Committee on the Judiciary & Public Safety, Public Roundtable, Charles Allen, Chairperson

and elsewhere are disproportionately represented. Because the nominee as confirmed will directly impact the daily lives of residents through leadership and actions, his decision making in this position could mean the difference between community trust or distrust, liberty or incarceration and even life and death. He will be called to handle everything from a car break-in to a missing loved one, from gun violence to acts of hate, from peaceful protests to domestic terrorism and extremism. It is an incredibly serious position and requires leadership. The purpose of today's roundtable is to discuss the

many responsibilities of the chief of police. And in this context and how his background and experience prepared him for this job. It's also perspective.

Major city chiefs today must be visionary. The status quo is simply unacceptable and I hope to hear from him not only about the department of today but where we must go as a city together tomorrow and how his leadership wants to take it there. So far, I have found acting chief contee to be very helpful, collaborative and open-minded. Do we agree on every issue? No. And I imagine some of those differences will come up today but I am looking forward to learning more about his vision for the department and how he wants to move it forward. Today's roundtable will begin with the nominee's testimony and questions from councilmembers and approximately 1:30, we will transition to the public witnesses who registered in advance to testify. As a reminder, public witnesses

are still welcome to submit any

written testimony by emailing us and by the close of business this coming monday mar 29th. We are going to be live streaming on the council's

website on channel 13 and on our

office's facebook page today at facebook.Com/cmcharlesallen. I encourage everyone to follow along as we go. Before turning to the nominee, first I'm going to turn to my colleagues joining us for any opening statements and then turn

to our nominee, acting chief robert contee for his opening and move to questions after that. Let me turn to councilmember gray. You were the first to join us. Let me see if you are there and turn to councilmember pinto

Councilmember gray, are you there? Councilmember pinto, let me turn to you and come back to councilmember gray in a little bit. >> all right, good morning.

Thank you so much, Chairman Allen and acting chief contee and congratulations. I have been really looking forward to your confirmation hearing and have heard truly glowing things about you from

district leaders and residents.

And I am very hopeful that your confirmation will bring about a new era in law enforcement in D.C. As we work to rebuild

community trust. You came into this position during extremely difficult time and I want to commend you on your leadership during the insurrection and the inauguration.

We know that as D.C. Residents, we cannot always rely on the

federal government to keep us

safe and January 6th was a

stark reminder of that reality. D.C. Residents will always be

grateful for the bravery of the D.C. Metropolitan police department that was demonstrated at the capitol that day and under your leadership. So thank you. There is no doubt that the council has been met with a lot

of resistance in the past while

working to implement reforms to mpd.

And we have hit other road blocks around lack of transparency. D.C. Residents deserve to have law enforcement that is open, honest, and trustworthy. And there is a lot of work that needs to happen. This is very clear from the historic protests over the

summer and the disparities and how law enforcement interacts with residents of color versus white residents. And I look forward to talking more today about your vision for

mpd and how we can be a leader in the country on providing more just public safety for all of our residents. I also look forward to hearing more today about your vision to reduce gun violence, carjackings and drug sales that we have seen throughout our city. On behalf of ward 2 residents,

we stand with you as we work to implement our shared vision of public safety and justice. So thank you again for being here today.

And congratulations.

thank you very much, councilmember pinto.

We have been joined by councilmember janeese lewis george. Mr. Gray, are you back with us?

I don't believe so. Councilmember lewis george, I will turn to you and we have

been joined by councilmember

christina henderson. Good morning.

>> good morning, thank you, Chairman. And chief contee, thank you for the preparation you and your team have done to provide answers to our questions today.

And congratulations on your nomination. This is an essential opportunity to hear from you about your

vision and direction for the department. And I appreciate the time you

have already provided for us to speak.

I know the metropolitan police department does hard and often dangerous work and that your

officers have been essential workers throughout the pandemic. Our work here on the council in the metropolitan police department and across government

agencies and functions is to be

of service to the public.

It's a weighty opportunity and responsibility.

Ultimately, we all answer to the public.

And when the public calls for accountability, we don't take offense.

We must see those calls for accountability, transparency,

and dialogue as opportunities. It goes without saying that the

relationship between the metropolitan police department and the public has been strained.

And it's clear that what's

needed here is lots of rebuilding of trust.

We need trust and humility from mpd that recognizes that the police are public servants, not saviors and not above the law. If members of the public are criticizing the department, it

is a call for listening and

learning, not for further polarization.

In order to move forward as a

community to a greater trust, we have to acknowledge the wrongs of the past. What I'd like to hear today isn't just that we are moving forward, which I hope we are -- and I trust that we are under your leadership. But also, an acknowledgment of the past. I'd like to hear an acknowledgment that mothers are

still grieving and crying, that

children have lost their parents to the criminal justice system or gun violence, that residents have been harmed and hurt and that trust didn't just fade. It was broken.

If there is no acknowledgment of what is wrong, there is no way to get it right.

Now, I have met with chief contee and know we connect on so many levels.

We both are D.C. Natives.

We both, you know, come from law enforcement. And we have shared goals for where we want the city to be moving. But we are not going to move

past the community's trauma and

pain and feelings of distrust today.

Today what I need chief contee to do is acknowledge that the

feelings of our community has felt are valid. The wrongs our community have saw are valid.

The change our community has

called for is valid.

We need a chief with vision, but also with acknowledgment.

We need a chief who will help this community heal.

When you talk today, don't talk to me or the council. I want you to talk to the grieving mothers, their sons, their families, their children and their grandparents. They need to hear from you. They need your leadership. They need to know how mpd can support their vision of

community safety, just like we do, you serve them. Thank you for your long-time service to our city, for your time today. And I'm hopeful about the leadership and direction you

will provide and both I and ward

4 look forward to working with you. Thank you.

thank you very much,

let me turn next to councilmember christina henderson, good morning. >> good morning, chairperson allen.

Good morning, chief contee. And to my colleagues and all those who are watching.

I think it's fair to say this confirmation hearing comes at

the end of one of the most challenging 12-month periods our city has ever faced. The pandemic has forced into the

open gross iniquities

inequities and the effects to the criminal justice system. We unfortunately saw homicides

hit a 15-year high in 2020 and a gun violence explosion that in

some sections of the city made

going outside a public health

threat right alongside covid.

Last summer, we saw the black lives matter protests and we continue our own reckoning here

in the district as mpd data emerges demonstrating what we could sense -- that black men and boys bear the brunt of the

vast majority of police surges searches and uses of force in this city.

Further, at the outset of your extended job interview as we'll

call it, we dealt with the final

violent eruptions of the trump administration and the

insurrection of the capitol. January 6th made it clearer

than ever our need for statehood and self-determination but also our ongoing local responsibility

to protect our citizens in the event of -- even in the event that our federal partners fail to do so. Whether directly or indirectly, the metropolitan police

department has played a role in addressing all of these challenges. Many of these issues are systemic and we, the council, need to address them.

But to do so, we need your

ongoing cooperation. Chief, first and foremost, I

think that will require your commitment to transparency with respect to data, procedures, and the review of police activity like the use of force. It also requires openness to

examine and reexamine mpd procedures.

I appreciated your responses during performance oversight hearing and your acknowledgment that we need to do better in

this regard. And provide some additional data in certain areas. I want to dive in to some of

those issues that we discussed

before with you today, particularly around youth policing.

And I will be following up on your prior offer of additional information in this space. I know we will hear from public

witnesses about the need it performs and I look forward to

that input as well as pending report on the police reform commission that's due out next week.

And we have significant work to do to advance equity in the way we police our city.

Let me say in closing, chief, I

appreciate your willingness to

serve during this unprecedented confluence of tests. Thank you for your service thus far to the city.

And I am also pleased to see a native washingtonian stepping up into this role.

I also want to acknowledge the public servants that you work with each and every day. Thank you, councilmember allen,

and I look forward to the

discussion thereafter.

great, thank you very much, councilmember. Let me just check to see if councilmember gray is back.

If not, we will move to our nominee.

Mr. Gray, are you there? All right. We certainly will move to questions and give him time for an opening statement if he'd like at that time. So acting chief robert contee, we're going to turn to you now for your opening. Before we begin, we're going to swear you in. And then after your opening, we'll turn to rounds of questions with members.

If you will, please, do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. >> I do.

good morning, acting chief contee. Appreciate you joining us today. When I turn it over to you for opening, again, we will move to

questions after that.

>> good morning, Chairman Allen, members of the committee and everyone watching the hearing virtually.

My name is robert j. Contee iii. i am the acting chief of police for the metropolitan police department. It is an honor and a privilege to be testifying before the

council and the residents of the district of columbia to ask to be confirmed as mpd's next chief

This morning I will share about my background, growing up in

D.C. And how it has shaped my vision for the department and the city.

I am a proud son of our nation's capital.

Raised on 21st street northeast in ward 5, when I was growing up, life was not easy in my neighborhood. Many of the challenges and traumas experienced by so many

young people today were very

real and present in my community

and, quite frankly, in my home.

Shootings, murders, crime, drug

dealing, poverty, joblessness, hopelessness, domestic violence, educational and health disparities were all present in my neighborhood. More closely in my home. I experienced firsthand the

impact of drug use and abuse on

a family and its children. My father who was 17 years old when I was born not only sold

drugs, but he was sick with addiction.

I knew the smell of marijuana as a young key.

I remember pcp packaged in foil

for sale in a mayonnaise jar in our freezer. I remember cocaine in my fathers

hiding places and syringes he

used to put poison in his veins.

When crack cocaine ravaged our

nadeau, my hope was not spared.

My dad no longer sold drugs at that time, but he was addicted to it. I recall the homemade crack pipes that replaced the syringes as his addiction intensified over the years. That addiction would last long into my adulthood and well into

my rise in mpd. Just as I know the impact of drug addiction on children, I

also know the judgment that some

people make on the family. People have sometimes asked me, where was your mother? And I'm quick to answer she was

right there. In fact, she was my first

example of a strong black woman. Mom volunteered at my school as a teachers aide to ensure she

kept tabs on me and my siblings. School provided meals to help carry us over when food was running low.

She always wanted the best for

us despite her limited resources and physical capacity. She was tough on us. But it was her way of demonstrating her love.

She sacrificed and tolerated her husband's addiction so that her children would grow up knowing their father. No matter how tall I got, she

was ready to stand on the chair to stare me down if I ever got out of line with her. I never forgot that.

And to this day, I thank her for being tough on me.

You had to be tough in my neighborhood to navigate the

traps that ensnare young black men in underserved communities.

It built my character. She taught me about perseverance

and having an attitude of gratitude. she taught me how to be humble and work hard.

As a result, I live by the motto

that excellence is transferable.

In all that I do, I aim to do it

in the spirit of excellence.

In my house, mom did not tolerate doing anything halfway which means you kept trying

until you got it right. Despite the challenges we had

growing up, or maybe because of

them, my mom and dad are my heroes. In addition to the challenges and the community struggles we

face together as a family, they

were both born with cerebral palsy. Even with these disabilities,

they raised three healthy

children, clothed us, fed us as best they could. And most importantly, they loved us.

And even with my father's addiction, I saw him every day.

Every day he walked to 21st

and bennett road to catch the x2 bus to work.

And now through God's grace, his

own determination and drug treatment, he has been drug free for 11 years.

I'm so thankful that he was

never incarcerated because of his addiction. He was not violent. He was sick. So when I tell you that I

understand the challenges of our community -- the challenges our communities face, our youth and

our families, I mean it personally. This background, my past, has shaped my view of our communities and the people in them.

Some people would not take the

chance on kids with similar

backgrounds that grow up in distressed communities. But here I am before you as an

example of what can become of young people in our communities

when they are given an opportunity. My opportunities came in the

form of dedicated teachers in the D.C. Public schools, going into their own pockets so that I

could go on field trips my

parents could not afford. The exposure beyond my immediate community opened my eyes to a

world I could only read about in books. My opportunities also came because neighbors threatened to

tell my mama if I was acting up in the community.

It was job opportunities, opportunities that helped break

the cycle of poverty in my family. I swept door mats and took out the trash for neighbors in the

apartment buildings where I lived for small change.

At 12 or 13 I was caddying at the langston golf course because I was not old enough to work.

At 14, I worked in the mayor's summer youth employment program

to buy school clothes. At 15 washed dishes at a local catering company.

At 16 I worked at the old kenney shoe store.

And in the summer attended

marion barry's youth leadership institute at the university.

The most pivotal is for me when

I got my shot as a police cadet at age 17.

It changed my entire life. It was these and other opportunities that helped shape the man I am today. i share all of this with you because I have not forgotten where I come from.

These life experiences will help

me to lead and guide the men and women of the metropolitan police

department to be the most compassionate, intelligent, competent, capable guardians and crime fighters we have seen in the district.

I want our officers to demonstrate compassion for people wherever they are on the

road of life and be able to use discretion and seek alternatives

when it is appropriate to

resolve conflict within community. Before turning to your questions, I would like to highlight just a few of my immediate priorities for the coming months.

As we move forward from some of the unique challenges of the

past year, and even just the

past 12 weeks since I was sworn

in, I will be continuing to examine all aspects of our

operations to ensure that mpd is serving and protecting the

community with compassion, equity and integrity.

And that the department models the best practices related to

transparency and accountability.

First and foremost, mpd will be

laser focused on violent crime in our communities.

People have a right to be safe

and secure in their community.

I know the feeling of being part

of a family that has survived violent crime.

I remember well my cousin robert

smith being murdered in ward 7

I remember well our participant being burglarized as a kid while

my family slept inside. I remember the associated trauma and sleepless nights as a result of our safety being violated.

I remember the first home I

purchased being burglarized and my car stolen on that same street. I remember well when I was in a crime briefing and I got a call that my father was stabbed while on his way to work. He was taken to the hospital

with a collapsed lung. While I'm thankful for his recovery, I still think about all of these crimes that

directly impacted my life and

the fact that no one has been held accountable for any of these acts.

There are many families seeking

justice for loved ones that have been victims of violence.

And I assure you, mpd will be

tireless in our pursuit of criminals that hurt our family members and make our communities unsafe. I have seen far too much blood shed in our communities. And it breaks my heart to think

about the lives lost, the opportunity and promise that

remain unfulfilled because of violence. And this last opportunity is on

both sides, the victims, of

course, but also the offenders. Our city is an ecosystem that

must work together to protect

the victims, but also to reach individuals who are at-risk before they become involved in violence.

But make no mistake, in order to stabilize communities that are

in crisis, repeat violent offenders must be held accountable for their actions.

it is impossible for families

and communities to begin the

process of healing when perpetrators of violence are ever present and not held accountable for destroying our communities. Last year 198 people were

172 of these victims died from gun violence. In addition 750 people were injured by gun violence. In looking at some of the city's

most vulnerable populations, it

is disturbing that the number of female homicide victims

increased from 8 in 2019 to 29 last year. We know that at least 10 of

these women were victims of domestic violence. Tragically, 11 children were

victims of homicide in 2020. This is unacceptable.

As a great city, with many resources, we should be able to

protect all of our children from

deadly violence and simultaneously ensure a system of accountability.

As I mentioned two weeks ago at mpd's performance oversight hearing, I am reviewing and will

be revisings the agency's

strategies related to guns and gun violence. I want to be more strategic about getting the right guns out of the wrong hands. We have already shifted

resources to focus on intelligence-based policing

approach to identify interdict

and interrupt violent offenders. The goal is to ensure that repeat offenders cannot continue to endanger our communities. I am already seeing some success

with this focused approach to combating violent crime in the community. This effort is closely linked to

my goal to ensure that our

strategies support and don't undermine vibrant and safe communities where our residents,

our youth, families and seniors

can thrive and succeed.

I understand how structural

racism pervades so many aspects of our society, housing, education, healthcare, access to

financial resources, access to opportunity and policing.

And I understand how our choices

as police officers can aggravate

or mitigate structural racism. The critical challenge facing our society is how can we work together to dismantle structural

racism to establish a more equitable nation. And for law enforcement, our challenge is to continue to

support and promote public safety, including by holding

violent offenders while not exasperating inequity. Of as a district resident and a committed police officer, I know we have a critical role in

keeping our residents safe, but we must work together with our

communities to ensure that like

doctors, we do no harm in the process. I'm looking forward to listening

to and talking with the community,

more in the coming months about how we can partner

together to earn trust and build

relationships while serving our residents. Earlier this month, I launched the first in a series of listening sessions with community members. these listening sessions, which are facilitated by professionals

from outside the department,

touch upon critical topics such

as the role of police in society, what should the police

be doing, what should the police not be doing, and what other

services our community needs to support public safety.

If the last year has taught us

nothing else it is we must guide

our actions, not just by what we

can do, but what we should do. We must always be ready and

willing to change, adjust and learn. As you know, earlier this week,

the dc auditor released this

police-involved deaths from 2018 and 2019. This work is an example of critical partnership that we

will use to improve services to

the community. Although the report confirmed our findings that the use of

force in the cases reviewed were justified, the loss of any life

is tragic, and mpd must continue

to work to prevent situations

where deadly force is necessary from occurring in the first place. I am exit

committed to ensuring our

use of force policy, training and practices remain a model for the nation.

A number of the recommendations

are current practices at mpd and others are aligned with my

vision for the agency.

Accordingly, mpd has already

begun working on implementation.

We recognize we're at a critical juncture in law enforcement. With the killing of george floyd at the hand of police last year

and the subsequent protests for police reform and racial

justice, it is more important

than ever that we exam all aspects of the way we are interacting with our community,

and ensure that our policies governing the use of force and

use of force investigation are comprehensive. Most importantly, we must

continue to ensure that our policies, training, and day-to-day operations requires

our officers to deploy deescalation techniques to avoid

the use of force whenever possible. Deadly force should only be used

as a last resort, when there's a

threat of serious bodily injury

or death and there's no other reasonable options available. Use of force policies and

practices are a tangible measure by which to gauge a police department. However, police policies and practicing top to bottom, inside

and out as they relate to equity

have been suggest to less

review, but this is a core issue for community trust in their police, as well as for trust

within the agency. Therefore, I've commissioned a national organization to conduct an organizational health

assessment to review mpd's policies and practices related

to diversity, inclusion, and

equity in multiple areas,

including raise, gender, and sexual orientation, and operations and processes, such

as recruiting and training, supervision, promotional

processes, eoo processes and internal investigations. Out side of the agency, focusing on the delivery of police

services and unbiased policing efforts. It will include a specific focus

on extremism, hate speech and white supremacy.

To be clear to the men and women of the metropolitan police

department, I believe in you,

and believe the overall majority of the members respects and value every member of the district.

It's been my distinct honor to

serve this sight aside you all my adult life.

While the police work works to support the safeguard of the community, it also works to support the force, sworn and professional. This priority became all the

more urgent in the aftermath of

the insurance sure rex on January 6, 2021, when our

officers were involved in a

dangerous confrontation with

armed rioters for hours. This

hours in the aftermath, ibegan laying the groundwork for

a stronger focus on employee well-being, by engaging in the live debriefing about the impact

of January 6th on our officers and on myself.

While I hope that the rest of

their careers, our officers do

not face another situation as

challenging at January.

Repeat exposure to trauma is a repeat of the work in the city. To have officers who can serve

our community with empathy, we

must support the wellness of the whole person. Therefore, I have dedicated a full-time position for a well-being coordinator and two

additional clinicians to support

mpd's employees assistance program. The new well-being coordinator

will support the development and

implementation of a department-wide holistic approach to mental health. The new staff member will coordinate the complexed and

critical network of resources

for officers and work to expand services and and member participation in them. This will include, implementation of the blue courage program, which will foster discussions around resilience, behavioral health,

and leadership for our sergeants and mid ranked members. Much looking forward, we have a

lot of work to do to ensure the continued safety of the district, its residents, mpd officers and others. I would be remiss if I did not

raise two critical issues that jeopardies our ability to do so.

For one, the assault on the capitol has exposed weaknesses in the security of our city.

The federal police force in dc are ream maining

reexamining their protocols

given the risk of foreign and domestic terrorism. As chief of police for mpd, I must think of our preparations

not only for attacks, but the daily impact of the changing operations of our federal partner is as they harden

targets in the federal enclave,

federal buildings in the city Mr. Mpd jurisdiction May become

more likely targets.

In addition, between the twin challenges of the covid pandemic

and the rising civil unrest, the past 12 months have been exhausting for everyone at mpd.

sworn members of all ranks and professional employees alike have been working around the clock while dealing directly with issues that have increased stress levels for everyone in this country.

I have no doubt that mpd will successfully meet the challenges

of this new security posture,

but this workload, this stress

level are unsustainable with the current staffing levels which are dropping every day. This presents several risks. The most obvious are related to

violent crime which we've discussed, and a need to

be in a heightened alert to be prepared for the unresolved security issues in our country,

but beyond those issues are more subtle ones. For one, district residents have expectations about being able to call for a police response.

Mayor bowser has tasked her team

with broadening and strengthening alternative responses to many situations

that mpd currently handles, including response to some calls around behavioral health issues and traffic, but these

transitions take time and in the meantime, if police are not able to deliver service in the manner

and timeliness which residents and businesses have come to expect, trust will be weakened

and our ability to combat violent crime will be eroded.

We cannot reduce police staffing now in anticipation that down the road system also be set up to provide service and response to the community. Decades of federal programs have

supported a common public expectation of community

policing centered around police are the core problem solvers in the community.

We cannot undo these expectations and systems in a year or two. Other systems and community

groups must have established staffing, policies and practices in order to respond to the community.

In the meantime, too continue to make improvements in policies

and practices, mpd must have the manpower to develop and implement them. For instance, I would like to increase training for officers

in several areas, including deescalation and response to behavioral health issues, but

additional training beyond our annual 40 hours of professional training stakes officers

takes officers off of the street.

We need to maintain staffing to sour officers can continue to

get the best training and let supervisors spend time in the field with officers to officers to improve employee development and accountability.

This includes training all mpd

members on active bystandership for law enforcement, to ensure we're holding each other

accountable for meeting high

standards, but enhanced

supervision means we need to shift or reduce the administrative work that keeps supervisors off of the street,

and while overtime pay May be the temporary solution, it also contributes to an overworked and

burnt out workforce and could impair decision making.

i urge the council to recognize

that supporting strong training, supervision and accountability

measures requires manpower and reducing staffing makes it more difficult to make those improvements. In closing, it is my great honor

to lead the mpd to be the standard of excellence to policing in the 21st century there.

Is room at the table for anyone

and everyone who is committed to

working, keyword working toward

focus, balance and fair policing in our nation's capitol. I look forward to continuing to work with our communities and this committee on a shared goal

of improving safety in the district of columbia. Thank you, councilmember, and

that will conclude my testimony.

thank you very much. We've been in I don'ted by

councilmember alissa silverman and councilmember robert white and we'll give you time for an opening statement once we start questions. Thank you for your opening

remarks there, chief.

