the Downtown Neighborhood Association and the Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association is now up online. Penn Quarter Living points out that you have a chance to win gift certificates to downtown restaurants or a weekend at Hotel Monaco if you fill out the survey. Link to the full survey.

Poll: Where did you live prior? – The Triangle lists a survey inspired by the current “Who are the new DC residents” poll on Greater Greater Washington see where new District residents are moving and why they are coming to town. Check both of them out. 

Navy Yard to Expand, Will Need Additional Office Space – JDLand points out the Navy plans to expand its space in Southeast D.C. by perhaps 700,000 square feet, a move that could dramatically boost office demand and foot traffic in the fledging Capitol Riverfront neighborhood near Nationals Park.

Waterfront Metro Entrance on West Side – SWDC blog states that the Waterfront Metro has a new entrance path on the west side of the escalators as of this morning.

Navy Museum Move to SW Waterfront - Southwest… The Little Quadrant that Could, shares information about a possible move of the Navy Museum from the Navy Yard to the Southwest Waterfront.

The Capitol Hill Village invites you to celebrate life on Capitol Hill at the Second Annual Stardust Gala on Saturday, January 30, at St. Mark’s Church, 7: 30 to 11 pm.   Enjoy an evening of finery, dancing, chatting with friends, a little sipping of wine or other fruit drinks, and bidding for vacation happenings in non-DC homes – this year, including one in France.

The Combo-Nation Trio will open the evening, later growing into the full SingCo Rhythm Orchestra, led by crooner Doug Bowles.   Songs by the Jaynettes, Capitol Hill’s group of “vintage women singing vintage music,” will inspire dancers onto the dance floor.   Debra and Tom of Gottaswing, from Glen Echo’s Spanish Ballroom, will teach us all to swing dance. 

Near the music-filled dance hall will be a Quiet Café, where partiers will find snack foods; coffee, tea, fruit punch and wines; friendly tables with chairs, and other tables showing off auction items – vacation homes, dinners with book-authors and politicians, classes for exploring untried (by you) crafts.

Reservations cost $70 individually and $60-per-person for a group table.  You can purchase them on-line on www.capitolhillvillage.org or by calling the Capitol Hill Village office on 202-543-1778.     Call soon, as spaces are being filled rapidly.