I think you and I have known

each other for several years.

Of previously as commander of the first district, we have stood in rooms together, we've worked with the community

together, I've watched you and worked with you as assistant chief as well and really

appreciate your comments there about laying out your vision as the nominee for chief.

I think it's fair to say, your

comments and what you laid out, I believe it represents a break from previous leadership. I think the vision you lay out

is something that is more true to the person that I have worked

with over the last several years, but is more reflective of

where it is that we need to go, and so I appreciate you laying

that out in detail about both talking about and being brave

enough to share your own personal story and personal journey, as well as what you

want to see wherein you want to go and how you want to leave that, and that's what we'll talk about today. Let me do an exercise where we

fast forward a little bit.

Let's assume your nomination

moves forward and you're approved. You've finished your first testimony as the chief.

From your perspective, what are

the major one, two, or three accomplishes that you've achieved

accomplishments that you've

achieved in the first full year

if you moved forward from your term?

>> thank you for that question, councilmember. The first thing I think is really important, especially as

we talk about seeing improvements in communities, as a police department, we have a

responsible for ensuring safety

in communities, so I think a reduction in crime. Right now, we're facing a national trend where we're seeing homicides and shootings

at record levels all across the country, and I think to stabilize communities, that is something that we are really going to have to work very hard

on and it's not just the metropolitan police department working very hard on those issues, it's the metropolitan police department working very

hard with community and all stakeholders, so we have to be a more willing partner at the

table to engage when it comes to those specific strategies and trying different atives

alternatives to reduce crime. Surely, we've seen arresting our way out of a problem is not the answer. I will not be focused as a

department on just trying to arrest our way out of, there but

in an effort to reduce violent crime, focus on building bridges with the community and the stakeholders in the community that are important. The other things that are also very important that I will say

that you'll be able to reflect

back on as we talk about data and things going on in the community with respect to that,

I want our efforts to be more strategic, in term of terms of not just stopping as many people as we can, that's not the practice, but it's our appearance that it's the practice, but that we make the right stops of individuals and as a result of that, being more strategic on our focus, I'm hoping to see reductions in those areas in terms of the amount of people that we stop. If we have to stop one person to

get one done, I'll take that stopping 30 people to get one gun.

I think when the focus is should

squarely on the shiny object as

the gun for an example, I think

you have a for for your scope to

be narrow as you focus on the things that need to be focused on.

If I can get young men in a room and have conversations, I was having a conversation with community leaders the other day,

if we can get into a room or get into a barbershop and have conversations that will reduce gun violence in communities,

that May reduce young men out here engaged in community that are harmful to our communities, if I can do that in a room and not have to have police officers to stop those young men to bring

those types of activities under

control or to incarcerate those young men for activities they

May be engaging in, in the community, I'm willing to do. That I think we will focus on

I think the city has an appetite to see those types of reductions. When you talk about stops that are being made, I don't know

what the magic formula is, how many is too many, how many is

not enough, but I know what I see, and what I see is that we can do better in that area. The other thing that you will see in terms of the mental health and well-being of our

members, I think that we have to have officers that are patrolling the communities in

the district of columbia, and I know this having been an officer

here for 30 years, seeing trauma day in and day out. Most of the people that are on

this call and viewing this from

wherever they might be viewing

it from, have not had the unfortunate responsibility of

standing over the many 198 decedents from the district of columbia last year.

I've had that and when you do that is a human being, if you're true and honest with yourself,

you can't help but be impacted by. That I think we have to focus internally to make sure we're putting the best officer in community, and when you put the best officer in community, much like we care for community, the whole person, I have the responsibility of caring for the whole officer so it's certainly

my intent, as you guys reflect

back on the next year, next two years and so fort, that we have

a program well underway that is a national model for how do you that with law enforcement officers. It's critical.

It's critical because it peaks

how they engage community, it peaks their judgment in community, it impacts the level of compassion they have for

community, and I certainly have a responsibility to make sure we

continue along those lines. With respect to how we deal with first amendment demonstrations, it's something that the metropolitan police department

has long been responsible for just by the nature of where we are, and I think we will continue, continue to do our

best and put our best foot forward. At different times, people might not see the thousands of protests that happen in this city day in and day out

throughout the course of year,

where there's no negative interaction with the police. I want to know we stay the national standard for how we handle first amendment

demonstrations in the district of columbia, sir.

appreciate that I know I asked you for two or three, you gave me five or six, I appreciate that. One of the things I wanted to ask and this will be the last

question on this round, is and

you talked about it as you

shared your own story, than is

that all too often, I think

there's a false dichotomy that

people focus on, that there's individuals who create violence and individuals who are the victims of violence, and all too

often, we know that a person who

has committed violence has also been a victim or survivor of violence, that they're not these two clean groups. What you have are people who

experience trauma, but also create trauma, it's that old

adage hurt people hurt people. How do you plan from your

leadership role to have officers understand both through training, both through other supports, that there is so much more complexity than putting

people into one bucket or the

other bucket, that oftentimes, people inhabit both at the same time and as we try to get to root causes of violence, we have to recognize and acknowledge that, that reality exist, and

how do you implement that from a leadership perspective with your force? >> well, I think that it's one

of the things that has to be

incorporated as apart of your training. Any time you look at police agencies, you look at the policy, you look at their practices, you look at training and you look at technology that

they have in term of how they

just go about conducting day-to-day business.

For us, train essential, it's something that we have to continue to do. The way that you train, they say the way you practice will be the way that you play, and we have

to be in a constant state of improvement with respect to making sure that our members have that level of understanding with community. You know, we started a program a couple of years ago now that

we've expanded on with Dr. Democrat check and

Dr. Thompson with respect to our

experience in african-americans communities, a program started under chief newsham and that was the first step and expanded

beyond that could be included as apart of our professional development

training to ensure that it's interwoven into the fabric of the police department. I don't take for granted that there's some people who come to our police department from other

parts of the country and their

first real interaction with our brown and black communities, the first day they show up as a police officer there and that

As a matter of fact, we've started reverse ride-alongs in the community.

Over in ward eight as an

example, we've taken a whole recruit class over to ward eight, paired them up with

community members, socially distanced obviously, in the midst of a pandemic to get them to walk through community to really kind of understand, have some understanding of community and the people that are there. There are a lot of great people in community. I'm sure everyone on this call knows that, but for our

officers, if you're coming from someplace else across the country and the images of african-american males are only

what you see on tv or only what

you see on a police bulletin, or only what you see of this guy got arrested that, begins to

shape or form your thoughts or your thinking about the african-american males that you might encounter, who could very

well be my cousin, my son, my whoever. I think to get at those, those are things that we have to constantly pound.

That's not one and done, or you

had the training, you're certified, here's a pat on the back, get out in the community, you understand. No. That's something you have to constantly reinforce with the agency.

It has to be apart of the fabric of the agency moving forward.

I appreciate that. Thank you, chief.

Let me turn to my colleagues for 8-minute rounds.

Councilmember gray, are you there?

All right let me turn to councilmember pinto.

>> thank you, Chairman. And thank you, chief contee for your testimony, it's great to hear some of your vision for the

department moving forward and I particularly reach united states

your comments around the well-being coordinator because

you know, our officers are often

experiencing their own trauma and they have to deal with

terrible situations, and without the proper mental health care

for our officers, it's much more

likely that the behavior is not measured, so thank you for your effort in that.

I want to talk about interacts

with neighbors experiencing homelessness. There's so many partner agencies

who are working on outreach

throughout the city. Under your perspective, how is

mpd working with our partner

agencies when they're called to

respond to incidents with our residents?

>> thank you for the question, councilmember.

We work closely. We actually make a lot of referrals to a lot of the

service providers to assist with

the homeless population.

We had a homeless team, they

were the response, or primary response mechanism for homeless issues in community.

What I see is that the issue is

well beyond the capacity for the metropolitan police department to really deal with, and what I

look to and what I have planned to explore is how might the

people who are able to provide

the services that at some of the homeless residents so desperately need, how are they able to best provide those

service so it's not mpd really being called to the scene for those issues. For example, near wisconsin

avenue and m street, there's a

bank right there where a

homeless guy sleeps in the

vestibule where the atm machine is there.

He sleep there's day in and day

out much when that happens and we receive calls from community there, what do we do. We reach out to advocates that

the guy does not want to go to a shelter for example, he's homeless, you move him from one

location to the next, it's not solving the issue. We don't have the resources within the department to resolve the issue, especially with this mental health concerns, et cetera.

I really see our role as partnering, being a better partner with the service providers, and really kind of

leaning on them to be quite honest with you for what the desired outcome for community, what is that supposed to look like. The

if the only thing I have is a jail cell and the other thing that I have is the ability to

make connections to a service provider, my option is to make the connection to the service provider and the service provider provides what is needed

and right now, it seems like that doesn't always happen the way I would like for it to happen.

You see mental health issues on

such a level in the homeless population that I don't think anybody would argue in this city

that it's something worth giving our full-time and attention as a city to. >> okay. And how your coordination with

the national park service, both for this issue and larger law enforcement issues and coordination? >> we coordinate with national

park service, but here's where

the problem is and this is just being very frank. When you have a homeless

population that's on national park service property, it's like

the line in the sand, and national park service or U.S. Park police May respond to

whatever the concern might be on national park service property, and depending on the action that

they take, that could impact the metropolitan police department and the city as a whole if they, for example, hey, you can't camp here in the park, the park is closed, then that individual moves to dc public space, now the issue is a city responsibility at that time. Again, we've just kind of moved the issue from park service

property to city property, but we really haven't addressed what

the underlying issue is in a lot of cases. Every day that I drive home, I see tents popping up under a bridge or some place like that

and you have to wonder, hey, how did this young man who appears

to be in his early 30s, you know, how did he end up in this situation, and what resources

are available to help that

person who clearly is in need of housing or whatever the other issues are.

I don't know the best service

that the service providers can offer, but what I feel like, I

feel like more can be done along

that line and it's not the metropolitan police department coming in armed with the authority to place people under arrest. You know, the last thing I'll

say about that is that bank or that those businesses, they have

a right to allow their customers

to come and go without having to step over somebody in the process of doing it, so I think the issue becomes even more important that we engage to

resolve the issue so that, that bank or that business is not

having to deal with the issue of

coming in and cleaning up in the morning, just addressing all of these concerns that have not

been resolved on a larger issue,

so now the little people who barely got enough capacity to

handle the things that they're responsible for are trying to resolve an issue that is way

beyond the scope of the police department.

>> well, I would certain agree with you there and I think we

have a lot of work to do to

ensure that there's proper coordination because at the end

of the day, these are all government agencies that are

supposed to be handling and assisting, providing services to our neighbors experiencing homelessness so the answer can't be, well, it's up to another agency, especially when those

agencies aren't speak with one another, and I think we have a lot of work to do to educate the public on who they should be calling when.

We have some neighbors who automatically call mpd if they see something that they perceive

to able and issue versus will only call the department of behavioral health versus we'll call a

a provider like miriam's kitchen who does wonderful work. I think we all need to get on the same path, and I look

forward to working with you on that. In our last kind of minute here

and I know you laid out some new proposals and policies that you

are thinking about for the

department, but do you think and

if so, where do you think your idealogy running the department differs from your predecessor?

>> I think that with respect to

my thoughts and my views, my

intention is certainly to be collaborative partner with all involved parties. As I stated at the very beginning, you know, my

predecessor, he served faithfully this city for many, many and years and led the department the best way he knew

how, and I've served the city

for 30 some odd years, and my

vision is a little different in

terms of how we plan to be a lot

more laser focused on how we go about doing the business that we do. I think it's important to attack the gun problem in our city,

that is a valid concern. We see a lot of guns in our

city, but it's more important

for me to make sure that we get the right guns out of the wrong

hand, as opposed to just getting guns.

>> I know I'm almost out of time, but when you say right

guns out of the wrong hand. What do you mean by the right guns? >> I'm talking about the illegal guns. Right now in the district of

columbia, we have over 24,000 registered firearms in the district of columbia right now,

we have over 6,000 people in the district of columbia with concealed carry permits in the district of columbia, that's a huge number compared to where we

were three, four years ago. What's more important to me is

when you talk about who has guns in community, you know, who are our shooters, who are the people

that are making communities unsafe, who are the people who

we know are bona fide shooters

in neighborhoods that don't care

whether it's you, whether it's

your family member, whether or not a one-year-old I did can is in the car, this he don't care about that.

They go through illegal means to get guns. They're the right guns in the

wrong hand of violent offenders

who we know pl use them. As councilmember allen mentioned a few minutes ago, oftentimes our victims and suspects, when you look at our homicide victims and suspects, many of them, not in all cases but many of them hurt people who are hurting people.

A lot of times, they're system involved early on in their life

at age 13, 14, you know,

absences from school, involved with cfsa, all of those things and we see the road they're going on to ultimately they get

to a point where they use the firearm during the commission of

a crime, that's the gun we need

to get out of that hand. People have a right to protect themselves, that kind of thing,

you know, that's the lawful right to do that, but we have

people out here with firearms --

just recently, we had a where someone opened fire at a agenda are reveal party.

I mean, that kind of senselessness when you talk

about a person who would do that

and be so callus and cold

hearted to do that, I say they forfeit their right of being apart of our community, and this May not be the best place for

them to resolve the issues that they have, and other alternatives that the stm provides should be sought to

resolve the issues that they May

have. >> thank you, chief. Thank you, Chairman.

Let me turn to councilmember george.

>> thank you, councilmember allen.

Chief contee, I talked about in my opening about relationships

being repaired, want of those rips is

relationships is with the community, but the other one I

wanted to ask you about your relationship with the council.

There's been criticisms with the council, also with this committee, my colleague had to take. How do you view your relationship with the council

and what do you hope this

relationship will bring?

>> I think that it would be, as

I mentioned about community, a collaborative relationship and here's why. The reality is we need each other, that's the reality. In order for me to do my job and

to do my job effectively, I need council and there's things that

you guys will do with respect to legislation that you'll

introduce with respect to things

that might get crossed off of book, and the only way to do that is through a collaborative effort. We're not always going to agree on everything, we're not.

We're simply not going to do that. If you had a chief of police who agreed with everything, I would be worried about.

That I would worry about a councilmember that agreed with

everything that I had to say, but I think in order for us to be better, in order to make people better and not bitter, people get tired of looking at

the finger pointing. When does the work get opportunity with this continuous finger pointing? When does the work get done?

We have to collaborate, knowing, understanding that I'll have a view, the council May have a view but at the end of the day, what is it that we want? For example, I believe at the

end of the day, we all want safe communities, I believe that in my heart of hearts.

I believe that we all want safe communities. How we get there, we might differ on how we get there. You might have a thought about

how we get there, councilmember allen May have a thought about how we get there and several other councilmembers and that's fine. All I'm saying, in the

neighborhood, we used to play basketball in

with a old milk crate that we cut the bottom out of.

The guy who had the basketball,

if it didn't go his way, woe

take his ball and go home. Don't take your ball and go home because you get mad because we don't agree on the path to get to public safety. I'm not going to take my ball and go home.

I'm committed to this city, I'm committed to the people in this

city, I'm committed to making sure this city is safe, not just

for me, but my momma, my daddy,

my son, my daughter, and I'm excited to.

That I think to move us beyond on what we've been experiencing

over the course of how many years or how many chiefs, with he have to walk over that bridge together because we've seen what it looks like when we're not engaged with each other. We've seen what that looked like and if people are comfortable with that, sure enough, but I'm not comfortable with that.

>> okay, I appreciate that and I believe my colleagues

appreciates that, and a need for a collaborative relationship and all of us needing to work together to do that. As you know, the other relationship I talked about was the relationship with the community. As you know, the community has called out some of the dangerous

and bias work of the narcotics

and specialized investigations, specifically the gun recovery

unit under your leadership, this

includes invasive searches, retaliation against residents,

use of jump outs, use of violent logos, targeting of black

communities and protection of bad officers.

There's a lot to unpack here. i'd like to hear directly from

you, what accountability you

take from this and how the community trust you to address and repair these wrongs? >> thank you for that question.

You know, I think that in community, when you talk

specifically good gun recovery, narcotics enforcement, that kind

of thing, that there are

certainly trust issued with issues with how the community views the police,

whether real or perceived. Understanding that, part of the

reason why I talked about more

focus, more strategic responses

to gun violence in community

really kind of speaks to that.

While the gun unit operates with

the community, I've met with all of them personally to include

their leadership to talk about the new direction of this police department and to talk about the

new direction, specifically of the gun recovery unit and where I want them to go. There will be a series of meetings that will be coming up with several other units within the metropolitan police department, where I will personally meet with them

because I don't want this

message that the message being

delivered, I don't want it to be misconstrued to something it's not. I'm not saying we're not going

to get illegal guns off of the streets. I'm not saying we're not going to police in a community that

has violent crime and asking for response from police. I get the phone calls. When gunshots are going off, they want to know and they want a response from the police. i'm not saying this is a time

for the police to take a break.

What I'm saying is we have to be strategic about what we do. When we go into a block, with he should have an idea, we should have some intelligence, we should have some information that lets me know that I need to stop the guy with the shirt and the blue jeans and the black

shoes on, as opposed to, hey, if I get out of the car, you know, maybe it's the guy who had this move or the guy who ran. We need to be more focused on how we do what we do.

It only forces us to get better

and I think community wants better, and I'm here and ready

to deliver that, but it has to

start with me, it has to start with this being communicated and I think that being here in the metropolitan police department for as long as I have, the one

thing that I know about this

agency, message sometimes gets

diluted through the different levels of folks, so it's really important that they hear the

message from me and why it's so impactful for me. I actually brought the unit in

and when I brought them in, I

talked about my life's story and I talked about several of the things that I witnessed,

severing things that I'd seen, several things I encountered in the community to make it real for them so they have an understanding of how deep of an

peak of what they do, how it has on the community. We need to be more thoughtful about some of the things we do. For example new york a car, four

guys in a car and we stop the car and there's a weapon recovered out of the car s it

better to perhaps apply for a

warrant in that case versus you know, locking all four people up

in the car at that time? What's the proper thing to do?

Maybe the kid in the back seat has a full ride to howard university that he will not get

if he has this felony gun possession charge leveed against him. You know, I don't want us to be a police department where we

allow for the judicial system to sort it out. The judicial has been trying to sort it out for years and that's not what's best for people in our community. So we have to be more strategic

on what we do, how we do, and what we focus on. I'm all in in to do that.

I've initiated those confidences and plan to have several more internal to ensure that the

message is coming from me.

>> I think my time is up, so

I'll come back to this in my next round.

thank you so much, councilmember. We'll do multiple rounds, so I appreciate that. Let me turn next to

councilmember henderson. >> hi, sorry about that. I'm doing multiple things at one

Chief contee, I wanted to pick up on some of the conversation we had a couple of weeks ago

with the oversight hearing and

trying to get your broader philosophy in the space around using policing.

So we talked a little bit about SROs and their particular

activity over the last year, and

I'm curious, you know, from your floss call

philosophical standpoint, do you think it's necessary to have

police officers at all campuses? >> when you say present, I don't think that's an accurate depiction of how we deploy. We have officers, for example,

we have teams of officers who

are deployed to several schools

like in a cluster, so in ward five,

-- they visit to these four or five schools throughout the course of the day.

I think there's a role for the officers, albeit limited in terms of what they should and should not be doing.

They should not be enforcing house rules of schools. I recall how we got into the

schools to begin with, right.

When we were legislated into schools, how that happened.

You know, prior to that, we had

SROs, I remember my sro from charles young elementary school

was joseph burden, God bless

him, he's 80 something years of age now, but there was a significant relationship there,

but when we got into the schools in 2004, I have the head of homicide at that time and that was one of the times I got to

stand over the body of a dc public school student who was shot inside of his school, inside of ballou high school, so I understand how we got there,

but with respect to how we

deploy and how we do what we do, do you think there's room for improvement there, absolutely. There's things that we can do to improve what that interaction

looks like between the kids and school and law enforcement.

It's not short on my memory that

a year ago or two years ago, we were having conversations

because they wanted more police on safe passage, they didn't feel safe going to school, and all of these other things and I

think there's adjustments to be

made with that relationship will be a relationship that we build with kids. I know that we have kids right

now in dcps that they really,

really and we might want to say they shouldn't depend on police. Why not have a relationship, a good relationship with police? How many relationships as a

result of dcps relationships with police officers that steer

kids off of the track of being

out here engage in some of the engaged in some of the things and I don't think the relationship has to be engaged where year only coming to lock

up and take away, that's not our role, but we have some assister things that happen in schools.

There's been violent assaults. >> I understand that part.

I do, something that you said in our last conversation around

like what are some of the activities that SROs are doing

in schools and you mentioned arrested for robbery and that stuck with me because I was

thinking, okay, what are we rob

robbing in a school are we school?

Is it best for that type of activity for the school to

handle the discipline as opposed

to a officer coming to handcuff or arrest the child for something such as that?

>> I think it depends on the situation. Certainly, and when we talk about robbery, I want to make

sure -- theft is one thing, stealing somebody's phone off of the desk, jacking a kid up in the hallway and taking his shoes and his phone or whatever,

that's a robbery. When you add parents into the

mix of that, you add a parent who wants accountability, they don't want to send their kid to school to be bullied, and now this kid has to come to school

the next day and see the kid who

took his shoes, his money or whatever. It's a very delicate issue there. I think that there's certain things that are certain within

the realm of the school to deal with, the school's administrative process to deal

with, and perhaps that's a conversation between law enforcement, the schools and council about what are some of those things we don't want people arrested for in school. We think of all kinds of things

that we decriminalize across

this this. With respect to our schools, I think we can have a conversation around the thing that we want to enforce versus things we want

the school to just deal with. If there's agreement there and there's buy in from parents on that, hey, look, if your kid

gets robbed at school, your kid gets their jordans taken from

them at the school, you understand that's an issue for the school to address, not the metropolitan police department because oftentimes what happens is the police get pulled into the middle of that the school calls the police, you have the

other parent over here who wants justice for his kid, then you

have this other kid who will become system involved as a result of the action we take,

which is guided by the law.

>> I understand. I will say this. I'm pleased to hear that you're open to the conversation around

some of these limits because I

feel like there are occasions

where some folks are emotional about what has happened in that moment, but if we step back and think about the idea of can we use this as a teachable moment,

a learnable moment to turn a

young person's life around, or

do we teach this has a moment to get them system involved, which sticks with them, so I think these are some of the conversations that we have to have, especially if we're really

going to talk about bribing breaking

down the school to prison

I wiewnted to talk about

conversations around miranda. There are a body of research that up to a certain age, some children don't understand the

consequences of waiving their

rights when talking to law enforcement. Do you think what we have now is clear and appropriate?

>> I think what we have now, I think it's 3r07 united states in term of getting to the truth of

the matter of what happened in whatever situation we happen to

Unfortunately, a lot of this trauma that I see, especially with the issues we're facing

today, carjacking like as an

example, I don't think we should

do anything that would hinder justice being served. I don't think we do anything that would compromise what we're trying to accomplish at the end

of the day and the goal is not to, oh, okay, let's put this young kid away. The goal is to get to the truth of the matter for whatever we

happen to be dealing with.

A lot of times, they're very violent crimes in nature. >> that's my time, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you very much, chief contee.

thank you, councilmember.

Next, councilmember silverman. >> thank you, councilmember allen. I didn't realize I was next in the lineup, so I apologize.

I might need a moment, if

someone wants to go ahead of me.

I have councilmember robert white next.

>> that would be great.

>> thank you, chair allen, and I

want to thank chief contee for for being here for this important roundtable and the opportunity to participate, even though I'm

not a member of this committee.

Police departments all over the country are really going through

a moment of reckoning where

we've seen far too many police

killings of unarmed african-americans. We've seen despair treatment of groups of people most reasonable to people, many reasonable

people would conclude are

affected by race, and we are

really coming out of a time of significant division between mpd and the council in dealing collectively with many issues in

our city, including the rise in violence and one thing I've said and continue to say, no one has

I'm heartened by your openness

chief contee to working with the council, to work with the

community, to echo sentiments of chairperson allen, I'm not surprised what I hear from you. All of my interactions with you

on the council have been good, transparent, I've found you to be responsive and sensitive to

the needs of the community, even when perspectives differ, and I think that's the most important thing that we need, that's the most important thing that people in the community are looking for

and what I think we really have

to focus on at this point are

transparency and accountability. We can't run away from the fact that there's been lack of transparency and accountability,

with for instance, some of the data reporting qirments and what

the council has passed, that we have not been able to get for mpd but for lawsuits being filed and I don't think that's the way

we should be operating. There's differences about whether or not to have a jump out squad. I think that's something we have

to continue to look at and I appreciate your comments on that today. I think in iting to get clarity on the role of mpd on what I believe we have to do to reduce the roles and responsibilities

of our police force and

increasing the amount of resources to addressing mental

health issues, noise complaints,

traffic stops, so many things

that don't require armed city

employees to be our first responders on, that is something

i think we have to work jointly on for the sake of our city and

my hope is that in this role, if

you are confirmed, chief contee, that you will continue with the

spirt of cooperation in working with the council every step of

the way and want to give my commitment to working with you and your team, even through the difficult times, but I believe

we have to have a focus on equity, transparency and accountability and that's

something that none of us should

try to move away from.

I do in my remaining time to address some questions and I

know I won't be able to finish them, but I want to start with

the January 6th insurance sure rex at

insurrection ofthe capitol.

Like many people of color, I sat

in shock of what was happening. The shock wasn't what was

happening but the response, and

what seemed to be a lack of

preparation of well-add have

tiesed and publicly signaled

intentions to really harm people.

As I pulled back and thought through what was it that I was seeing. It seemed clear that police

departments, be it federal or local develop an action plan

based on their threat assessments. So they look at what is suspected to be coming and they

develop an action plan, and it

seems that for some reason or

reasons, our capitol police and other federal partners did not

determine that the rioters and insurrectionests on January 6th presented a credible threat and

made me wonder what extent racial bias plays in this.

If a white person or white mob post online that we're going to

the capitol, we're going to cause harm, destruction and death, is that not taken seriously or treated daifntly

than the same threats by a

different group who are

african-american or latino.

I wonder what impacts racial

bias has on how we assess

threats. S. I've introduced a bill to determine how we understand if

we have underlying short comings

in how we assess threats and

whether racial biases plays a

factor in how we asses threats and I would welcome your thoughts on that. >> thank you, councilmember, so

much for that question.

From January 6th, leading up to

the planning and response to

that, but what I can account for is how mpd responded with the information and threat assessment that we have.

Our posture was that not only was the entire police department activated and deployed, which by

the way, we don't do for just any normal first amendment demonstrations. We have those almost every

weekend in the city.

The entire department was

activated, days off canceled,

leaves canceled, the national

guard deployed, montgomery county, prince george's county,

arlington county to be situated

in dc, communities in dc as a backup in support to mpd. I have virginia state police

staged in virginia to respond

into dc for any efforts.

Also, we're deployed for the

sole purpose of interrupting and detecting, recovering firearms

as a result of January --

actually, days leads up to January 6th. You May recall from reports that when we had information that the

leaders of the proud boys was

coming in to the district of columbia, having come in and engaged in activity that he

involved in, it was mpd that

tracked that individual, placed

him under arrest, leading up to

January 6th, so I will say that mpd's posture and response was very appropriate for the

information that we had at that time.

In term of our assessment, our assessment, believe it or not with a lot of first amendment protests that we see in the city, there's relationship, there's conversation that takes place. Most of the times, people will

tell us, we want to get locked up, we want to do this, we want

to do that, they'll tell us what they want to do.

If you notice, most of the time,

mpd goes through the process of what they want to do.

For example, fits blocking the entire freeway from traffic, other things that happen in this

city, here's the determining

factors, here's where the

difference comes in. It's happened in every demonstration, every protest, ever riot in our city.

The thing that changes mpd's

posture is the activities of the

individuals that are involved.

If people blow up stuff, destroy cars, that's a different

response to an otherwise peaceful protest where we go from facilitating to whatever is

going on to more of an force

many posture. I think there's a stark difference between the two.

In most instances, that's dick indicated by the crowd that we

happen to be dealing with. January 6th as you mentioned,

when we got called in, the crowd

was already hostile at that point, but everything that you

can think of as a resource for the district government was used on January 6th. When we have these regular saturday marches, how often are

you hearing about police pepper spraying, using -- it just doesn't happen that way. I hope that's clarifying for some of the people in the community as well because there really is a difference there in terms of how we respond, how we do what we do. It really depends on who we're

dealing with and what activities activities, what actions they engage in.

>> thank you, Chairman Personal chairperson allen.

thank you. Councilmember silverman.

>> thank you, Mr. Chairman. Congratulations, chief contee, on your appointment.

I'm excited to see somebody who uses their hand in talking as much as I do. In district government, that's a rare trait. I will say I'm encouraged by a few other things.

Certainly, you have had one of

fully immersive believe chief's tenures.

I was glad when you took decisive action on the leader of

the proud boys, took decisive

action when you were allowed to

in the events of the sixth, and

I also want to say that your

openness to the changes in the

MPDs gun recovery unit, as

well as the auditor's report is encouraging to me.

I want to start though in my

role as chair of the labor

committee for the council.

You've talked about community

policing and when councilmember allen first turned to me. >> I was looking at

to me, I waslooking at your opening statement to see what you said there. I've been looking to make sure that we higher our residents and

mpd has one of the lowest percentages as employees as

district residents, according to

dchr, just 21% of mpd employs,

I'm not sure if that is uniformed and ununiformed

officers, but that's the number one in five. Let me ask you, is this something you're concerned about?

>> thank you for that concern. To say super concerned? No, I'm not super concerned about it.

What I'm concerned about is the service delivered to the

residents of the district of columbia. Dmv has been one of these places that you shop here, you do

business here, you work there. It's been all encompassing. One area of the police department where we're a hundred

percent dc residents, that's the

police cadet program.

100 percent dc residents, 60% --

60 of those 100 police cadets women, primarily african-american women from our communities, primarily young people from our communities,

wards five, ward seven, ward

eight, 100%, and I think that if we're really going to build the base and continue to see

increases in the number of our

sworn members who are actual dc

residents, I think that's where we start to build out from.

A lot of people who come to our department, we have people who move here from new york city,

you know, on a one-week or sometimes a couple of days notice where they have to find housing, they have to relocate their family and the district is

not necessarily the most economically friendly place for

someone to move into. New york May not be the best example of that, but right here

in our own homegrown program, we have an opportunity to expand that capacity because these young people are going to become police officers. Here's the other thing why I say

that the other part to that, when they bm police officers, the home groin ones

homegrown ones like me, they stay here like me.

It's important that they do that. >> chief contee, do you think we

should have a residency

requirement for mpd officers? I say that because your story

certainly is captivating and

captivating, and as you said, you have a real

concern for this community. I'll just speak for myself.

When you live in a community,

you're invested, you care more.

It's not just a job and officers are put into a position where

it's really not just a job, but when you live here and you're in

the community off-duty, you might be a little bit more

invested than if you lived in

prince georges or charles

Would you support a residency requirement? >> thank you for that question,

I don't think that's really necessary. Here's why I say that I have the benefit and privilege of going

all across the city and engaging with residents, not just since

I've been in this job, but many different jobs before this particular one. In what I see, it's committed officers coming from all walks

of life, they are as dynamic as our city is dynamic.

You know, we're no longer just a

city of all homegrown people, although I appreciate that. We have people that come from all over the place who come here and decide to make dc their home. I've seen police officers who do

not live here, they don't raise their families here, but they are totally invested in community. Every community initiative that

we do, they're engaged in, they

are engaged in it whether it's dealing with the young people in that community, whether it's

doing the many, many, many different outreach things that we have, they're invested in community.

So to suggest or for me to say

that, you know, they have more buy in if they do this, I can't really say that. I

I've just seen officers literally give the shirts off or

their backs and go into their

pockets and they don't necessarily live in dc.

>> chief, other jurisdictions have residency requirements and if someone comes out of the jurisdiction, they would have a

certain amount of time to become district residents.

I'm certainly very in tune to

the fact that we have a high cost of housing and that, that

is the reason why a lot of officers do live outside of the district, but there's ways that we can address that. Before my time runs out, let me ask you one more question with

my labor hat on. Under the council's police reform bill, we're removing the

ability of the police union to negotiate discipline in the next

contract with mpd, so how do you

see that process working?

>> I think that's going to be one that will be a little

difficult to navigate, not that

it can't be done, but I think

that when members are not --

when they don't have due process, if it's totally

stripped out and there's no due

process, I think that, that sets

bad precedence for the agency. Certainly, you can separate

people from the department or mandated. Sometimes, I'm a little overwhelmed at time when I have

to bring people back, being threatened most recently with court action to be held in contempt if I didn't bring back an individual to our department,

but to get to the heart of the

matter, I don't think that we have to go that dupe to accomplish what we are trying to accomplish. We want to make sure that we

have the right officers in this department so if we have the able to get rid of them and I

think there's a way to do that

that still allows members to

I think every member is entitled to due process and police officers are entitled to that as well.

I'm willing to welcomer through or with whom ever that retbleks what the city is trying to accomplish at the end of the day. >> my time is up, chief. I will return to this topic at the next round.

Thank you, councilmember allen.

thank you, councilmember. Let me turn to councilmember mcduffie. >> good morning, Chairman. Thank you, chief contee.

I have to tell you, I'm always hardened when I hear you speak about your work, your craft and the department, in large part because of your passion and also

It's inspiring to me as someone

who grew up in the district of columbia, similar to you in the

timeframe when you did, and in

fact, experienced similarities in our backgrounds, in our lives

with the communities and families.

Perhaps we'll talk about it

sometime. Those experience, as you mentioned, obviously helped to

inform your work today and I think that's important, I think it's important for any number of reasons smg I think . I think there's a number office of young people in the district of columbia who look to you and say I can be the chief of police in the district of columbia. This guy comes from a community similar to mine.

He looks like my dad, my uncle or my brother, perhaps I can do

and accomplish the same things he accomplished in a city where he was raised and educated.

imagery alone is powerful and I wanted to acknowledge that. You talked about when you

started as a cadet in 1989, I remember that well.

It was a year that I graduated

from st. Anthony in eighth grade much it was also the year, I

think you said you started in

1989 in November. Earlier that year, it was my first experience with gun

violence when my godfather was filled a block and a half from

the school that I graduated from in brookland. He was killed by an off-duty police officer, so a lot of the experiences that I had growing

up in the metropolitan boys and

girls club, number 10, 12, 14,

14th and clifton, saratoga, I had interactions with the police that were very positive.

By the time I turned 13 and lost my godfather, started to get

thrown at the curve, had my timber

timberlands removed, and said I was doing things that I wasn't, I felt like I was being targeted and that they weren't there to

really protect and serve me.

In fact, that they were there to

harass and cause problems, and that's very problematic.

It contributed to my view and

that shift in my interactions

with mpd as a youth growing up

I think a lot of the experience that I had and many others that looked like me had in the district, people still carry

with them so that interaction

and that negative, that really ago tag

an tag nice stick relationship still exist today.

Double that still exist and if so, what do you make of it and what do you think needs to be

done by mpd to shift that?

>> thank you for that question, councilmember.

I certainly appreciate your perspective where your coming from in terms of your experience. The reality I try to make by

telling my story is we've all

got a story if you grew up in this city, we all do.

We all have a story, we all have our experiences, both suppositive in some instances. You talk about boys and girls club, all of that stuff, but we

can also reflect on negative experiences, when jump outs ran through the block and knocked whoever down, it didn't matter who they were going after and

how those things were carried forward.

I can tell you that I carry

those experiences with me

because again, it helped shape who I am. I know that the department that

I joined in 1989 is not the same

department in 2021, I know that without a shadow of a doubt. I know that, I know what that experience was like, I know what you got coming to the door, I know what the training was like, I know what happened when you got into the field, and we're not that department, but it

doesn't mean that those

experiences are lost on moms and dads and sons and daughters, it's not. One of the ways that I think

that we really get to the core

of really helping to shape the perspective of the community of the larger police department,

not just of whoever your community officer is over in

ward five, who does -- he's the same officer or two at all of the community outreach events, not that. What I've done here in the

metropolitan police department,

one of the first things that I did, a directive that I gave to every assistant chief within

this department, was I wanted

our community outreach to be part of the fabric of this

department and how do you do that? Every bureau in this department

has the responsibility now of

engaging community in at least

one community outreach community engagement event a month, every bureau in the police department.

I don't know if it's I.T., I.T. For example, one of the things

that they will be doing is going to community where we have

seniors and working on their sellar devices,

cellular devices, taking off viruses whatever it is --

>> chief, I only have two

minutes, so for you could summarize. If I could follow-up on the community outreach, I have a question and concern that i

would like to respond to. >> fair enough. The bottom line is the community engagement has to be apart of everybody's business within the department. It's not just one single officer. It's the department's

responsibility to engage. >> on that point, I've been to a number of community meetings as

a councilmember, anc meetings,

sifng association meetings and

other events and over the last couple of years new york particular, the last several months, I've been on zooms and

heard comments by officers when

they say that in response to violence, they say we're doing what we need to do. We arrested them and when we

arrest them, the U.S. Attorney's

office doesn't arrest them, they

let them out, or the judge doesn't sentence them, they release them. We feel like we're on our own here and you need to tell the

councils to make the laws tougher, tell the judge to do

this because everybody else's

problem is causing this, not us. Obviously, that's hyperbole a bit, but it's what you're getting in these meetings and

I've been shocked and extremely disappointed when I hear that rhetoric. Are you aware that your officers and the folk participating in

some of these meetings are responding to community concerns in that matter?

>> I'm not surprised to hear

that and I think it speaks to

the larger issue. When you talk about public safety, I think there's

frustrations on all sides of the spk trump when you talk about public safety and the community, and I think the proper response to that is, I've said before,

this is a echo system and we

I think it begs, can we have transparent conversation about what's going on in the

community, can we have a real, transparent conversation about

that when individuals who have murdered somebody are walking around in the streets, waiting

for his trial to come up, are we

okay with that as community? I think there's opportunity to us to have that conversation. I'm willing to have it, but I'm not surprised to hear that, but that's not the message we should

be delivering to community. >> I have other questions about the near act in the next round

to get your perspectives on. >> okay.

councilmember mcduffie.

Chief, one quick clarification

piece because I heard when councilmember silverman was

talking about the legislation

around negotiations around

I want to make sure we break it apart.

Due process is for government employees to have notice of

allocations vrk a meaningful chance to respond. What the legislation speaks to is have that party sit at the

table to negotiate their own discipline, so those are two

very different things.

I agree you have you to have due process but I wanted to clarify for the public that the due

process piece is one, actually

sitting to negotiate your own discipline is different. I just wanted to put that out there.

I wanted to turn for a second -- one of the things I'm trying to think through and get your feedback, is I've heard you talk

about, for example, gun recovery unit.

I've heard you talk about focus

on how to have officers focus on

I think the way on the right gun, the right person.

One of the things I think is

concerning is racial bias that

plays out in policing also ends

up impacting our courts, and

what I mean by this is, when we

look at the numbers for example of arrests made for a gun possession and you go to dc superior court, there have been

a number, I've heard numbers

cited as high as 30%, 40% that

are dismissed in court because

the arrest wasn't focused on is it going to be a quality case;

it going to be a conviction. It was let's grab that gun, and

then I heard you say earlier in a response to another question that you don't want to have, and I'm glad to hear you say this, you don't want to have a force where officer also make arrests and let the courts sort it out because if we take that approach, which I think our data from the courts would show us

that, that does happen, that

then undermines the trust. If the decision of the officer is, I'm just going to try to make that arrest right now or

get that gun recovered right now

but not make sure it's a quality

arrest, it actually before you have so many other collateral consequences that come with that

for a case that ultimately gets dismissed and what we're

concerned about is that racial bias. I have one more piece and then you can respond. I appreciate you saying that the

force you joined in 1989 is different from the force in 2021. Taking those data elements and

how do you measure that? For example, the report we have

tells us that we had almost every stop was a person of

color, every stop where the use of force escalated was a person of color. How do we measure the difference? Does that make sense of what I'm asking?

How do we know from the 1989 to 2021 if we see data like this?

I'm dropping a lot of you with a couple of different questions so I'll give you time to respond to that. >> gotcha, thank you. The first question that you

mentioned about what happens in

the courts system, that's a very

complicated question and I don't think we give it justice by

saying the case gets dismissed. Cases gets dismissed for a number of reasons as you know, right. They're not just dismissed

because it's a bad stop, they're

not dismissed because it's a bad case.

A lot -- in most cases, it's really judicial discretion.

They want to see if the person -- the guy who we were chasing down this alley when he tossed a

gun and we heard something go cling, cling, cling across the ground and got recovered, they

want to see if this guy's dna will be on the gun. It takes about six months to get

a return on dna. There's things like that, these

delays, they're not trying to overburden the courts so there May be a decision made where they don't move forward with prosecution right at this moment. They May bring the case up in grand jury or something like that, so there's a lot of reasons that are there, but I think it speaks to the heart of

the matter that we have to ask ourselves, the population of

those cases, what are the ones, what are the cases where we could go in a different direction, where we can do things better, and I think in

those cases where possession is not clear, that we can do better in those cases. Like I said, if it's in the car and there's four kids in the car, and I'm one of the kids in the car, I'm sitting in the back

seat and the gun is in the glove box or the gun is under the front seat, everybody in the car

should not have to go to jail to

let the court sort that out. It's ridiculous to me. We should not do that. I'm saying to you that I know

that not every unit, that not every officer does that, but there's been instances over the course of my 30-year career where we do things like that.

There's been instances over my

30 some year career where we'll

go into a house on a raid,

recover a gun and the person who is present in that house at that time might go to jail for that gun and I don't think we should do that. In light of how we get better, I think we look for opportunities like that to really make sure

that we are doing our community

service by making sure that we are arresting the correct people, the people who are on

the block with the gun, who make

our communities unsafe.

I think the way we go about conducting our stops, the way

that we go about count ducking our searches, I think that has to be better coordinated in

terms of how mpd do what it does. Certainly, we have the parameters of the laws or the constitution that we operate

with, but when we're engaged in

community for whatever reason,

gun recovery, stops a vehicle for example, you know, under

what circumstances are we taking

people out of the car to see if there's a gun there.

We have legislation now with

respect to consent searches where we have to go through a litany of things, a conversation to let them know what their rights are before they commit to doing the search. I think that really started hitting us

heading us in the direction we

need to go, but I'm asking

officers to go further in that.

Are we just four robert contees in the car.

Maybe somebody is nervous. There's five police officers

around the car, yeah, we're

nervous, so that should not be

an indicator or a reason that

would lead us to the search of the car. We talked about that for years, the person appeared nervous. i'm sweating right now, councilmember, because it's hot in this room, but when you're in a situation where you're in a vehicle or something like that,

I get nervous driving route one

and I think that fairfax county

police might pull me over if I'm driving my personal car.

I get nervous about that so I

think with respect to our units, thoans kinds of things have to be engrained with them.

There's other adjustments with respect to tactics that I've talked to them specifically about and I've seen it in terms of how they deploy the thing that they do where they

understand the message. My hope is they continue down this line.

thank you. My time is up in this round. We've been rejoined by councilmember vince gray. Councilmember gray, let me turn

to you now for a round.

>> you're on mute, councilmember.

>> am I un-muted now? >> gotcha. >> I didn't want to talk too loud, chief. >> understood, sir.

>> yeah, I appreciate the

opportunity to be able to be

here and participate in the confirmation hearing, chief. As you know, I've always had high regard for you.

I remember when you were in the six district. We continue to have challenges

of course in the sixth district,

and I just want to start, I want

to start in an area that is troubling to me.

It goes back and you will

remember, you were the assistant

chief at the time when new champ newsham was chief.

Of thereof a situation where a

young man was he ran into the

side of a police car, I think it was, you'll recall that, and I

never knew at all what happened to n that situation. There's another related matter I also want to ask you about, and

that is what happened with -- we had a number of officers who

walked in one day to some residents property, no warrant,

just very disrespectful to the folks, didn't even announce why

They were asked and they got no

answer for anybody at that

point, and it seemed incredibly disrespectful and to be honest

with you, chief contee, it

seemed incredibly unlike you. You weren't there that day, you

were assistant chief, but now you are the chief and I want to understand as we go back. I'm sure you remember the incidents that I'm talking about and I would really like to know

what happened with this young

man who was, again, apparently ran in the side of a police car from what I gather.

Do you remember the incident? I think it was on division avenue?

>> yes, sir, over in the sixth district.

>> tv the sixth district, that's right.

Absolutely was the sixth district.

And we pursued that, we did with

his family, the. [Unintelligible]

And others who were actively

involved in his situation.

I never got fully the details of what happened, even though we

tried to pursue it with then chief newsham, and the situation

where these folks walked on to the property of these folks and

didn't even have the decency to announce why they were there,

they just walked around the

property and then left, never

had a warrant, never had any credentials at all that would have democrat demonstrated why they were there. I guess I'm interested in knowing, chief, what happened in those situations? What was the outcome? I'm going to be honest with you and you May recall because I think you were at one of the

hearings where I went after the chief, then chief newsham about dismissing those officers who

had acted so discuriously and so disrespectfully to the folk that

he had encountered many I certainly want to know about the

young man who ran into the side of the police car, I don't know

what the outcome was that.

That would be helpful and it would also be helpful from the perspective, chief contee, how

are you going to handy situations

to handlesituations like this? You know, you talked about your 30 years on the police force,

and not to be redundant, but I've always had the highest

regard for you, and when you

were chosen to be the next

chief, I was among those who

were ecstatic that you were selected to be able to do this,

but these are the kinds of situations that I want to know

more about and what do they illustrate?

Terms of how you will handy these kinds of situations

handlethese situations as now our chief, hopefully our confirmed chief of the district of columbia under the metropolitan police department. >> thank you for that question,

councilmember gray. With respect to the accident that occurred with the atv vehicle running into the side of

the police car, as you know, that matter is now suggest of litigation for

is subject oflitigation for the district of columbia.

As for the report, it was also

apart of the dc auditor's report

that came out, I guess maybe a couple of days ago much much the

utility findings of the report

were that the officer's actions were justified in terms of what he did.

What the auditor's report

revealed in that was that the scope of the investigation, the scope of the officer's actions

were narrow and they were not completely comprehensive, so there were a number of recommendations that were made

around that in term of how we respond to these types of situations that now I have

responsibility for fixing quite frankly.

So with the pending let gauges, that's what's out there. The auditor's report was just released. The auditors report did not

change the finding, but it highlighted where there needs to be broader focus into the investigation. The individuals that you speak of, the officers who walked through the yard, those members

were apart of the narcotics and special investigations division

at that time, those members, a couple of things happened. I'm certain at least one of

those members are no longer with

the police department.

>> was he fired, chief? >> no.

>> that's what I talked to chief newsham about, that these

officers need to be fired for the disrespectful manner in

which the way they treated a

family, that were having a party.

They were treated so disrespectfully.

It was unbelievable the way they

were treated, just awful.

>> that offense was not fired. Most of you think, there was the issue ten about what the departments, what the policies were with respect to discipline

in term of how those are

navigated than the chief firing

him on the spot I I'm almost certain he resigned from the department, but I'm not sure how

long after the incident, but he did separate from the department. The other individuals are

involved -- there was a meeting, several meetings that took place

between mpd, the family, then Dr. Muhammad from howard university was brought in -- >> that's right.

>> to facilitate, I want

I don't want to call it a healing session, but to basically facilitate a discussion around this issue

with the officers, with the family involved, the whole nine yards.

The officers agreed to, you

know, some are going through additional training which they

did with Dr. Muhammad, and qualify,

quitefrankly, it might have been uncomfortable for them, but these are things that thee

agreed to, the family, the department, howard university. The other members, however other members there was and I don't

recall all of them at this point, but all of those members are still with the department, after having completed that process that they agreed they would go through.

>> were they redeployed to other areas of the department if they

were retained in different positions? >> I believe they were sent to other areas of the department. I don't know exactly where they were sent, but I believe they were sent to other areas of the demght.

>> is there some way to give us

[Overlapping speakers] >> I don't think you would have handied it this way. >> when you talk about our response to it, what's on the horizon if you will in terms of legislation with respect to

discipline and how we respond to it, I think that those are one

of the issues that certainly

will be addressed in that format. I think the other thing is

really, councilmember, quite frankly, to accept what the expectation is about what's going to be acceptable or not, what I will not have, I will not

have officered disrespecting members of the community.

>> this was truly disrespectful, unbelievable disrespectful.

>> that's really kind of the bottom line when you get down to it.

Whether it's real, perceived, whatever you want to call it,

whether intended, not intended, I think we have to have a

standard as an agency with how we engage community and there's

certain things that will not be tolerated. The way you demonstrate what you

won't tolerate is how you

respond as it relates to that in terms of discipline. In some cases, they have to be

case by case, but I think your discipline speaks volumes about how you feel.

If a guy gets a slap on a hand verses a suspension versus

whatever it is, I think that

really tells the tale of where

your values of where they are. >> it does.

It came over as a cover up frankly. I know the family of the young

man of the atv who ran into the side of the police car, and they

still today are aggrieved by the outcome of that situation.

I don't know if you or anybody has addressed them. They deserve to be talked to, chief, and if there's litigation, I'm not going to ask

you to get into the details of litigation as much as I would

like to, but I really think that

they deserve to be talked to by

you, chief contee, and let's send the messages to them that you are going to be a chief who addresses straight on issues like this so that they can feel very much apart of the process

that they feel aggrieved about. My time is up on this round, so

if you want to answer, chairman

allen will let you answer the question.

over on this line of questioning, but I want to stay on track.

We'll have multiple rounds of questioning, so thank you.

councilmember pinto.

>> thank you, Chairman Allen.

Chief contee, I'm curious what

your vision of transparency is for the department and how you

intend to implement that vision? >> I think with respect to transparency, one, there's a lot

of things that are happening around the country with respect to law enforcement and the

changes that are being made, and

I think different communities want different things. When you ask what does transparent mean to you, it's sort of like councilmember

gray's favorite ask, what's your definition of community policing.

Dependingon who you ask, you might get a different response.

How we get it started is in our poll tease and practicing of how

The audit that just came out,

it's not up to me to debate line

by line, but to say if it's broken, it's my intention to fix it.

That's how you restore trust with community in the spirt of transparency. You talk about what's wrong and

you work on fixing it, and you

let them judge you and assess

you by what's been corrected. There's things, for example, that the community May or May not be aware of.

For example, our disciplinary hearings, those are open to the public. Members of the public can go and they can sit in and they can listen to what's going on.

I think we need to be very trps

about that, and not it be this little secret that nobody knows about. So cases about community, cases they want to know more about, that they have access to those things. The auditor's report will lay

out a lot of stuff. I intend on doing the agency assessment as I mentioned in opening remarks. I think that's a transparent

look at mpd when you talk about what's happening inside, outside, I don't take for granted that I know everything

that is wrong with mpd, which I think is the reason why I want

to go this route of having an outside, reputable assessor to take that independent look at us

and say, here is kind of here is where the issues are, but more

importantly like the auditor's report, here the recommendations to resolve those issues.

With he can sit around the table

and people can talk about things that are wrong, thing that are

wrong, but I want to be focused

on here's how we fix what is wrong. I really want to know what are

those things that are issues for community.

Where are the areas where we can really make some judgments in

terms of how we do whoa we do, there's additional efforts to be trnt transparent with the community.

I've try to do that since day

one, I started chat with the chief sessions that are viferl

for the entire community to see. Let me hear what's going on. I want to know. We're partnering with howard university with respect to our listening sessions that we're moving forward and how our students are going to be running the multiple work groups that will be going on because I'm not

going to take for granted that the police will just come back and say here's the things that are wrong. I want the community to be involved and apart of that process and I think that's where

you get on the road to

transparency. >> thank you for your leadership, chief, in that regard.

I agree, it will go a long way in building community trust.

You mentioned the process when there's misconduct and there's public meetings where the public can watch. Can you elaborate a little bit

on the internal investigation process and what you're doing to

ensure that they're independent to the extent possible? >> yeah.

First of all, when people, citizens, residents, people visiting the district of

columbia, when they file reports or file mississippi conduct reports, all of our complaints, they go over to the office of the police complaints, which is

an independent body for them to make their assessment. Sometimes, those investigations, they'll review, do the investigation on it. Sometimes, the investigations

are sent back to the mpd for the police department to investigate. Once the matter is investigated,

you know, if the person, the officer-involved is going to receive discipline as a result of that and is going to be on a level where the person is going

to be terminated, there's an

adverse action panel or hearing that is held.

In that adverse action hearing,

there's a commander and

generally two captain that sit -- it's a trial if you will,

about this officer's job and

there's the go e that will put on its case, then the officer

has his attorney who will be the

person to -- the officer has his attorney who represents him who defends his actions or his view,

et cetera. Those hearings are open to the pub. Generally what we do, there's a

policy where we post it like behind glass somewhere and that is something that could be posted publicly where residents

will know, okay, officer smith,

for example, his hearing is up today or next week, and residents who have interest in

that, you know, much like we dot city council hearings, residents who have interest in that, they

can come in and watch those

proceedings where they will hear

the case that is before the

panel. >> over the course of your career, what have you found to be the most challenging component of being a police officer?

>> the most challenging. >> to get everybody to really work together. That's been the most challenging which is why I'm making it such

a point to call that out as I sit in this seat.

There's no passing of the buck in this seat and I think in order to see real change, in

order to realize real change in our city, I think that people have to have skin in the game.

One thing you can count on me to do for certain and I know that the council will equally do the

same, I'm going to tell it like it is, through the lense that I

see it, through the lense that I've experienced it, through the lense that my family has experienced it and I'll tell it like it is. Of where

where there's flaws in the

system, I'm tell it like it is. In telling it like it is, my

hope is that we can really get past or get to what the core of the issue is that is on the table to be addressed and look past the person, the messenger who might be delivering that message.

If we're more focused on the

issue at hand, I think we set ourselves up to have a better outcome.

As an example, councilmember,

for years that I've been in government, councilmember george has the opportunity, she worked over at the office of the

attorney general, we have youth

in our city that we know, we absolutely know that they do not

do well at home in the environments that they're currently in. There's abuse that takes place

there, either educational neglect, sometimes allegations

of physical abuse that happens in there, there's no structure.

there's a lot of things that

goes on in one's personal household, but for some reason

as a city, for years when we find young people that I've had

to deal with in my assessment in crisis that have missed 88 days of school that, have been arrested for a crime, they're

certainly on their road to being system involved. Somehow, we think that the

proper way to remedy, you know, when they've become system involved is to put them right into the environment where they have no structure, where there is educational neglect, where

mom May not have any control or

like my dad, if you have a chemical dependent parent, you

put the onerous them like maskly they'll 23eu678 the problem. That's not fixing the problem in the community. Until we talk about how do we really fix this, if we want to

see a different outcome for this 13 yearld so we're

13-year-old, so we're not

charging this 13 and 15-year-old with murder, if we want a different outcome, how do we get to the issue? Why do kids have to get system

involved a lot of time before we see someone who is willing to

How many programs so we have in our judicial system that you can

get in stem programs, et cetera,

that kids do not have to be stem involved before they reap the

benefits of those programs? Those are difficult discussions because it will step on a lot of toes and I'm willing to have those discussions but more

importantly, focusing on how do we get to the resolve. it's not always the police. I've shared this with councilmember allen ever several other exms before. I'll say then shut up.

On my belt, I have a telephone, I have handcuffs and I have a firearm. I don't like to use my firearm,

I would not like to use my handcuffs, what I would like to

do is be able to pick up the

phone and connect kids and other people in crisis to services. Of unfortunately, unfortunately

if I say I've got this kid and he's blah, blah, blah, and this

kid is really on a fence and got

one foot on the banana peel who

can help, oftentimes there's silence in the room.

I'm just being honest. There's silence in the room,

unless it's a court order to get this kid help. A lot of times, there's silence in the room and we need to fix that as a city.

thank you, chief much thank you, councilmember.

>> thank you for your passion.

Thank you, Chairman.

thank you. Now to councilmember george. >> thank you.

I want to talk about, chief

contee you know I introduced the white supremacy in policing act, which calls

calls for an investigation

for any hate groups with members

in the mpd that suggest that

they can't enforce the laws

fairly, and to better detect

ties to white supremacists or other hate groups in the democrat that May prevent their enforcement of the law.

Do you support this approach? In your opinion, what steps are

needed to investigate and prevent mpd officer ties to hate groups that impact their ability

to do their jobs fairly?

What would a robust, independent process look like and what would it seek to accomplish? What steps have you taken already, if any, to investigate and prevent these ties? >> thank you, councilmember, for that many I think in light of

everything that has happened on January 6th, I think we would be

foolish as an agency to not look within first to make sure that

those are not people who make up

the metropolitan police metropolitan police department, understanding that police departments, agencies all

across our country are my coe

cost simples of society and we

have people who are thoughts and beliefs in community and it's very easy for those things to trickle into agencies, not just

police agencies, but any

government work. We've ian people with federal

jobs from the sixth, teachers, the military, the wide array.

I say all of that to say a couple of things. One, I think we have to be very

clear in term of our policy about what's tolerated and what's not. One of the things that my team is working on right now is to include that very specific piece

that you mentioned about hate speech, white supremacy, that

kind of thing into our current policies.

Right now, our policy is I lot more general.

It speaks to conduct, on-duty, off-duty that, kind of thing, but I think we have to go further than that and I think we

have to be very specific. I'm hopeful as a result of the assessment that we're having done within the agency that, that will be one of the things that we get additional recommendations from. We already through our

recruitment, we already go through out investigative process to rule out people who May have ties to those types of groups, looking at social media, that kind of thing. As I've learned sin I first

mentioned this maybe a month ago, when you talk about the

broader discussion, looking at somebody's facebook page or looking at somebody's instagram, that's a lot deeper discussion,

what's hate, what's not, who who's

list are you going by, then when you identify that person, how do you separate that person from

the democrat and it stick, and that's not a person shielded by first amendment, those types of things. I don't have the answer to all of those, but I know that those

are the hurdles we have to overcome in order to make sure

we have a sufficient policy in place that will safeguard our department from those types of people. >> I appreciate it.

The reason I asked for the investigation to be independent

because I just don't think it's possible for it to come from the

inside and just based on the

auditor's report, which documented I think serious

problems in mpd's internal

investigations, talking about 10-minute interview at most, that's why I called for an independent investigation because I don't think it can be

rooted from the inside and it's something that has to be studied

from the outside. One of the areas that we've seen this, right, I think councilmember robert white was

alluding to this, we saw a

difference in relationship with

protests, right, george floyd

protest were treated differently

than other protests that have come to this city and it seem to be based on what protest is about. I asked about this at the hearing and I don't think we got

to where we needed to be during

the performance oversight regarding the rioting, the clearing and gathering of a riot

because the fourth district, the

protest that happened with karen

hilton, the mpd had unilateral

able to declare that a riot.

I want to understand what are

the current policies and

practicing an mpd with regard to

declaring a riot which allows us

to use greater level and force, including the use of chemical irritant and other dangerous interventions, and how are we guarding against bias and threat assessments regarding the declaration of a riot?

Because we saw individuals who were -- should be deemed a riot,

who were destroying black churches, historical churches in

wasn't riot. How are those policies and

practices currently reflected in mpd general orders? Can you share general orders with me within that committee and how are you guarding against bias and threat assessments

regarding the declaration of riots? >> thank you, councilmember fork that question.

I want to pick up where I left off talking about this with councilmember white. I think it's important to really understand this.

Whether it's the fourth district

incident, the riots that we saw downtown, the riots that we saw

at the capitol, you know, mpd does not predetermine that

there's going to be a riot, right. The determining factor for a

riot are the activities and

behavior happening at the time

at the time that the riot is

declared, so you know, whether, again, at the capitol, in community, whatever it is, it's the activities that really kind of laid that out. Trust me.

You know, we do not go into

community or go into first

amendment situations with the

mindset that we're going into a riot because one, policy prohibits frowses doing that, right. You will not see officers generally when we're talking

about first amendment response outfitted in riot gear and all of that kind of stuff.

>> but there has been times, we know that, we saw that. We know there's times when

officers arrive at protests adder armed an riot gear.

Of I know that because I've been there personally. There were no officers present

when individuals were destroying black churches and destroying historical churches in dc, but

they were present in armed gear on swan street and georgia

avenue, so that's what I mean. How is that happening?

>> so in the -- we can't lump all incidents together and say, hey, these are all of the same thing. >> fair. >> we can't do that. When we talk about what was

going on with the incidents with

the trump maga rallies for

example, in those instances, there's mutual combat importants going on. They're fighting outside and

trust me when I tell you, nobody is looking to see what side is this person on. I'm Mr. Interested in who is the guy throwing the punches, who is the guy swinging the stick, who

is the guy that threw the half

of a stick of dynamite, that's what we're looking at when we respond.

>> there was a video, there is from downtown where the young

black woman was easheszed, but

the but the officer let the

offender, a white male, say go away, but the black women were arrested. It's the difference of how they

>> I'm certainly sensitive to that, councilmember. I'm not familiar with the specific video because there's a

whole lot of videos that are out

there, about the easiest way to convey this to community, is as

these assessments are made, the response is really dictated by

what what we're dealing with. If property is being destroyed, if people are being assaulted, if you talk about the things we had over the course of the summer, you know what I mean? There is a significant amount of

injury that happened on, with

respect to officers having dead rats, bottles, bricks,

everything that you can think of thrown at theme.

In those instances, a riot is more likely to be declared in situations like that.

If it's a situation where we are

facilitating, and they do this

every single day, especially on weekends, facilitating the first amendment, even if it's civil disobedience people sitting in the street, laying in the street poo epiwhool

epi -- people who block up 395 south, those things for the most part we're not making arrestess, we're esses, we're not using chemical irritants, we're not doing any of that stuff.

When there is a deployment of munitions, pepper spray primarily is what we see unless it's a riot situation like January 6th.

We deployed everything we had on that particular day.

But aside from that, unless there is like some over at where officers are taking on bricks bricks and bottles, that kind of thing, you don't even see our officers

with, with, with riot helmets on unless there is some indication leading up to that. And over the course of the summer, I think everyone on this call would certainly agree that

we had some violent acts occurring in this city. Significant property damage occurring in this city.

So we'd be foolish to not prepare officers or have officers in the posture of preparedness, you know, kind of leading up, leading up to the things that we were dealing with.

But that is not the primary response from the metropolitan police department when it comes to first amendment.

I promise you, there is a lis of first amendment events that'll be going on this weekend, and if everything goes peacefully, most people will not hear about them. Most people just won't. Because we facilitate the peaceful first amendment rights of every citizen that comes to

this city, every visitor to our city, without, without a hitch in most instances. But I certainly am sensitive to what you mentioned about the young lady. I'm not familiar with that

specific video, but I -- >> I agree with you. I just think the community feels and knows because they were out

there all summer and other

summer that there has to be some acknowledgment that all protests

were not treated the same.

That's the acknowledgment. All protests were not treated the same.

And chief contee, I hope in the future, I think it goes without saying the community demands and deserves equity across the board

and certainly at gatherings erings and protests and we were hoping

seeing violent actors left alone and nonviolent attacked and arrested, that's really, that's really the point I'm making. If the community feels this and experiences that we acknowledge that there was some type of equity issue as it relates to protests and how individuals

were treated. >> councilmember, what I will say is that going forward, the

community will, will expect, or should expect the best from me, the best from this department going forward, to the extent that we have to do the things that we need to do as a police department to safeguard the

city, to safeguard lives and

property, we will do those things. But we will certainly make sure the residents, that all of those things are being takes into account as we assess how we move going forward. At those demonstrations on black lives matter plaza, you know, there were days where my wife, when my daughter were present

now on black lives matter plaza.

Where my fraternity brothers were present down on black lives matter plaza, and in many of those instances, there were not violent confrontations with police not because the people I cared about or loved were present there but just because

that was not the majority of the interactions. But to the extent that there were, interactions, I I can tell going forward this is what they can expect. They can expect equity going forward.

thank you, chief, thank you, councilmember. We're way over on this round. >> sorry.

councilmember mary cheh, member of the committee, the practices that we have our committee members go on, so let me turn to councilmember cheh and then councilmember henderson right after that.

>> thank you very much, Chairman Allen.

And good morning chief contee. >> good morning. >> can you just tell me what

your view is of what the optimum

number of police officers in the district should be. >> thank you for that question, councilmember.

I think this, this is an issue

that, that has been debated bong lfer

-- long before me bullet I would agree, -- but I would agree. I think that around the number

4,000 is probably where we need to be, and I know that there is

a lot of, there's a lot of debate around, around that number.

The reason I say that number

4,000, you know, I look at, I look at where we are right now, but I also look at the hey, look, the city is posturing differently in terms of how we

want to respond to things differently. Is there a possibility for us

to, you know, perhaps do something different where we

don't necessarily need 4,000 officers later on down the line. I think that that possibility exists.

But right now, the responses, the things that are on the

police officers, that are on law enforcement place, those things have not been removed. Those asks are still there.

Those asks for you know mental health, those existing out in the community, police officers are still called upon to respond to those things.

So until we get to that point,

where we can offload some of those other responsibilities and really kind of assess, you know, how our officers times, time is being used, I think that we're in a better position at that

point to assess with the appropriate level of officers should be for our department at the time. >> okay and at some point maybe I want to explore with you what are the ingredients to get to that figure. As far as I know the figure was first thrown out by councilmember jack evans and seems to have gotten life of its own.

But not looking, not looking to

what changes might come, but

So that means right now the mpd

is not optimum level. >> we're below that.

3650 is where we are now. Last year this time we were at 3800 so we've, the number has reduced significantly.

>> and then could you tell me

what deficiencies you see in our

current content and frequency of

police training? >> deficiencies in training? Oh, I think that, you know, when

we talk about how we train officers, yes, and de-escalation, all those things are important. One of the things that we're

just starting new here in the metropolitan police department is our active bystandership for law enforcement.

I think that that's a, an area that's deficient that we will do

better at and let me just to explain to everybody what that is.

You know, we, I think we can all agree that, that we should have

a duty to intervene. If there is officer misconduct,

we certainly saw that in the

george floyd incident. The active first responder, it

takes duty to step forward where here in the metropolitan police department I want officers trained on how that intervention, what it should

look like, how to actually do it. I know the things that I went through as a young officer in this department. I'm certainly, and you know

maybe some of the councilmembers can understand you know what I'm about to say from this perspective being a junior lawyer coming new to a law firm and you got, you know, senior

partners who are, you know, given their points about

something or their views about something. I don't know how encouraged or comfort thbl new guy sitting -- comfortable the new guy sitting at the table is to get his point across about why this is wrong or why we should be going into a different direction in terms of how we're doing, what we're

doing, and I see the same thing for police officers. You know, in the health care industry, you know, a nurse, you

know, kind of, you know, you know telling the doctor what he shouldn't be doing kind of thing.

So I think in law enforcement, we have a responsibility not to

just say that officer you have a duty to intervene, intervene.

we have a responsibility to teach them how to intervene.

If you know, if maybe george floyd would be alive today if one of those officers actually knew how to intervene. One of the new officers that were there, you know, even if it was to pull him away from george floyd, maybe but for an intervention, he would be alive today so I think we have a responsibility to really train that in the metropolitan police department. That's something that I'm pushing forward.

And we're already starting that without professional development

training for this year. >> that's great but what I want to find out from you whether you're willing, whether you're planning to look sort of top to bottom at training, not just,

you know, particular issue like that, or even de-escalation, but

in general, to see about whether

the entire program and the

frequency of retraining is adequate. With the that would be one of the initiatives you want to pursue? >> yes, ma'am, and I spoke about at my opening. Very early on, probably it was sometime after the insurrection.

I went to the, to the mayor, specifically about doing a top

to bottom inside out of

assessment of what I really I

call mpd of looking at training,

looking at hiring, looking at internal practices, eeo just the way we deal with discipline and outwardly you know how we engage community and those types of things.

But really, you know, the, it's

already actually I think we're

in the, the group that will be responsible for doing this, I'm sure they will be selected in the next 30 days but we want someone with national recognition to come in, to take that independent look at mpd, to

do a health assessment of us and really to more importantly to give us the recommendations to

provide recommendations for us to consider about how we get better. I don't want us to be a sick agency where we know we got this ailment or that ailment, but we're nat not doing anything to rectify it. If you go to the doctor and you go with an ailment, the, the

thought is that the doctor is going to prescribe some type of element for for -- remedy for what the ailment is.

You need to not drink sodas, you know what I mean?

But that's the thing we're doing here in the metropolitan police department. >> in the remaining time. So thank you, that's a yes and it's a vigorous yes, so thank

you for that. >> I certainly will. The short answer is, yes, we have it. But, it's always what's important, what comes after but, right?

So the but is that community

policing looks different to our communities in the district. And I know that our communities

are so dynamic here in the city

that we cannot put community policing in this nice little pretty box to say oh, this is community policing.

I know in the neighborhood where I live in the block where I live, community policing looks a certain way, and I don't take for granted that four blocks

away from there, there could be other issues that are important to that community and community policing looks totally different to them. So what I will say is that at the root, at the core of

community policing, that there

is a, there is relationships

that really builds the partnership between mpd and the community that we're serving and that's what community policing, that's what it has it look like.

It has to be relationship. Pal. It's not transactional. It's not here what's I think it is and you got to take it. No, it's what you think it is,

and here's how I can best

deliver this does this work for you and understanding that there are differences there. And not in this pretty little box that a lot of times people

just want to put it in.

>> all right, at some point we we

can explore this in some detail. >> absolutely.

thank you very much, councilmember.

>> thank you very much, Chairman Allen. >> thank you. Let me turn next to councilmember henderson.

>> thank you, chairperson allen.

Chief contee, I want to switch to talking about marijuana and drug dealing arrests.

You know, we decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, and we have seen

related arrests have fallen, although we definitely have

still seen some disparities. But I also have seen some disturbing trends in the data that we've seen from the department of behavioral health,

as well as the chief medical officer, excuse me.

Around substance abuse and opioids that are on the rise in

I am curious in terms of your communication to officers of how

to discern between marijuana

related enforcement versus

harder drugs like heroin and

>> that's, that's a very interesting point that you raise, councilmember.

And I wish that there was just a, an easy answer to it. I think if you look at our, at

our arrests, certainly the number of arrests for just mere

possession of marijuana has,

have tanked and I think that that is appropriate. That the numbers of arrests for just the mere possession should

go down. But I also want to talk to you about what my experience has been and what I've seen and what kind of what we have, what's

What I've seen is that while we have, you know, made marijuana

not such a focal point, there are a lot of people in community

that are exploring, that are exploiting that.

As an example, we have several murders in our city that are

tied to the illegal marijuana trade. Marijuana, illegal marijuana pop-ups in our city. We have several homicides that

are tied to them, even because somebody tried to rob the

marijuana pop-up, and there was some unlawful security person hired who shot and killed

somebody at the marijuana pop-up

on the streets of the district of columbia where we have people who know, okay, the police can't

mess with me beyond two ounces, there are people on the streets

of the district of columbia who

carry scales around with them to actually weigh out kind of what

they have on their person or in close proximity to them so that

that amount is less than the two ounces that's required. Right? So here you have people that are in the criminal element changing

up the way that they can do their crimes better basically, so that when they're in front of where people live, or businesses, you know, they're

kind of untouchable if you will by law enforcement or at least the perception is that they're untouchable because they have a small amount of marijuana and

unless we actually catch them in

the act of, of some type of transaction or something like that, you know, for the most

part, those people are not being arrested. So that is a very, very, very difficult issue.

I can tell you my other experiences are just regular citizens who call in and e-mail

and say, hey, I'm tired of seeing people standing outside

of this metro, that metro, selling drugs and the police

just driving by them not doing anything. Right? Because then you get officers, officers say well they prosecuted them you know maybe we shouldn't be arresting these

folks so that's a very, very, very difficult issue and I think as we move forward in that I think that we have to be very careful so that we don't have some unintended consequences

that we're not further, you

know, making the black market of

american attractive in our city.

For those people, you got people in our city right now who can call up marijuana to be delivered to their door like door dash right now unlawfully in our city. Under the guise of, you know,

they're selling orange juice and in pinchers for $25 but you also get free with that you know a package of marijuana.

So I mean, there's a lucrative business that's going on there, and it's happening in communities where it otherwise would not happen.

Last year we had a homicide off of western avenue related to this, and I'll stop there. I hope that answers your question. >> yeah, chief, I think I'm just trying to understand, and I

recognize that this is difficult and I want to just say sort of my comments around the substance abuse piece was around we are definitely seeing an increase in

terms of people who have, who

are poly drug users so it's not just marijuana. There are other things sort of associate associated and attached to it but also, you know, I get e-mails from constituents who

are talking about what they view

as open air markets happening in

alleys and things like that, and

a frustration that officers are

there at the corner but not

engaging in the activity, and so what is that tension there and

how do we help sort of lessen that, you know what I'm saying?

So we're not unintentionally harassing people with small amounts of just possession

versus we are ensuring tackling the illegal drug trade that is

still happening in parts of the

>> we have the law for which the parameter in which to operate. If the officer making the stop, it is illegal or legal. Whatever it is their doing, whatever it is their in possession of. That does not always get us where we need to be, and I think

that, you know, as the council, I don't know if it was during

the last session or whatever, but the council made an interesting change where they said failure, you know, police

officers failure to act is no longer considered a crime, right? Because that was codified really as a crime so I think what that does for law enforcement is now

it gives us the ability to,

gives us the ability to have some duscretion but even the discretion brings in, okay, who are you giving discretion? Are you giving discretion to these people over here and not these people over there. That brings us back to what does the law allow and you have police officer whose will go out

and they make their arrest based on here is what the parameter of the law is. This is what the law allows. the law allows for people to be in possession of this amount, if

I stop a guy and the guy has this amount or less than this amount, I'm not going to lock him up. If I stop a guy, he has more

than this amount or I see the guy through a observation post or something, I see the guy engaged in some type of drug transr transaction, I will enforce the law in that parameter.

So again, it's, you know, you get calls and I'm sure as a councilmember you get pulled both sides.

You want people say hey, they need treatment, they need this, they need that. The other side it bothers me.

In our homeless population, we see a lot of that.

People preying on the homeless population with the synthetic

drugs and sell to them but again small amounts we don't arrestlet homeless people or the homeless

population our homeless residents we don't arrest them but it is an issue we struggle with as a city and it's like okay where do we want to be as a city. I think that's the question.

I don't think that we'll ever get -- I don't think we'll ever get 100% agreement across the board that this is kind of the

direction that we go.

So we lean back on here is what the law is. >> okay. In my last little -- councilmember allen just popped up.

I wanted to ask you in terms of

your philosophy and use around technology, and particular surveillancetection, facial roilings, -- surveillance technology, the facial recognition, the use of cameras, not bod

acameras but cameras on corners thatt are hot spots. Because I think for some, a complaint has been that mpd will put out a camera for two weeks,

take the camera away, and then the activity pops right back up again. And so I guess my question is,

is this a resource issue in terms of deploying the use of technology to sort of as a dterrant or is something else going on? >> thank you, councilmember, for that question.

So we don't use facial technology.

You know, as part of mpd's operations. That's not what we do.

But with respect to the cameras,

it is resource issue, but you know the mayor went out and I don't, maybe it was, I can't remember, maybe it's been three

years now on a very active campaign to encourage community

members to take advantage of the rebate program to get cameras.

I don't think that we can ever

have enough or we will ever have

enough government cameras deployed because you know, a shooting happens over here or something happens over here there, people demand you know I want a camera, you know, so we have the flexibility to kind of move the resource that we have around, but when you have

community members that have cameras and a lot of crimes that get caught on cram ru, a lot

of -- camera, a lot of crimes that get arrested as a result, is because of someone's nest camera or other different cameras out there is really as a result of that footage being shared with the metropolitan police department that we then have an idea of what happened and who's responsible for it.

So to the extent that these cameras in community make communities safer, you know, I'm all for that. I know that we are very strict

policies within the metropolitan police department about how we

use cameras, how long we're redeigned stuff, you know, when we activate them, you know, when we record, I mean, there is a lot of restrictions that are in place there and I think that that's healthy to keep the agency in check. So we don't have a rogue officer or just a, a rogue agency just out here doing whatever but I

think to the extent that we have

this robust camera connection, right?

Not just mpd's cameras, not just

ddot cameras, but just really a whole community of cameras that

are out there, we really get to resolve.

The unfortunate tragic case that

we had the other day with the carjacking and ultimate death of

the guy over there near nat stadium, there were residents cameras and cameras from buildings that really kind of helped us to understand what happened in this very tragic situation.

So I think as we expand on that, councilmember, I certainly encourage residents and I should probably add this.

Early on in my tenure as the, as the commander of the sixth

district, I was not necessarily the biggest advocate oh, yeah, you know, cameras solves crimes.

They don't solve crime.

They don't solve crime but what they certainly do is they really help inform the picture and get, and I know, I can think of case after case after case that we have been able to resolve or

have a significant lead on as a

result of cameras that are in community. >> all right. Thank you.

all right, thank you, councilmember. Let me turn next to

councilmember silverman. Councilmember silverman, are you there? >> she might want you to come back to her.

I just want to give her a chance to make sure she is bouncing between different things. Let me turn to councilmember robert white then. >> thank you very much, chairperson allen and thank you again, chief contee. There has been a lot of, I think, healthy discussion over the past year or so, something

I've been a huge proponent of.

Which is using nonpolice

alternatives in situations like

public intoxication, traffic

stops, substance abuse, noise

complaints, mental health,

interventions, things that

really are not clear I think

public safety issues but

sometimes do escalate, and I wanted to know your thoughts on

us moving in this direction as a city. >> thank you for that question, councilmember.

You know, that's, that's a topic, that's not only being discussed in our city. It's really on the national level, you know, as I've talked to police chiefs across the country quite frankly. And I think that it's the

direction that we certainly need to go. You know, we oftentimes we get

calls just because you know grandma is tired of hollering at her grandson to get out of bed and he won't go to school and he's 15 years old. He's too big for her now, you know, and she want the police to come to get him out of bed to go to school in the morning. And I don't think that's the best use of our resources. When you talk about, you know,

public intoxication, to the

extent that it's not creating community harm, in terms of a person being violent to community but let's just say you

know a business in our business community you got a guy who's,

you know, he's just wasted and he's laid out in front of you

know one of my favorite cookie stores on m street. You know, I don't think residents want to walk over that guy. And I don't think that a law

enforcement arrest a guy is the proper response for that.

But to the extent that we have a proper city response to deal with that, you know to get the guy whatever service or help it is he needs, he needs, I think that that's the best way for ush to go. It's the best option where we all win.

We're not taking police officers off the street for a significant period of time. You know to deal with this guy who you know is not necessarily going to jail you know but he needs some other type of service. Now what that looks like, you know, I think we have to build that car, right?

We have to build that model. It's not in is existence. I know for a fact there are certainly conversations within the administration to look at

what are those calls. Who's the proper responders for those calls.

And I think that now is a good time because the public has an appetite for that but I think

that we also have a duty and a responsibility to engage the public to talk about, okay, now that we've been doing this for

the last 100 years, this is what it's going to look like now. The other day as an example, on good hope road we had a guy

going through mental health crisis and I don't know if it was because of substance abuse or what his issue was, but he was driving a car, he got to the light, he put his car in park,

and he took all his clothes off

right there on good hope road.

And as cars started to drive by

he started pounding on cars and yelling to people that were not there. Right? So if we're saying to community that this is a different response, you can expect to see

a different response well this 300-pound guy that was doing that, what does that response look like now?

So we're not just talking about conceptual, right?

We're talking about this is real life stuff. This is what community can expect when they pick up the

phone and make that call.

>> I think that's healthy to use that actual examples because we do have to make it real to make sure we're not talking too much in theory but really developing things that will work, so I

appreciate the use of the example, and I take your answer

to mean that mpd is will be a

willing partner in those discussions.

>> yes, absolutely, sir.

>> and we have as a city and councilmember allen has been a great leader in this council mcduffie as well. And I have tried to assist from the purview of my community --

my committee with investing resources over the past several years on violence interruption and community engagement at the office of neighborhood safety

And the office of the attorney general.

How do you view that work with respect to dealing with violence

in our city and with respect to differing strategies, additional strategies to address crime in communities? >>> I think it's very valuable work.

I think it's needed work in community.

I think that you know if we're really going to be honest about this, that people really got to have skin in the game and be

invested in what the outcomes are. For years anytime we talk about

public safety in community, you know, council, community, everybody, you know, we kind of look down the table at the police and like, hey, police, what are you doing about this. And now I think it's an opportunity where we're saying

that hey we need to look beyond just police and I think that you know violent interrupters have a role in that.

But I think that there also has to be some metric or measurement, right, for how they

do what they do in community. Right? What does that really look like.

You know, who, who when we talk about you know the rise or decline in homicides, or shootings, you know, who's taking ownership and responsibility for that? Is it just the metropolitan police department?

That takes ownership and responsibility or this is something we're all in this together on. And we're all taking responsibility for what we can do better to impact violence in that particular community. And again, what do those metrics look like? You know? Real metrics that we can hold people accountable to. So for me, at the ted of tend of the year, you know, we will all say well hay, homicides either went up or down or whatever happened, but

you know, what are we saying to, to violence interrupters.

You know, how many -- how many things did you interrupt? how do we really measure?

How do we really measure that? What does that metric look like? That's kind of the question, do you know what I mean? >> I think that's fair, chief,

but I do think that we have to have that conversation about violence interrupters. We also have to have that conversation about law enforcement which in the past

has not been the most productive conversations.

But when crime goes up, you know, I think we have for decades said well we need more police and it's been an easy call for the head of the police

to say well we need more police. And to me that is not a true accountability of the metrics and I think that we all have to

be more focused on the metrics but also willing to try new things and I think that's similar to what you're saying.

>> it is, it absolutely is, sir. I mean if there is a way that we can resolve conflict ibcommunity through the efforts of our violence interrupters, it

doesn't matter to me whether it's onse, whether it's secure the streets or whatever or just

to guy who want to help out

It doesn't matter to me. If it reduces violence in the city, then I'm willing to hear about it. I think that's where the true work happens. If I really have to kind of get involved where I'm taking somebody to jail for their actions, you know, my hope is

that that's the most -- the most violent and here it was a person

that has failed you know we,

every other juncture that we could've helped this person we couldn't help them and this was really the last resort. >> I appreciate that. And my last second and I will

make this a brief question, can

you commit to sharing the data

required in the near act without

the need in the future for

lawsuits or council intervention? >> yes, sir. >> thank you, chief. Well I don't want to go over my time because all my questions

are long, my remaining questions, and I want to be respectful so chief again, thank you very much for your time today. Chairperson allen, thanks so much for allowing me to be part

of this important hearing.

>> appreciate you being a part of it. Thank you, councilmember. Councilmember silverman has joined us again. Let me turn back to councilmember silverman and then after that we will go to councilmember duffy. >> welcome back, councilmember. >> thank you so much, chief.

Rarely is that said. So thank you.

So I want to actually start, I am, I do have a labor issue, but I want to start where

councilmember white left off in

terms of our investment in alternative strategies like violence interruption.

And I want to move in a not a different direction but perhaps build upon what councilmember

white was saying. So we have mpd and you spoke about and I was happy to hear

that in terms of gun violence,

you want to target the high propensity shooters. >> absolutely.

>> as I hear it. That's also the best practice of

the violence interrers, so we

have OAGs office, cure the streets, then we have the onse

office, now the mayor has added

the I think due to councilmember

allen's legislation, the gun violence coordinator. And mpd.

So how, how do these entities all work together? Because I will tell you that when I asked this question of

the former chief, he was not

very supportive of the violent interruption efforts. >> so here's what I think we have, councilmember. And this is the first time I'm

saying this for the, this isn't

the first time I've seen this in

my lifetime in the district of columbia, where you have all willing partners coming to the table, really coming to the

table for the same purpose. >> mm-hmm. >> what my experience has been, you know everybody kind of

bridge their own agenda to the table. I've seen that for years.

I've been around many tables

where people say that for years. People are coming to the table and putting dollars behind that. Right? I think the mayor has made

significant investment there.

With respect to the gun violence oec, reallocating funds to really allow those services to take hold in communities.

I think that that's very important. so we have the ingredients to bake the cake now. >> right.

>> so now it's a matter of making sure that we go through

the process that we need to go through in order to see a successful resolve, right? Successful resolve being the cake that we all expect to be, you know, whatever we expect it to be. Reduced violence in community, you know, that's what the end result is that we're expecting,

but the process by which we do it, you know now becomes the important issue for us, councilmember.

It really, it really. You can mess up a cake by putting in the eggs too soon while taking cold eggs out the refrigerator and putting them in

the cake, you can mess a cake up by doing that. >> to go with your metaphor, that's exactly my point, chief.

Which is we have basically four

different groups now that aren't -- like I want to understand how are you going to work with cure the streets the how are you going to work with the gun violence coordinator? Because I think the frustration

of residents is, you know, when

we see it I guess in the maps,

you know, the, that, that

homicides and violent incidents

seem to happen in the same areas, and everyone says they're

focused on this but then, you

know, like wheeler road and the

same places are seeing violence occur.

So I honestly ask this in all genuineness, like how do you

make sure that people aren't putting in the eggs too, in too early, taking the out of the

oven too early. This is the problem of government. Everyone has their own budget so mpd has its budget and you have outcomes that are -- that are the reason why we give you money

and then oag has a different set

budget and set of outcomes and the onse office and it just seals like we haven't been able to coordinate.

>> I think that the mayor's approach is really the first step in making sure that we,

that we bake this, this cake correctly.

I think that there has to be an acknowledgment really across the board that the issues that we,

that we, that need to be solved, you know, they're not just police issues.

It's not just health disparities.

It's not just the educational disparities, right?

It's all of these things, all these things that currently exist in community. >> I'm going to interrupt you, chief. >> go ahead. >> just because I don't have much time and I want to get in two more questions, but on this, so what are you going to do differently than chief newsham? On this issue. >> well, I think we've already talked about you know an acknowledgment that we all have to work together and I'm excited

about the work that's to be done for everyone involved. Community also being an important part to that, councilmember. We can't, we can't -- government

on its best day can't do all the work that needs to be done if the community is not bought into what we're trying to do.

It has to be meaningful for the community. >> and by that are you saying that you need -- you need members of the community to come

forward more with information? Or wru do you think the community is -- where do you think the community has not bought in? Because when I go to community

meetings, especially in areas

that have a high amount of gun

violence, they're like, where, what's going on?

Why can't we stop this? Where, you know, so they seem bought into stopping it, it's

just that we don't have a strategy to stop it seems. >> I think we're bought into certain things within the community.

I can tell you coming up in the community since you know, since I was at my earliest ages, you know, and still exist in community right now, what do we say in community? You don't talk to the police. If it didn't happen in your house, you don't say nothing to police. I don't care what it is, you don't -- so we're talking about

building relationships, having a relationship with law enforcement, building great outcomes, but in the same breath you know some of these things that we've been doing for years in communities that, in a community where I come from. Where you don't talk to the police, you don't communicate -- you don't do any of these things.

So I think that there has to be some bridging of the gap if you will.

We all got to take a step forward. Everybody in isthis in the pros. Has the police department put its best foot forward? Has the community put its best foot forward in what we're trying to do. If everybody's putting their best effort forward, if we can confidently say that, then I think we're going to see results. >> okay. I think I heard councilmember lewis george talk about rebuilding trust.

It sounds like there's, this is where you're going. I have two more questions.

First, is with my labor hat on.

So whenever the public employee relations board rules against

mpd in terms of a dismissal that

of an officer that they believe

was not proper, a proper

dismissal, mpd takes that ruling

arbitrator is involved. Mpd takes it to perb I think everyone has agreed with the arbitrator.

Then you take it to superior court.

Then you take it to the appeals court. Why are you doing this when

there's never success here, chief? >> well, councilmember, quite

frankly, I think that there are

some numbers over the course of

the years that have May have disgraced the badge along the way. and through that disgracing of

the badge, a member May have been separated from the department. And for whatever reason, you

know, the perb folks have, they have decided this person should be part of the police department again, that's kind of beyond me but I think we have a

responsibility to exhaust every legal avenue we have available to us, like I said in the not too distant past being threatened with being found in contempt of court unless I brought someone back to the department. I mean, I'm that serious about making sure that we have the

right people wearing this badge

deployed in communities serving people of the district of columbia. That's important to me. >> sir, I'm out of time, chief.

And I want to be respectful. I'll just say that then mpd should pay attention to the rules because it's often technical rules which bring people back, and if you just followed the -- if mpd followed the timelines better, then you

wouldn't lose the arbitrator

cases and -- but anyhow, I'm

done with time. >> many times, many times beyond that, it's just that we don't see eye to eye and they don't think that it's somebody who should've been terminated because some guy 10 years ago didn't get fired for the same

thing, so this guy 10 years later shouldn't be fired for that and I just thing

I just think that that's not right.

>> I need to move to our next colleague here.

Thank you, councilmember silverman. Councilmember mcduffie. >> I'm just checking to see if you're doing another round after this.

yes, we are. >> okay. All right. Great.

I'm going to just pick up really quickly. I wanted to go into the near act because I know some of my colleagues have already touched

on it. I'm going to push you chief on

one of the questions you answered for councilmember white. Data, aclu and the lawsuits. You gave up, and I appreciate

your brevity, in the answer frankly, that you would commit

to providing data without a lawsuit but it's my

understanding that, that if I remember correctly, the lawsuit was filed in February.

You became the chief on an interim basis in December I believe. So what happened between the time when you became chief and the decision to release that data?

Why did it take a lawsuit this year? >> thank you, sir for that.

Actually sir I became chief January 2nd. As you know four days after

that, we encountered the insurrection in our city, something that we have not experienced before, and then on

the heels of that, preparation

for an inauguration on a level

that we have never experienced

before in this city. What -- >> who is responsible for releasing the data, who is responsible for preparing this inmpd? >> somebody of the members on my

team, and here's what -- and what I testified to previously about that. The bottom line answer to that

the lapse in the release, the date when it

should've been released, we should've kept our eye on the ball and we didn't.

That's the bottle line -- bottom line. What I assured council in the last time we had this discussion, it May have been at the performance hearing was that going forward, we will ensure that it got done and it got done when it needed to get done. And that it's not going to require a lawsuit for us to release something that we should be releasing.

After we release the first set of data or a couple of days after that to make sure --

making sure that theidate data was right -- >> I'm going to cut you off, and I appreciate that but it is more than keeping your eye on the ball and I don't need you to respond. I get the point but it's actually a matter of law and as

the chief law enforcement officer of the mpd I know you understand that and hopefully we'll see this data as it is required by law without a lawsuit. Let me ask you about the near act.

just, yes or no, do you support the provisions of the near act? >> or is there any particular aspect of the near act that you do not support? I think that's an easy way to

answer the question. >> we certainly support, I support the direction of working on public health solutions in the near act. I think those are things that

are critically important.

>> 20 titles, chief, so I wanted to know how familiar you are with them and whether there is any particular title that you do not support or you think will not advance public safety. >> nothing has been raised sir

that I'm aware of for me to

object to to be quite honest with you. I think there has been, you know, different levels of support and whether the police

department has fully engaged or not engaged. It May have been a matter of leadership at the time but it's nothing I'm aware of that you

know causes me to push back on. >> what about title 1 c, the

community crime prevention team

that was supposed to pair mental

health and behavioral health officials w the police department and hospitals? >> if I'm not mistaken about

that, I've had some discussion around that, and I think that that one is the one that calls for like, like a code response or something. Is that, is that the correct one, sir? >> that's the one that would pair mpd with behavioral health experts in response. You gave an example about somebody taking their clothes

off in the middle of the street, and waving arms and speaking to

people who weren't there. It would probably respond to scenarios like that one. >> so I think if I'm not mistaken, that's something that

dbh has the lead on for the city. >> so has it been implemented yet, chief? >> I'm not aware that that part of it has been fully implemented. >> go ahead, sir. >> I hate to keep interrupting but I just want to really stay in my time.

I have -- but when I look at the mayor safer stronger D.C. Web

site title 1 c has a green checkmark and says implemented beside it. Were you aware of that? >> repeat your question, sir, I'm sorry, I didn't hear it. Say deagain.

>> when I go to the mayor's

safer stronger dc.Gov web page for implementation of the near

act, title 1 c has a green checkmark and a circle and it says implemented ned neath. Which suggests that this has been implemented. >> yeah, I think the pre-arrest

diversion or something which

relates, related to that was implemented by the administration. At least that's my understanding of it. I May be wrong. But that's my understanding of it are

with respect to that

particular one was the free diverse arrest piece that has been implemented.

>> but the, the pilot, to pair mental health and behavioral health health professionals with

mpd has not occurred? >>> the pilot that they talk about specifically there, I

don't know if it's been, if it's been fully deployed there. I think that we need to look at that beyond where it currently is because to have one mental health person and one mpd for

the whole city or whatever the

model suggested, I really don't

think quite frankly that's

sufficient ft issues that we're facing that we deal with. >> so you say it hasn't been fully deployed which suggests

that some aspect has been deployed. I want to be clear. I want to -- you know, I don't

want to really spend too much time on this. And the Chairman Would know before I would, because he's been chairing this and following this. I don't think it has been deployed. Deployed. And implemented.

And I want to move on but -- >> so sir, in response to that.

That's something that you'll I'll follow up with you on. I'm not familiar with this particular piece that you're

talking about, but if it is something that mpd has not done that mpd is required to do that's something I will follow up with you and the administration about that. >> have you had a chance to read a report from the office of

violence prevention and health ecequity that was developed around the public health strategy to combat the spread of violence using risk assessment tools, cognitive and family-based therapy and service coordination? >> I'm not familiar with that specific report. I've read a lot of reports but I don't know that that's one of them. >> okay.

>> and if you have it to share, I'm certainly willing to check it utor read it or if you can

direct me me to where it is. >> it's required by title 1 b of

the near act. >> okay. >> the community policing working group, are you familiar

with that? >>> if that's the one where we've had a series of the community engagement sessions

where they've talked the stop

data, where we've had howard university I think it was Dr. Muhammad that was involved

in that and as well as, is that -- >> it was said to have been implemented in 2017, and my understanding it was made comprised primarily of people who were already parts of

metropolitan police department's citizen advisory councils.

So in that sense it sounds like you all were preaching to the choir with vespect to

respect to the makeup of the group.

>> yeah, so it's, so I think

that's one that our team has implemented.

That we did back in 2017 with and 2019 is what my team is

saying to me. I will obviously need to if there is something more specific information that you need on that we can certainly get that. >> I would like you to relook at

that and I would like to see the 2019 information. I am familiar with the 2017 information and I didn't feel like it was a real seriousert to engage aspects of the community

that might give you the sort of orgive and

objective and critical critiques necessary to strengthen your community policing efforts. And so I would love for you to look at that again. >> absolutely, sir. Will do. But I want to take it a tep further than that which is fart of the read -- which is part of the reason why I'm doing these community listening sessions around the entire city because I think we have to get really to the heart of what the community wants at the end of the day. So to the extent that we, you know, hit that benchmark that

you mentioned, this is something that I have planned to do that's part of my vision that we are doing that's not necessarily

tied to a requirement by any act.

So thank you for that. >> okay.

Is there any aspect of the data that mpd currently collects that you think is efficient? Are there other aspects of data

that might help advance transparency, community building, relationships, that you should be collecting that

you currently are not? >>> there's nothing that jumps right out at me, but what I'm

hopeful is that as I have these conversations with community, and as we have our health assessment done of the agency, that perhaps a recommendations

May come from that. I'm certainly, I certainly believe that councilmembers

obviously as you talk to constituents in your respective wards that their recommendations or things that are brought to your attention, I want to look at that on the citywide scale and really kind of bring anything that the community or ideas that the communities have around that issue really kind of bring those things to bear. >> thank you, chief, and thank you, Mr. Chair.

I do have more questions for another round.

thank you very much,

councilmember, thanks, cheefer, chief, and we will be doing another round. As I start back up at the top and go back around. One comment this is not directed at any colleague in particular just everybody. I've tried to make sure from a timing perspective if folks start a really good line of questions I've certainly allowed peeping to go pretty well over the eight-minute rounds but we also have public witnesses that I want to make sure that we turn

to at some point, so I know that occasionally like with the last five seconds we drop a really thoughtful question in there and then we extend that time, I'm

hip to that game and I'm guilty

of doing it many times as well. But I will ask my colleagues to make sure we try to stick to our eight minutes because I want to make sure we get everybody time to get through their questions. So I really appreciate it.

All right, chief, let me start,

I happen I wanted to pick up on

the conversation around violence prevention, councilmember white, councilmembermic duffy both

talked about this. So the question I wanted to ask is, every morning I wake up I

get a report, I read through the daily stats I'm sure you do the exact same thing.

But I look through and I see those stats reported out of crime and violent crime that took place. Where does mpd report out the

crimes that were prevented?

Sorry, you're muted. >> sorry about that. Can you hear me now? >> I can hear you now. >> yeah. Thank you, sir.

I don't know that we have a good

measuring tool for what has been prevented.

And I think it's really kind of

akin to what we see with our violence interrupters.

How many homicides did we prevent? Do we really know the answer to that question? Right, we know when they go up we certainly get tagged for

those, but I don't know that we

know how many cases we actually prevent. >> exactly, and that's the point I wanted to make about violence

prevention work, and one I want to acknowledge and appreciate you began some of the responses to questions talking about the fact that our violence interruption efforts, our violence prevention work is needed and it is necessary, and it is good and I appreciate introyou saying that. I want to acknowledge that

because to be frank, your predecessor oftentimes did not

say that, and would actively undermine and discount their work whether it's in the press or with officers so I appreciate you saying that.

I do. Pivoting to saying well but we got to have metrics, we got to have outcomes, we have to acknowledge that actually we do

metrics and outcomes that are part of our violence prevention work but there is also an inherent challenge in measuring the thing that didn't happen and that cuts both for mpd and for violence prevention. And I want to make sure that's

very clear that this is

incredibly important work that I think saves lives, that helps reduce violence, and stops cycles of violence, but I sometimes hear people fall back on well but let's make sure we're measuring it, right, let's

make sure we're having those metrics. This is an inherently hard thing to measure, but there are metrics, however, that are taking place that show the value and show the outcomes but I ask that question because I think it's actually both true as you noted for both mpd and for violence prevention work. It is a hard thing to measure,

the thing that didn't happen. But that, I just want to make

sure I brought that home here. The other piece is, and I wanted

to spend a second on our gun violence prevention eoc. Because this committee last summer created our gun violence prevention director position, linda harley harper has been tapped by the mayor to do that

and she is outstanding and I think is the absolute right

person to take the helm of that. But I also know there will be some people who look to you and say well, all right, both what

is your role but aren't you in charge of pulling everything together. The reality is you're not.

Mpd is a critical partner in that, but you're not in charge of that.

The eoc is a model that is intentionally, as you talked about bringing everybody

together an interdisciplinary,

interagency act of urgency that brings everyone together. I think that's really important to recognize, and then see mpd

plays a role, is a critical role in that.

But is not the whole thing. And so what I was going to ask you if you can be a little more specific about your vision of

how you plug into both at times, you're going to be in support of, and at times you actually

take a step back though from the work that the eoc will do. Can you talk more specifically about your vision of how, how you want to plug into those spaces? >> absolutely, sir. Thank you for that question.

You know, the way that I view

it, mpd, we really are a tool in

the gun violence tool box. Essentially that's what we are.

Along with all of the other

resources, and I must say as I

look across the country, D.C. Is a resource-rich city. we really, really are, the things that we have available

are people through all the hard work of the administration,

through all the hard work of the people that legislative branch

over many years we are resource

rich city and I view mpd's role

as we pivot this, is that we are

a tool in the tool box.

And our focus in the tool box,

you know, you kind of break mpd

out when we're talking about neighborhoods that are in crisis and specifically when we're talking about violent crime that happens in community. Right? Yes, we want to be on the front end of that.

To the extent that we can, help

to inform linda and her team,

hey, robert contee, jack smith,

and john doee as identified through mpd, through onse, whatever, these are the guys that we really got to get ahold of because if not, they're going

to create issues in the community.

And linda's team has an

opportunity to just shower that person with all of those resources, all of those tools

that are in the tool box.

Also recognizing that there are

people in our community who just

will not spent -- respond to those things and there's a law enforcement response for those people who will not respond to those things. Quite frankly, I mean, neighborhoods cannot heal, they cannot grow, they don't, they

will not get better if we still have, you know, carnage in communities where people are dying and gunshots are going off. and the police have a role in that. I don't expect the violence interrer to run in between the gun battle and say hey, stop

shooting and people responds to that. I think that's a law enforcement appropriate response to that. But we have to be careful about

how we use the tool to not necessarily overshadow the accomplishments that the gun

violence eoc I believe will ultimately have as a result of the work that they do. >> okay. Thank you, chief. And so that I don't break my own rule here I'm going to try to move through a couple more questions quickly. Currently if I look to some of

the outcomes from the auditor's report, how would a member of the public learn about the conclusions of an internal investigation into a death by an

officer today? >> right now they really wouldn't learn about that. >> right, correct. >> but for the auditor's report in this case. >> and what about proceedings from a U.S.

Use of force review board? Are those public?

>> those are, are not public as well.

So I think that in the conversation about transparency and accountability, you know, we're highlighting two very significant things.

I think the auditor's report as you acknowledging

acknowledged took a very deep dive. I also think the conclusions

that they have, which, you know, didn't necessarily disagree with

most of mpd's conclusions in

each case but it, it's basically routinely noting that the investigations and use of force review boards were cursory, were

not as comprehensive as they should have been. And what I think is the end result of that is that the

investigations end up, they end

up being disrespectful to the life that was loss because they are not as comprehensive as they

can be and that in essence creates greater distrust and then of course we don't have the public accountability element to that. So as you're talking a lack look at this report, are there specific ways you're looking to reform your ied investigations into those uses of force and especially deadly force? >> yeah, so definitely. Before, before the auditors

report was even revealed, one of the things as I met with the team that I wanted to reinstitute here in the metropolitan police department

was a best practice that started years ago.

And that was back when we, when

we entered into the moa and that was the establishment of our force and investigation team. These guys were the best of the best in the country, at what they did, and you have police agencies from all around the country really coming to mpd,

looking at how they did their investigations and I mean auditors, you know, saying hey,

look this is certainly the best practice. We need to reinstitute that. And that will happen in very

short order I -- I assure you of that. And the reason why that's so important is not just putting

people in place, but these guys you know they have, they, they have a specialty. If if I could give an analogy, you know, it's like, you know, with doctors you have doctors who are general practice doctors, but you also have cardiologists and when you have issues related specifically to

the hard when you talking about matters that are investigated, when you're talking about a serious use of force or loss of

life, I can that that requires a certain level of expertise, and you shouldn't have a general practitioner kind of doing that kind of work.

So to position the city better

to give the life lost the respect that it's due to make

sure that there's a thorough comprehensive investigation product that comes forward. I think that we have a responsibility to do that. We know what a best practice looks like because we started

it, and I think that we have a responsibility you know to reinstitute that. I know why we walk -- why we got away from it, but I don't necessarily think that you know that was, that was the best reason to kind of walk away from it.

And that reason was you probably -- that was probably your next question, you know,

when we first started back then, mpd was shooting people, I mean,

we had, we had a terrible rep as outlined in the "washington post" back then. As we got better at what we did we kind of backed away from, you

know, whether it was for efficiency, efficiencies or whatever, you know we weren't shooting as many people then you start to ask okay well how many people do I have sitting around waiting so to speak for something you know to happen. You know what I mean and and for a doctor, you don't have any patients to operate on so what are you doing with that resource at that time? But I don't think that's the reason for us to get away from the resource, we have to be

smarter about how we use the resource.

okay. I'm out of time but I'd love to follow up more on what our specific timeline is for those changes. >> absolutely, yes, sir.

councilmember gray. >> am I unmuted, Mr. Chairman.

we can hear you. >> thank you very much. I appreciate that.

I happen to return, chief, to some of the line of discussion

that we were having a little bit

the auditor's report

has been alluded to several

times in this hearing thus far,

and that report also looked at a

number of case studies where the

auditor documented and

identified serious lapses in the mpd's investigation.

2018 and 2019 uses of deadly force.

And they, they specifically identified a failure

comprehensively if I can quote

reviewed the events leading up to four fatalities that we looked at. And one of the situations that

it looked at was what we talked about earlier and that is the jeffrey price situation.

And if I can quote, chief, the

auditor noted that weaknesses

identified in our 2016 report

have not been remedied, and

indeed, have grown substantially

worse while the department has appeared and I quote to resist

or to be unconcerned with

As I noted in the documents, you

agreed with the report's recommendations and pledged to

implement the changes by the end

So assuming that's true, chief,

what do you see as the next

critical steps to be pursued in addressing those things with

which you already agree? >> so the first thing, thank you for the question, councilmember.

The first thing we have to do is identify the best of the best of

the investigators who vt capacity to -- have the capacity

to do this particular type of working looking at their skill set as they work as an investigator, the types of cases

that they worked on, you know, of the training that they've had up to this point. All of those things are very important in terms of making sure we got the right people on the bus.

Beyond that, the next thing that's important is to make sure what was critical in this success of the previous fit team that we had was to make sure that they had the right training, right?

All these things that they

talked about in the report are

things that are, our industry you know best practices, and we have to make sure that the people who are doing this work, that they have that training. That they have the training on these best practices in terms of the way that they approach the work that they will be doing.

To your point about the lack of a comprehensive investigation,

if your investigation is

narrowly focused, sir, on the just the incident that occurred, the shooting, let's say, that

occurred, and it didn't look at the things that led up to the shooting, perhaps even the opportunities that we May have had to deescalate a situation prior to getting to the shooting, then we're not doing the police department, the city, or the community, the involved family, we're not doing anybody justice by just narrowly talking about that. So we have to make sure that we get the right people on the bus and that we get them that training, that they need in order for these investigations to look like what I know that

they can look like. Because we've been the standard before. And we will be again under my leadership.

I assure you of that. >> okay, well I appreciate that, chief.

We talked about jeffrey price's

family earlier also, and the way

they were so rudely, disrespectfully treated by members who came onto their

property, and I know the family.

I know in fact I don't know if you know jay brown but he is, he is someone who I I know well who

is very active and very

constructive in to trying to find

solutions to community problems. Let me ask you about the gun recovery unit which has been

focused on great deal by me and others.

What steps have you taken to

retrain and to reshape, reconstitute the gun recovery

unit to keep things like happened then from walking onto

people's property and being so disrespectful to not having that happen again.

>> so I've already started that process. Thank you for that question, sir, and I'm not sure if you were on when I originally mentioned this but it starts with leadership and that leadership starts with me. Maybe a friday ago or two fridays ago I can't remember exactly when it was, but I brought every member and supervisor of the gun recovery

unit in and I had a personal, very personal and direct

conversation with them about

many things, more importantly, about expectations.

My expectations specifically. I think that, you know, when you

have a, a entity within the police department or anywhere,

and you say, hey, you know, here's what the marching orders are, if there is a change in direction in fairness to the people involved, I think you

have to be very clear about what those marching orders are.

I want to make sure that the

things that we do are not exacerbating many of the issues that we see in communities. And I think it was very

important for that message to to be communicated directly by me not

filtered through, you know, some

commander to the captain to the lieutenant and the sergeant interpreting what I said and

then communicating that to the members in the unit. And I think we really moved forward.

There are some things with

respect to some of our tactics

that we currently or that we

were using that we're not using anymore and I'm not you know I'm

not going to say, hey, it's these, particular tactics but I will say this. If there are tactics that were particularly harmful to the community, and I'm listening to

community here, those are

tactics that we're not going to use -- >> is there new leadership for

the gun recovery unit to -- >> say it again, sir?

>> is there new leadership of

the gun recovery unit? Because that seemed to be one of the failings to me. >> so that's one of the things that I'm looking at that I'm revamping and that we've talked about that I've talked about with them. I'm adding additional personnel

in terms of leadership to the gun recovery unit. I know a lot of time in our communities the first thing people say is hey, look, you know I want to see a white shirt, this is additional lieu tenant who going to be -- who will be there. And there are other changes within the unit itself in terms of how they operate, how they do what they do, that will be revamped that I'm looking at that I've already had discussions with them about. The timeline that we can expect changes will be in the next 30 to 60 days, 60 at the longest. They've already been told about new training that's coming their way in fact, in fact I should

add that they asked for, they asked for, for the additional training, with respect to some of the tablghtics and things that I have -- tactics and

things that I've been talking to them about. I certainly want to honor that. I can tell you that that certainly includes you know representatives from our U.S.

Attorney's office and others and as I've talked to the leadership at the assistant chief level, I think it should also include some component of community as well with respect to that in terms of what that impact looks

like in community. >> well, I would ask you along

the way, chief, jay brown is

jeffrey price's uncle. And I would ask you to reach out

to him. He's somebody who I have found

to be very constructive in our

community, and very engaged in trying to find solutions,

working with our law enforcement officials to be able to do things differently and some of the things you talk about in terms of, you know, things that

May not necessarily involve police I think he has some very good ideas about those. And has done some of those

things personally himself. So I would ask you to reach out to him. And have a conversation with him

and I'll be happy to work to try to range arrange that.

My last comment is we've been

told that jumpouts don't exist.

I've been told that myself and yet we see a lot of our communities who look at

situations that see or at least their own assessment is that these are jumpouts who are involved.

So is there such a thing as a jumpout group that works on behalf of mpd?

Or works for mpd? >> thank you for the question, sir. I'm going to talk to jay brown and then I will touch on that. I agree with you. I think jay brown is a

phenomenal guy. We've actually already met.

He participated in my first, in

my first chat with the chief. Our perspectives you know what I

mean, he certainly challenged me on some things but I think at the end of the day when you talk about the program, it's a program on community shoulders and the things that he's trying to push forward and I think that those are absolutely great ideas.

And I'm certain, I'm certain that there is space for me to

work with him on a lot of those ideas. >> I agree with that. I agree with that. >> so I agreed with you there. With respect to the jumpouts specifically, I will answer the question this way. To the extent that the community

has a perception that there is

jumpouts, tactics that we deploy have community members to believe that we have jumpouts, no, we don't have them but in the mind of the community we do

and we do based upon the actions.

Now I know from my community and from practice in terms of what

we do, jumpouts from 1989-90 to just get out of the car and wait

to see who runs, you know, without any intelligence, without any information was what we did then.

What we do now is different from that but the caveat here in that

we have to appreciate is the community's understanding interpretation and reaction to what we do. So to the extent that it adversely impacts the community,

we have to reassess how we do that better. And that's what I'm working on within the department, how we do that better. And I think that there is room to do that.

And that is to be more strategic

about what you do and how you do it. >> thank you, chief.

>> my time is up, chief.

I'll have the other questions. Thank you.

thank you very much.

Councilmember cheh? >> councilmember cheh, are you still there? >> yes, I'm still here. Thank you very much.

Sometimes getting the arrow to the spot -- I have to clarify something very important with

you, chief right off the bat. Is it really true that you can't

add cold eggs to cake batter? >> that -- that is correct, ma'am.

>> is that a thing? >> they, they should sit out at

room temperature first, and once they reach room temperature, when you start to stir them, there is a different reaction when you introduce them to the batter. So that is a fact. >> well, thank you very much, good tip. >> yes, ma'am. >> absolutely.

>> I do have some relevant questions.

First of all, in terms of guns and gun recovery, you know, as you know, we're pretty much a

wash in guns and so guns are a real problem for us.

When I had occasion to speak to people who were, you know, working with the commission that was created by the council you know to look at police practices

and so on, there was a members who said, and you can tell me whether this is correct or not, something along the lines that

there are about 500 people who

we know who they are who are

likely to be victims or likely

to be perpetrators of crime, and the best way to deal with the

gun problem is not to have, you know, an excessive stob and

frisk program let's say, but

rather to interact with those folks. I don't know how you would have

them come in, what exactly you

would do, but are you aware of

this fact, of this phenomenon? That there is a subset of people

that we can identify who are likely to be victims or likely

to be perpetrators? >> yes, ma'am, I'm very aware of it.

Thank you for the question.

And I think that the strategy that is unfolding before us with

the gun violence eoc, with the representatives from the onse

office, and cure the streets are actually really kind of lends credibility to that.

The people that are being focused on are not just being

focused on for law enforcement purposes. The people that are being

focused on are focused on for a host of services in an effort

that we do not have to result to a law enforcement type response to address those individuals.

You know, lots of people -- >> excuse me, I don't mean to

interrupt you but to move along. So you're aware of this and mpd

is working with our various entities that we've created to have this kind of intervention,

so the answer to that is yes. >> yes, absolutely, yes, ma'am.

And we'll be getting even more laser focused on that because

there is some work that's being done behind the scenes in that

space right now to real make sure we're focusing on the right people. >> okay. Another thing that I wanted to

ask about is the residency of our police.

What is the percentage of police

who are resident in the district of columbia?

>> so right now we're sitting at about 17% of the, of the sworn

officers that are residents in the district. >> okay, a lot of literature, a

lot of data indicate that when police officers live in the communities where they police,

you have a whole much better reaction. And I understand you know the cost of housing and the cost of

living in the district and so on, but nevertheless, I don't think we're making enough of an

effort to get our police

officers and even with

subsidized housing or what it May take to be residents of the

district of columbia.

What would you do, what are you doing to get more of our officers to live in the district

of columbia? >> thank you, councilmember. So a couple of things there. I think I mentioned this a little earlier to council -- one of the councilmembers.

I think that there certainly is

value in having people to be

residents of the district of columbia but I also think that

there are people who who come from outside of our city who also bring value to community. They bring different perspectives to serving our community.

I've seen in, in many different ways. The one program that we know that we have right now where

we're absolutely 100% D.C. Residents certainly and this is an area where the council and everybody can be helpful I think we can all get behind this is to support our police cadet program. We have one 00

100 cadets, all 100 of

them are D.C. Residents and

that's how you begin to build that base. They're not of the 17% we're talking about. We're only talking about sworn police officers.

100% of our cadets are D.C. Residents not born here necessarily but raised here in our city, go to school -- went to school here in our city and now they're employed bure our police department. So I think that we need to invest and expand in that program so that we grow the force and the number of people who live here in our city. >> okay, I would just like to

note that I would ask that you

think about a more invigorated approach, even, I love the cadet program. It's great.

But even more beyond that because I think having our officers live in the district of columbia with whatever supports we might have to give them is

really an important thing. 17% is just way too low. All right let me ask you something. >> councilmember, before you move from that, I just, one of the other things I didn't mention to you, the other piece that I was going to mention to you, you know, we've also had financial incentives where we've taken some of the money within the police department and actually gave a financial incentive for people to, for officers, new officers to, to live in D.C.

We had about 103 people to take advantage of that.

We were assisting with the first

five or six monthsepe pool --

months of people moving to the

district assisting with rent or mortgage. Invigorating programs like that, expanding them will really be attractive to have other people really take advantage. >> yes and I would appreciate it if you will put a focus on that

as I said I really think that connection here with the effective and community policing

is quite clear. I want to also ask you about something else.

I don't know how many times I've

spoken to officers or commanders

or whatever, and they express a

good deal of frustration with

the fact that they May capture a criminals and yet the next day

they see them on the street again.

You know, the connection with our U.S. Attorneys office and

the release of people, so

routinely, is that an issue that

concerns you? >> you know I think council, thank you if the question, councilmember.

It kind of came up a little bit earlier.

I think that it's really an opportunity while we talk about reimagining the police and that kind of thing, I think it's really an opportunity to rethink

public safety in our city and what do we want that to look like.

There are many instances where that happens. I don't necessarily think that it's appropriate for you know police officers to, you know,

kind of spew that in the finger

pointing kind of way, but -- >> just having a private conversation with me, that's --

>> right, but another councilmember mentioned earlier I think it was councilmember mcduffie that officers have

actually stated that in you know

a forum where there are many members of the community.

So I'm just addressing it from the, from the standpoint that I think -- >> so what do you think about this? What's your, what's your thought? What are your thoughts about this issue?

>> yeah, I think it's an issue where we have to really kind of talk about public safety through a different lenthan just the police. Are there people, in our

community, right now, who have committed murder and are walking

around with a, a ankle box on

that, on them they're under high intensity supervision, pending their trial, absolutely. Do I agree with that? I absolutely agree. Do not agree with that. I don't think that they should

be walking around the streets of the district of columbia. Are there people I think that there was one recently a case where residents were very upset about on wisconsin avenue where

resident was assaulted, and within a matter of hours, the person was back out on the street.

I think that that's a lrnlger pub -- larger public safety discussion. Yes, the officers, I will arrest them.

Yes, the U.S. Attorney's office has judicial discretion about what they want to do and the courts have their discretion, but that's a larger discussion about what do we want our communities to look like.

So that I'm not pointing the

finger at this guy or that guy. What's happening, does that represent what our community wants? Does the community want to see people who rob people, let's take the murderers off the table for a minute because we got plenty of robbers out there too. Does the guy who has repeated robberies or the guy who has repeated instances of being in

possession of a firearm, should

we allow this guy to continue to operate in community? That's a question that's really beyond me. And I think that we have to be

very transparent about that, and we can't just point fingers at the other group. What does the community want and I think that we in terms of the system, the ecosystem, we have to respond to the needs and

wants of the community. >> okay, I take your point. I'm out of time. I wanted to do what councilmember allen said we shouldn't do.

I wanted to drop at the very end

a huge question that required great responses over a long period of time. But I won't.

Thank you, Chairman Allen.

thank you, councilmember. Let me turn to councilmember

lewis george. >> I saw councilmember lewis george there a moment ago. >> oh, oh, my bad. >> I got her. >> here we go.

you're back. >> there we go. Sorry. I want to follow up just on one the line of questions that

councilmember cheh was on. Basically your response to chief contee. My question is, have officers because like councilmember mcduffie said, this has happened

in our meetings as well in our

community where officers bring

up the argument that, well it's the judges, it's the U.S.

Attorney's office, it's the oag,

it's the council, and so as a result of that, I also hear,

I've heard them say officers stopped arresting people for crimes and their notion is well I'm not going -- I'm not going

to do my job since the rest of,

since, since oag won't do or U.S. Ad or the judges won't do their job. Is that happening? Do you know that that's happening that officers are not

arresting or doing that piece, and what type of ownership do

you all take in that process because the piece is not just pointing the fingers, the point

is they don't -- the ownership and accountability on what your

job is and what's being done. >> thank you for that question, councilmember.

The short answer regarding the arrests, no, we have not stopped arresting people. We arrested over 20,000 people last year.

And that's down from the 30,000 a year before but I think depending on who you're talking to, right, some people say we need to arrest more -- less people and some people say police need to arrest more.

So I mean, I think you know the people who need to be arrested should be arrested. That's what I think.

And whatever that number is, that's what it is.

You know, we don't have a class

that we teach where we tell officers and go back out in the community, we're not doing this, we're not doing work. You know, are there -- could there be some officer out there who decided that, you know, he or she is going to be lazy and they're not going to do their

job today naforce of over 3,600 yes I got to own that.

I'm sure I can find one or two or three or ten that think that way. But I can tell you that that's not the overall philosophy of this department, it's certainly

not my philosophy, and I think

by looking at arresting 20,000 people, that's not a small number for a city this size. It really is not.

And if we can get to what we're

talking about here, on this, on this confirmation hearing and what we're talking about the direction that we're going in the city, I think we can

probably expect to see less

people arrested, but the right epipeople arrested.

So if we can get to that space, without having to arrest the whole entire city I'm fine with that. Because we've already demonstrated and I think there's an appetite in the community

that says -- we cannot arrest our way out of this. >> right so to that point i

would like to follow-up on councilmember mcduffie's question that the fact that the community crime prevention team

envisioned in the near act was never implemented and instead we saw a mental health diverse

programs -- diversion programs and this arrest diversion program is extremely small with only a few officers working in partnership and only a few calls

going to these teams each day. This program hasn't been expanded and I guess in part because there was no evaluation was required.

Can you commit to working with

debh to evaluate the program, can you commit to not, it being

a few officers, but all officers

working in partnership, and can

you commit to revisiting the value of a multidisciplinary

response team responding to behavioral health calls as the near act has called for? >> thank you, councilmember, for that question. I can assure you that that's something that we're working on.

I know that the administration

right now is working on a response alternative responses to the mental health calls and the rest of them. The rest of the calls that we

are trying to identify with community, law enforcement, all

the partners involved in that. I do not want to speak out of turn about, you know, my

understanding or lack thereof or ignorance of this specific piece

of the near act, what we're doing, what we haven't done, you know, I'm thinking about, as you talk about that, and having, you

know a few officers trained, I'm also thinking about the 800 some

officers that we have trained in

crisis intervention by dbh to do this type of work and to make referrals. So I don't want to speak out of turn here. I will say that I will work on it.

I will work on making sure that we're doing exactly what we're required to do. And then some quite frankly. I think that this is the direction that we need to go as a city. I've said that over and over and

over again. I understand it in community. I've said it here. I've said it internally within the department. So I will work on that councilmember. >> I appreciate that. Okay, okay, and I appreciate that.

My point to that is, if everybody is headed in the right direction, then, you know, then things would add up.

Should be adding up better, right? Because I know the near act has

been here for, you know, been in legislation and so I hope to see

that we will have 100% officers

who are trained and ready to

commit calls to db hand other

areas and not themselves. I want to ask some yes or no questions, and I know you'll be

tempted to expand, but I just

need a yes or no if possible.

We've discussed the auditor's report several times and the lack of transparency. Do you support the public release of the outcomes of use

of force investigations, yes or no?

>> I think that there's something I'm open to. I'm certainly open to it. I am.

Because I think that, again, in

this situation, it came out as a result of the auditor's report, I just need to talk to my team about the best way to do that. But I think -- my goal is to work towards yes. >> okay.

Do you support legislation that

will require body worn camera to be released to the public, and

do you support, do you report

reform laws -- do you support a zero tolerance policy and disciplinary consequences for officers who don't enable their

body cameras, especially on instances of, from the gun

recovery unit or instenses of -- instances of stop and frisk? >> so it sound like there were two questions in there, one was about body worn camera, what was the other one, councilmember, I'm sorry. >> do you support a zero tolerance policy and disciplinary consequences for officers who do not enable their body worn cameras?

>> yeah, and that currently that's something that the department, we take very seriously. I have not seen since the, in

the weeks that I've been in the

seat, I know that instances of those where we have body worn camera violations have been, has

steadily decreased from the initial deployment. It's something that we take very seriously in matters that warrant discipline, we certainly issue discipline. In matters where you know it's a malfunction or something like

that, that's not the officer's fault, obviously that's a mitigating factor we also take those into consideration. >> right. Okay.

Do you support making the

outcomes of concluded opc complaints, publicly available such as including officer's names, outcomes, and investigation as other jurisdictions such as new york

just jurisdictions have recently done? >> yeah, I want to look at what -- exactly what they did. I know there was legislation behind that. I don't necessarily think that that's something that we're required legislation for us to get to yes. I need to understand what the

implications of that will be. But it's certainly something that I'm also willing to entertain. I don't think that we should just be in a straight up no

policy with respect to that. >> the other question I have was regarding the foia request. I've heard that a major barrier to mpd transparency is the department's practicing of

denying fee waivers in D.C. Foia requests even where information being sought is considered to be primarily benefiting the general public. And some individuals never get a response at all. As chief, will you agree to make changes to increase foia requests rate and transparency

from mpd? Their response rate?

And trar panessancy of mpd? >> yeah I need to look at their

response rate quite frankly, councilmember, and I don't know

where it is and where the inefficiencies are if we're not performing up to standard. But to the extent that it's a concern for the community and if you've heard about that, that has not been brought to my, my

attention specifically, in my discussions with community it is something that I'm certainly willing to look at and make whatever changes we need to make

there to fix it. >> okay, I got 30 seconds in, 30 seconds lift

left, I get yes or no. >> the clock is going the other direction.

Oh, sorry, is it? Sorry. >> I appreciate it.

Let me turn to councilmember mcduffie. >> thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chief, I didn't know it was going to be my turn this quickly but let me pick up where I left off. I had a series of things I wanted to ask about.

You talked earlier about consent searches and I'm not sure I

remember what the context was.

But in your opinion, should mpd

be and officers be allowed to do consent searches of routine traffic stops?

Do you think it's necessary? >> not in every case.

I think the circumstances could dictate that. And I think that --

>> if the stop -- reform routine

matter and there is -- beside the routine traffic

violation there is no reasonable suspicion of criminal activity is there a need for a consent search? >> yeah, if that's the case, just as plainly as you articulled it, then no, I don't think that's something where we should, you know, look to do a consent search if I'm you know

stopping you because whatever, your tail light is out but again

the situation will determine that. >> okay. Go ahead, sir.

>> well, I was just going going to ask, in terms of when there are neighborly disputes, music's too loud are, those instances where you think mpd should be called

on to respond to a 9-1-1? >> no. No. >> have you given thought to what kind of agency or what kind of governmental response should occur if any?

>> I think that we need to

really have that, I mean, that's

a conversation beyond just mpd. And I'm certainly, I know that there are discussions that are

going on right now about alternatives responses. I'm excited quite frankly about

whatever the outcome to that is

going to be. I think there are a number of things and one of the examples I gave, going to get the 15-year-old out of bed because he won't listen to his grandmother and go to school. There has to be a better response to that. So I'm committed to, to engaging

in that discussion, sir. >> okay. Let me talk a little bit just really quickly. I know a couple of members have brought this up and this is something I had as a line of questions so I don't want to be redundant but in terms of

residency, with mpd, you believe

that, I believe you said ensure that you don't think there needs to be a residency requirement?

>> I would, I would ask though, do you believe that police

officers who live in their

communities, in in most cases

are more attentive more aware and more culturally competent of what policing looks like?

In the district of columbia? >> yes.

>> and are there specific

programs that you think should be enhanced for other -- programs you have seen in other

jurisdictions to consider to

attract police officers to the

district of columbia,

particularly by -- homes to be

invested? >> yeah, I think -- we've been trying to be creative about that over, over the years in terms of, you know, the financial incentives. We've had for all D.C. Government employees first time home buyers program.

I think those things are, are

great opportunities for officers to consider. But you know, I also think that, you know, when we're talking about as we have in this discussion about safer

communities, you know, you don't, some officers they don't want to necessarily, you know

take the, the, you know the workload or what they've been dealing with at work want to take that home. you know, I know personally that

we've had members of the administration, councilmembers homes directly targed.

You know, as a result of the

work that they do here in the city. And I think that, you know, you know, those are personal decisions that people make. You know, what I'm concerned about at the end of the day is the service that they provide

when they, when they're here. And I have a responsibility to

make sure that we're focusing on all those culturally competent things that you talked about to make sure that they're best

positioned to operate in community. I love to see more officers here, living in D.C. I would. But I certainly understand the other challenges that exist in that space. >> when you start -- were you still in high school when you started the cadet program. >> I was, sir, and I walked up

21st street with a uniform on to our apartment and that was, it took some courage to do that. Trust me when I tell you that. >> I don't have to trust you. I know it. I wouldn't walk up 21st street

back in the day. Without folks who lived on

21st street but I will say that, that image of you walking up 21st street in your uniform as somebody who lived and was born and raised in that community, I think, you know is powerful and I said it earlier. In terms of the cadet program,

do you know how many or what

percentage of mpd's sworn personnel are or have joined the

force through the cadet program? >> yes hold on.

I'll have that. Councilmember, lets me -- I'll get back to you an exact number but here is what I can tell you about that.

The retention rate is the highest retention rate we have of all of our employees. Those that come through the cadet program who make it through and become police officers, they have the highest retention rate of -- they don't leave to go to other departments.

They don't leave to go do other careers. They stay here. And I think that's the same power in what we have right here in our city in the jewel that we

have in the program itself. >> so that's one of those instances where I ask the question and I -- because I wanted to hear you say it in the out of order.

And then follow-up with at some point where we talk about resources and budgets because when I'm out there in the

community, and I see as you, when you traveling I think you said somewhere in virginia and

you get nervous when the police,

I still get nervous in my own

city becausef my experience in my own city growing up.

I don't get nervous when I show

up on the scene or the person in

the car is somebody who I know

or familiar with who went to wilson, who went to carroll, who played ball number 10 or number

12 or number 11, who in some

point I know is -- not suggesting they don't make mistakes or don't violate the law don't do things that get them disciplined within the department. What I'm saying is, I think that

there are more likely to understand my experience as a native washingtonian, as a person of color in the district

of columbia, and perhaps if I'm standing on the corner, you

know, with a hoody on, and some camouflage pants as a 45-year-old educated lawyer they

won't assume that I'm there to

do something that violates the law. And I think that's important. And so I would love to work with

you and my colleagues because I

think a lot more that we can do

to get our police officers and to hire through the cadet program than we have done and I

do believe that quality

community policing, it really

begons awith people who, who are willing to understand the

communities within which they

police. And don't come in with prejudices and other

preconceived notions about the people in langston terrace because some people in langston terrace grow up to the police chiefs. >> absolutely, I agree, sir, I

agree wholeheartedly with that.

One type of attitude and activity in the community is contagious, I really do so I would hope that other polices who see that, hey, how can I go into community and not have friction, you know, when this officer goes, he doesn't have any issues. How can I get some of that? Number one.

so I think that there's value there.

And here's something else I know about D.C. Residents true home grown born and raised D.C. Folks. When our people do have issues

and they mess up, we can talk about them, but nobody else better not talk about them. So we have a way of correcting

our own in community when they do things that are not in line with the values of community.

And so when we somebody, there is an inner correction if you will that goes beyond anything I could mandate or anything that

you could legislate that I think

is the power in having kids who

are born and raised in the city.

thank you, my time is expired. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

thank you, councilmember, thank you, chief. We're going to do one final round. We were, to our public witnesses that are watching, we were

trying to transition about 1:30, so we're runninginto a little bit behind but we'll do one final round, 5-minute rounds for colleagues. And then we'll transition to our public witnesses. I did just want to note real fast simply I'm sure the chief was going to get to those

numbers I just happened to have them in front of me. When we talk about ritension retention of our cadets there has only been

10 to 15% turnover since fy '17 so it is, I agree with all the comments I've heard thus far

that we don't see a lot of turnover in that program, and it's one that obviously we've

worked as the committee with the executive to grow that from I think maybe in fy '17 it was

around 25 per year. >> 15. >> steadily increase that. So I appreciate the conversation

Chief I wanted to, with my final time, I want to talk a second

around the idea of why I think the non-law enforcement alternatives are so important. We held a really robust hearing about this in December. Where we learned from groups nationally that talked about their experiences and their towns. We talked about organizations that are doing some of this work on the local level buts we have not scaled up at all in terms of

where we can really be with this. And for me it was really driven home actually last week when we held our performance oversight hearing with uoc. The office of unifight communication -- unified communications for the public who play not know they receive

the 9-1-1 calls and then do dispatch and in their review, over the

the last six months, they they

had I believe it was 8,200, so 8200 nonemergency police calls

through 9-1-1 where they dispatched police but it was a non-emergency. And then when they looked through the 8200 over the course of the last six months, they

found that only 200 of them

actually needed a responding officer. That's 8,000 calls in a six-month period where we didn't actually need to send the police officer, that a armed police officer was not the right response.

That's 16,000 calls a year. And when we think about how we get that right response to the right person, whether that's a social worker, whether that's a paramedic, whether that's a

combination of those, that's why

to me this holds so much power in terms of getting the right

resources to the right people.

So chief, you know you gave the example earlier and I appreciate you do doing it around the gentleman who what sounds like

was clearly having a mental health crisis I think it was

only a week or so ago in dupont

circle apparently there was somebody who had a shovel and

was digging holes but the response ended up being dozens of police oferszs. -- officers.

I'm going to waver very likely that person was experiencing a mental health crisis there as well.

How, how do you envision

proactively working with ouc?

Ploactively working with dbh to

create something where the right type of response can get out?

How do you help proactively

identify those calls that mpd doesn't need to be the person

that responds to every loud

noise or firework that goes off

so that, so that we target those resources the right way. I want to give you a chance to talk specifically about how you proactively work in that space,

not just have ouc or dbh kind of come to you with something. >> yeah, so, right now we're

working with ouc actually

proactively on that. I think that, you know, you can't have that conversation

with mpd at the table because

you know it has to be the

decision point has to be informed. Right? Many of the calls that we, that

we received you know, while

dispatchers are dispatching it, the value effort for mpd is we have the ability to tell you

what we see and what we experience what's going on once we get there. And then from that what you're

gleaning from that is okay, now now we know what the police respond, the police were called,

what's the outcome? What was the expected outcome from this call to police? And I think that's where really the value add is.

Was the value add or not the --

what was the outcome that we

were looking for incarceration

ortrophist some law broken or --

there was some law broken or some outcome we were looking for that we just needed to get the people

person help. So to have mpd at the table

being able to inform on those

things, you know, uoc now is

better able to narrow down to that 200 because of mpd's involvement. They couldn't do that if they, you know, if it was just them processing the call and what was the outcome. He was sent on the way. We are part of that process, and I think to the extent that we are willing to continue to engage in that conversation

about other things, grandma calling for the kid, I keep saying that, but that's real. That's a call that we get that's

real to the extent that we can inform on those conversations, I

think the city is going to come out better as a result of that.

absolutely. Well let me say as my time wraps up here, I appreciate that you

are proactively engaged with ouc. To me, you know we see it in December.

We said it here. We have some community-based organizations that are already doing some of this type of work. We obviously got to figure out

strategies of how be scale up. -- we scale up to be able to handle the capacity that we want to but it sounds like right off the bat we can identify 16,000 calls that could've had a different type of response. And at the end of the day, most people are, they're just looking for help for somebody. Right? Like they're not looking for an incarceration as an option. They're just looking for some help. They're looking for resolution, and we're all, have been guilty I think. Collectively. Of just telling everybody to call 9

9-1-1 for anything so what that's done is shifted and put everything under the sun in terms of what we think is the right dispatch for 9-1-1. And I think that then drives so much more our calls for service that touches on our force numbers, touches on everything else when we drive everything through that tunnel. So there's a lot of work here. I appreciate that you're committed to working with on

these types of alternatives because I think it's going to be better for the city, better for mpd.

Let me turn now to councilmember

gray for his final round.

I think you're muted, Mr. Gray. >> okay. Am I unmuted now? Thank you very much. Chief, I just have two additional issues that I want to

pursue with you. We talked, we talked earlier,

which I appreciated that conversation, I think councilmember cheh. I think she asked you what the

percentage is of people who actually live, officer whose

actually live in the district of columbia.

And I think you said there were

17% which means 83% -- in the district of columbia. I had a piece of legislation that I'm just about to reviews and I really would like to get your, your sentiments on it, chief.

And that is it would allow those who lived in the district of

columbia to actually not have to pay district of columbia income taxes.

There then is of course a financial incentive to the

officer who's living in the city

to be able to live in the city

and stay in the city it would give us further investment than people who actually living in the city.

I think would be an additional motivation.

to be able to get people

actually live in the district of columbia. I would be happy, chief, to

include some metrics that we can

measure the outcome by by performance? I would include in the legislation, we would measure it on, you know, on a regular

basis, obviously is easy to determine who lives in the city

and who doesn't. If people are, live in the city or not living in the city, and not paying their taxes, easy to

get that information, that information available to us.

So I want to ask you if you

would support an effort to do

that, that police officers can gnaw would not have to pay district income taxes as long as

they live in the city. >> well, thank you for the question, councilmember.

You know, I think that, you know, to the extent that, you

know, that is something that the

administration that the city has

an appetite for, I don't think anything is off the table at this point. >> what about you though, chief? I just want to know where you are at this point because your

opinion is very important to me in being able to move forward

with something like this. >> yeah, I mean without having seen the legislation -- all the legislation -- >> pretty straightforward, chief t. Really is. It's 3r50eu9

pretty straightforward. You don't pay your district income tax if you live in the city. >> yeah I pay a lot of taxes too

and I appreciate that, councilmember. Certainly I think it's something

that will be attractive but to be able to commit to it at that point at this point just you

know in the one or 30-second download that I have you know I don't know that I can completely commit to it. I think that we need to look at

options like that that are, that

will make the eyebrows raise up and that May attract people to this agency. I think it's something that we should explore for certain. >> well I heard you talk about the importance of the cadet

program, which I heartily support very much so. And this is another one that I

think is pretty stray straightforward in terms of what we're trying to accomplish with this and I would love to have your support to be able to move forward with this because chief if you're saying this, that's going to resonate with a lot of

people about the value,

financial value of living in our city.

Which I think is important. >> thank you, sir, for that. I appreciate that. It's certainly something you know at the appropriate time

that I will certainly look at as well, sir. >> okay. I have one other question for you. >> yes, sir. >> you are very familiar with

the sixth district in fact I don't -- I don't know if you were still at the sixth district

but when we moved from 42nd

and benning out to the old merrick school. The parking situation out there

And frankly what I think we need and I want to ask you your support for such an effort that

is to create a parking capacity on the grounds of the old

merrick school of now sixth district station because what we

have is we have a lot of the

officers who do business on the street there. People in the sixth district

can't even getting a parking space to be able to go do whatever business they are going to do there. So I would like it ask you for

your support for a parking

facility on the grounds of the

>> thank you for the question. I'm very familiar with the issue. I know it's a challenge for all parties involved. The community, the officers there, et cetera. I think it's something we certainly should explore.

What's the, the capacity for that. I know that, I didn't move into the new building.

I left 6 d before then but I

know it was an issue when we were having the discussions about moving to that facility, that problem. So it has long existed, and I

think it's time that we look at other alternatives to remedy

that for the community and for the officers that are assigned there, sir. >> would you support us putting a parking facility on the grounds out there? We've talked about this heretofore, and I'm prepared to

move to try to get that done. Especially to make it more convenient for our officers as

well as the public going to the 6th district now to be able to

do whatever business they have. >> what I would advocate for is a better solution, sir and to the extent dgs has the responsibility for facilities and that kind of thing, whatever the best solutions are, you know, I'm all for it. I don't know if it's -- you

know, not my area of expertise, certainly. But I'm all for whatever is going to resolve the problem so I would certainly lean on them

to, to make whatever recommendation we need to remedy that.

But it has been a long standing issue. >> thank you, chief. >> and I will -- >> thank you, councilmember. >> I will be pursuing that, chief, and I hope you will support it. >>> thank you, sir. >> thank you very much. Let me turn next to councilmember pinto.

For our final round.

>>> thank you, Chairman.

So chief contee, as you've been serving as interim chief for a

couple of months now, and we've

seen some troubling trends over

the last year or so with an

increase in carjackings in georgetown for example, and some

drug activity going on in china

town, what is your viewpoint on

how best to address these issues in the immediate to short-term. You know? Of course over the long-term we have to provide additional access to resources to people and ensure that we're sporting

them as a community, but from the perspective of the police

department, how can we tamp down

some of these crimes that we've seen and so many of our

neighbors are so concerned about lately. >> thank you for the question, councilmember. The answer might not be that popular, but you know I promise to just kind of give it to you straight. And the issue that we're having

right now is there is no accountability in that area.

We know that we have a significant population of our juveniles that are involved in

the crime of carjacking.

72% actually of the individuals arrested have been juveniles.

We saw the tragic outcome of

what happened the other day, juveniles involved and when there is no accountability in place, you know, I think we tend to see the same behavior over and over again, you know, those red light cameras that we, that

we don't like around the city,

they change behavior when you go through and you get one of those $250 tickets in the mail, you know, the thought of you kind of going down that street you put on brakes, you do something different. And right now we're not doing anything different except for we bring people in, we incarcerate them for whatever the initial

crime is, especially in the covid environment and when there is no accountability and I'm saying accountability because those same individuals are out still carjacking that's an issue

that we have to grapple with as a city on the best way to deal with that. I can lock them up. I can do that all day but I don't think that's getting us the reswrawbl that we need. I think -- resolve that we need. I think we have to take a deeper look at that issue to really bring true resolution to really stop it. It's a gnash national issue, yes,

going on in major cities all across the country but specifically here for D.C., we have to hold people accountable for that. >> well, I agree with you there,

and as we look at the long-term,

we have to employ other strategies to ensure that our

young people aren't engaged in

the activity, but in the short-term, neighbors feel unsafe, feel like there's crime going on around them and that there's nothing being done about

it and so what is your view over

the short-term to try to discourage any of this crime from going on. >> yeah, I wouldn't have viewed it, I wouldn't agree that nothing is being done. We have our carjacking task force that mpd started as soon as I got in place here.

We partnered up not just with

mpd members and doing things strategically internal we looped in our federal portners to that.

We now have a regional carjacking task force that includes montgomery county, prince georges county that the metropolitan police department is part of.

some of the same kids that we're and people that we're arresting here in the district of columbia

are being arrested in montgomery

county are being arrested in prince georges county for the crime of carjacking a number of the individuals involved while we have not been able to charge

them with carjacking because we

did not, we don't have a good witness for the carjacking we have been able to charge them

with other crimes with motor vehicle theft as an example or unauthorized use of a vehicle so we made a ton of arrests, you

know, those that are just for carjacking and those for other categories but that's not resolving the issue just making the arrest. And this is the conversation that I was talking about earlier where okay now we all got a really come in and look at okay

not just what is mpd doing. What's the law look like for all

that stuff that they talk about in those community meetings, the courts, how does that play in -- what is everybody's posture in this in terms of how they resolve it. Arresting people, that's not going to, you know, arresting our way out of the situation is

not going to resolve the issue. We're making arrests. >> okay. And when you said you know we can lock people up all day is your experience especially over the last couple of months that

the U.S. Attorney's office just isn't tapering cases the way they they used to? Is that related to covid?

>> it's not that the cases are -- it's not that all the cases are nat being papered. A case gets papered but when do we go to trial? What do we do with that person in the interim? Is he out in the community

tomorrow still carjacking? How else do you get to the same people committing multiple carjackingsism he had to be released, right? Under some type of condition, I'm assuming. That's the only way that that happens.

So I think I think as a community this

is where we have to say, all right, wharz t's in the best interest of our community?

If this guy has committed three

car jackings what is to prevent him from doing a fourth?

Do we incarcerate him where at this point we have a recent death associated with a carjacking when is enough enough? Is it the first arrest?

Or is it the third arrest? >> okay thank you very much. >> I wish I could give you a better answer to that question, councilmember, but it really goes beyond just mpd and we have to, you know, I think if we really were to take an honest

look at this I think everybody could search within their respective disciplines and say, hey, there is something probably we could do different that might provide for a better outcome so

we don't see the same guy carjacking.

thank you, councilmember.

Let me turn next to councilmember lewis george for final round.

>> thank you, chairperson allen. Chief contee, I appreciate everything you have shared.

I have heard the meaningful

promise and potential but we need to see more accountability

and action right away and in

truth I didn't hear enough clarity around consequences some of the questions that councilmember gray got to, do we

have the same head of the crime recovery unit because if we are going to have the same officers

and the same consequences how do we get different results?

And so I know this has been, you

know, a year and that, you know, mpd bandwidth has been stretched

in different ways but we need to

see you making explicit and

transparent changes --

[Inaudible] In your practices or bring an oversight. There are big ideas that will take time but many that are ready to go. Many that councilmembers have

worked on already. Councilmember allen and mcduffie.

I hope we can see steps taken

within the next few weeks and want to note that your leadership will match the power of your passion and vision today.

And so my last questions are

really to try to wrap this up in

a way that you can answer thees se

I want to ask, you know, you

said earlier if there are -- if we -- if things have been broken in the past and you plan on

fixing them so I want to ask about accountability for past

harm. What has instead gotten wrong in the past? What can you and the department own up to and what consequences

will there be for what has

already occurred and gone unaddressed?

What steps will you take to increase accountability for officers who abuse their powers

and lastly, we know that last

year mpd spent 43 million in overtime so my last question is if you had to spend this money

on alternatives to policing, that would address community safety, what would you spend it on? Those are my final three questions I hope you will take time to answer all of them

starting with the accountability for past wrongs.

What can you own up to today?

>> with respect to past harms, I will say this. I think that we have had a lot

of people in the community

especially in communities where people look just like me, look just like you I think there are a lot of people who have gone to jail who should not have gone to jail.

There are people who have needed help and I think we've harmed.

I think there are people we are

supposed to make better but

we've made them bitter over the

years. Certainly, you know, I don't have the magic wand to go back and undo the past harms of law enforcement dating back to when my mama was a little girl back

in the '60s and all of that but I can acknowledge and say we've got it wrong. What I have a responsibility for

and what my why is, my why is I

want to make sure that going forward, forward.

When I look back on the police department ten years from now I want to make sure that we took the opportunity to make this police department to be the model, the best police department we can possibly be. There is an appetite and community for greater. There is an appetite and

community for better and I have a responsibility if I'm confirmed to do that to lead us toward that and to make things better for my son.

If my son is the kid, as councilmember mcduffie

mentioned, who is on the corner with the com amoflauge pants and the hoodie I'm not afraid of him getting stopped by the police so

I think I have a responsibility to do that and to make this city better for it. I think that I have a responsibility with respect to

how we make change within the department to be very thoughtful about that.

Taking all of these lived experiences, not what nobody

told me, not what somebody, you know, theorized about or some academic and I love academics by the way.

Not what they did in a classroom

and they want to project to a

city or to a community that they have no real insight to. I'm talking about my own lived experience and I think that is important that we do that, councilmember, but the only way we do that is I have to really earn the trust of the community to do that. The only way I'm going to be

able to do that is to

demonstrate, none, my sincerity my compassion I have to live out

my truth and I have to act on it

in the policy, practices and training within the metropolitan police department. That's my commitment not just to

you but to the greater community who May be watching this. That's my commitment to do those things.

I want to leave this place better than what I found it and I must be clear about this. The metropolitan police

department has come a long way, a tremendous -- things they have overcome over the years but that's not good enough. At the end of the day we've got

to be better and we have to keep

thank you very much, chief and councilmember. Let me turn now to councilmember mcduffie for his final round.

>> thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, chief, for responding

to all of these questions for members.

I'm going to try to keep it as brief as possible and I know I have been tough but we have

limited time to ask a bunch of really important questions that the public wants to hear from us.

How do you personally stay

informed of innovations in

policing and best practices? >> innovations in policing? One of the ways I've been

connected to for a very long

time the major city's chief association connected to perf and the police executive research forum just kind of what are some of the industry best

practices but the other important piece I think for me,

too, is really just to my normal just staying in the touch with the community on issues because

I think that balances important. I'm trying to give you a short answer but that's the short answer, sir.

>> just in terms of like certifications for policing. Are there certain types of certifications that police have

that they have to be recertified with periodically, correct?

>> the city requires us to have 32 additional hours of professional development training.

We do 40 here in the city and we do that every year

this year, you know, white supremacy supremacy, racism, all of those things are part of this year. We do a separate program but kind of similar for our school

resource officers where they also get 40 hours of that training but, yes, we do have requirements and, yes, we do it every year.

>> there has been talk about, you know, whether there should

be some pretty much national

standards for policing certification and training.

Have you -- remained apprised of those conversations that have been happening?

>> yes, I think that that's a

very valid issue, number one, and the issue is there are

18,000 -- over 18,000 police

departments in the country. There is a small percentage -- the majority of them are 25-member police departments or less. The minority of that are these major police departments like washington, D.C., and I think

that in terms of a national standard for use of force for

example, right, their police departments right now where they still allow for, you know, for people to put a knee on somebody's neck or to use a choke hold. That's not the metropolitan police department's standard but there should be a national standard with respect to things

like that that make communities safer and increased trust with police I certainly agree with that. >> do you agree that there is room for reforms in the metropolitan -- within the

metropolitan police department? >> oh, absolutely. I don't carry the same iphone I had from day one when they came out. Every year the iphone gets better and I have a new phone every year so certainly the police department we can improve

every year, year on year my goal is for us to improve to look at what we are doing. Are we staying ahead of the national trend or are we setting the national trend or are we lacking behind? If we are lagging behind where

are those areas that we need to certainly do a better job so, yes, I agree with that.

>> I appreciate that.

One of the things I had concerns

with your predecessor was the

seemingly consistent refrain

that mpd is the best in the

country, we have been due the department of justice recommendations and he would harken what you have been through. I didn't think it was forward thinking but I felt like he

rested on laurels based on prior experiences and being looking at

best practices and trying to

make the department better and

looking for ways to reform so I don't need a response to that I want to make that brief comment. When is the last time you have been and had a walk in langston terrace? >> I was over in carver terrace maybe about three weeks ago.

I am certainly looking forward to visiting again.

I love our community. Certainly we have the covid

stuff that we have to deal with but that's a community that's familiar with me and I'm familiar with it and I see some

of the people I went to charles young with in communities over there. >> did you have a rec center anywhere around there that you played sports or anything while you were going over?

>> used to go to the rec center

that is no longer open but it is closed. Obviously you had number five where we played sports. Number 10 like you mentioned but, you know, that was the

closest thing for us what we had was spin guard gard.

It drew in kids from carver and langston and a lot of time people use those names interchangeably but the reality is there is a carver and then there is langston, right?

I lived in carver and that was kind of the area, you know, with the kids from the community where we, you know, where we shot pool or we, you know, did what we did.

played ball or whatever.

>> my time is about up.

I hate to cut you off but I

wanted to say in closing, you

know, being outward facing, public facing is going to be extraordinarily important. People need to see you. They have to see you.

It was something I thought chief lanier did better than chief newsham and I think for somebody like you who has that unique perspective and experience it would go a long way and if you are ever out in the community in ward 5 please invite me I would love to go out with me. >> I'll take you up on it, sir.

thank you, councilmember mcduffie and acting chief contee, thank you very much for your time.

I know we have a series of other questions. >> councilmember cheh is raising her hand, sir.

we did that already. >> I thought you said there was an additional five-minute round.

did I somehow skip you? >> yes.

all right. I didn't mean to cut off the fun then. Councilmember cheh, for your final round. >> I will be real quick. I will be real quick I don't want any more baking tips,

though. Chief, could you tell me are you going to continue and perhaps even expand the special units

that you have like the lgbtq units or the other units?

What's your posture there?

>> yes, I think that is something that we certainly need to look at. Certainly willing to do.

I think there is a lot of power there as we see day in and day out. Our neighborhoods and communities are becoming increasingly dynamic and I think that as they increasingly become dynamic I think that we have to shift with them. We can't -- councilmember

mcduffie kind of alluded to it, stated it quite frankly, you

know, we can't live on what we

were doing five years ago with the special liaison branch we

need to make sure that we stay ahead of the curve. At the time it was forward-thinking we set the standard and I want to make sure

as I look across the spectrum

that we remain the standard operating in that space. I'm not sure where we are right now but it is certainly something I'm looking at. >> okay.

I also wanted to talk very

briefly about warrants, and I'm not talking about, you know,

court personnel going after

fugitives and fugitive warrants but more commonplace warrants.

Do you think we should just

eliminate no-knock warrants?

>> well, the metropolitan police department it is not something

that we engage it and we have not engaged it. Quite frankly I can't recall

doing a no-knock warrant in my

30 some year career so while

legislatively I think it still is allowed for it is not a

practice of the metropolitan police department or something we engage in. the other piece to that that we don't talk about with that, I

mean, yes, we like to have the element of surprise but it

creates a very, very, very dicey situation for the law enforcement officers who are

responding to initiate a no-knock warrant so it is not a practice that we use here. >> okay. And then in the same way, you

know, you have to get special

dispensation from a judge or imagine is straight magistrate to do nighttime warrants. What's your practice with those? >> those are evaluated on a case by case basis. You have to articulate that information to a judge, you know, why we do what we do. Certainly we don't want to, you

know, reveal all of our tactics,

you know, and the bad guys thinking they only come and get

me between this time and this time but that being said those are things that are taken into consideration as we apply for

warrants and as we execute them. It is something that the

metropolitan police department is very familiar with, something

that we do quite a bit of and

certainly something that we do with the stamp of the court when we go in to initiate those types of warrants so it has gone through a review here, a review of the U.S. Attorney's office and a review by our judges before we get the stamp of approval to move forward on those. >> okay.

And then I would also like to

ask about force continuum, you

know, and the notion about in the moments before an

interaction particularly if it involves

How has, if you know, training changed for our officers with

respect to the idea about force continuum and someone not necessarily confronting them but also the moments before. The judgment usually about

whether it was reasonable to use

force or shoot someone that they

take it at the moment. Did the person brand issue a gun but there are so many steps prior to that where we might have taken different actions. Do you think the training that

our officers get is sufficiently

encompassing of that moments before analysis? >> thank you for the question, councilmember.

The short answer to your

question is, yes, I think we

have sufficient training.

However, I think that there are areas where we can improve in that and I will give you an example. I'll tell you what I've told my

team we have been doing deescalation training for years within the metropolitan police department but here's really taking that a step forward. You know, as we look at

situations and we look at what happened before the situation

are we thinking about -- this is forward-thinking stuff that I am getting ready to say to you but how will we respond to this same

situation if our officers, you

know, were not outfitted with a firearm as an example, all right?

Are we thinking along those lines, right? those are things I think as you

frame those conversations about

use of force and the like and you talk about deescalation in the broader context those are

conversations that you have to equip officers to think about.

Certainly, you know, they are all armed with firearms, they have the ability to do that but I want them thinking about, hey, you know, is this a situation

where we should, you know, call

for a barricade or where we should call for -- we had a

situation a couple of days ago a guy inside of an apartment with a knife, right?

Nobody else is in there but him, right? He held someone hostage previous to that but at that point do we really need to rush in and get the guy? Our standard, our training and

policy is, no, we've got time on our side. Maybe he will go to sleep, maybe he will get hungry. Let's explore those options as

opposed to just rushing in and getting him. To the extent that we stay really ahead of the curve with that training and really be forward-thinking about how we do what we do I think that's something that we continuously do and that we don't just rest

on with our past practices have been. >> I thank you for that and I

think that's a very useful exercise. My time is up.

I want to thank you, chief, very

much, for your testimony today

and for your patience to

withstand all of the councilmembers' questions including my own and particularly I want to thank you for the service you have given us to this point so thank you very much. >> thank you, ma'am.

thank you, councilmember. And my apologies for missing you

in the lineup earlier. That's going to be our final

round with our councilmembers

and our nominee acting chief contee. You've been at it for almost five hours without any break or interruptions so we appreciate that.

I think you can tell certainly this is one of the most

important positions in the city. >> absolutely.

it is the most impactful position in people's

So I want to both say that

that's important I think you can tell from the seriousness of the questions and of the discussion a lot of great discussion today with you to hear about what your

vision is. I know that we have follow-up as well. The committee has sent several questions so we will work with

you on getting those responses back but I really appreciate your time today. If there are no follow-ups we will make sure you work with you and your team following this up as well. Thank you for your time today. And with that we're going to move now to our public witnesses so thank you again.

all right. We have several of our public witnesses and so I appreciate

their patience as well. I'm looking forward to hearing from them.

We have got roughly about 26 individuals that have signed up so we are going to break that into three panels so we are able to have time with each group so what I am going to do and it usually takes just a moment as I

call the names as we move people

from attendee into panelist so let's read off the names for our first panel as our staff will

start moving people in so we can begin this public panel.

I've got monica hopkins, executive director of the aclu of the district of columbia.

Roger marmet, city gun violence lead of the D.C. Chapter of mom's demand action for gun

sense in america. Patrick burke, executive director of the D.C. Police

Gregg pemberton, bobby pittman,

chair of the 1d citizens advisory council.

Mahdi leroy j. Thorpe junior

chair of the copy shaw red hats

patrol and President Of the shaw

east central civic association.

Salim adofo of anc 8c and brenda richardson, public witness. That will make up our first panel so bear with us for a

moment as we move everybody in. I'm seeing most of the names pop

up here so thank you very much. Good to see you. Good afternoon.

I see Miss Hopkins is here so, monica hopkins, good afternoon and let's start with you and then go down the order in which

I called the names. >> thank you. Good afternoon, councilmember allen and members of the committee. My name is monica hopkins and I'm the executive director of

the aclu of D.C. I present this testimony today

on behalf of our more than 15,000 members and supporters in

the district. As a matter of organizational

policy the aclu does not take a

position supporting or opposing merrill

mayoral appointments for office

so today I will focus on what

measures the council plans to put in place to hold the new chief in the metropolitan police department as an entity accountable to the residents and

laws of the district. Meaningful community engagement in the hiring and promotion of law enforcement officers to leadership positions is critical

to build, quote, a foundation

for stronger officer community relationships over time, end quote. This was the recommendation of

President Obama's task force on 21st century policing.

The opportunity arose to truly reimagine policing and public

safety here in the district with thoughtful considerations

beginning with public input into this nomination.

D.C. Community members were not engaged in the selection process is a serious Miss Step for the

district at a critical juncture in the discussions about public safety and police reform. Through our work with partners and our outreach with community members by staff engaged residents to engage in both the town hall and this hearing and what we heard back from many community members is that it is too late.

Their input into the selection

or vision of what a chief of

police could be was not valued and would have little impact

after the nominee had already

been chosen. The racial justice movement of

the past year and the calls for police reform and divestment

must serve as a wake-up call to our elected leaders that D.C. Needs a police chief who is reform minded, unafraid of accountability and who understands that decentering police is critical to making our

communities safer and stronger. It is of utmost importance that a new police chief be prepared to lead by example and to shift

the culture of secrecy and accountability in the district. Some of chief contee's statements in recent months and some he made here today indicate

he is more reform minded than his predecessor specifically we were pleased to hear about his

openness to reexamine the practices of mpd's gun recovery

unit which for years has terrorized residents through

jump-outs and other harmful stop tactics. As assistant chief of the

services bureau that houses the gun recovery unit he should well

be aware of this unit's troubling record of violating D.C. Residents' rights.

However, it was disheartening to hear him state this month he

would like to see mpd grow to

4,000 officers when there has never been a correlation between the number of mpd officers and a reduction of crime in the district. what the district needs is a

rebalancing of resources and an

examination of the deployment of

those resources such as councilmember allen pointed out

why would 12 police officers be necessary to respond to one

person with a shovel in dupont

circle? Of utmost important now is what assurances this council receives from chief contee prior to his confirmation that he will not continue the business as usual approach to policing in the district.

Just as important what will

elected district leaders be

prepared to do to hold him accountable to his promises? There are additional questions

we feel is important to answer

prior to a vote on his confirmation confirmation.

What will chief contee commit to

finally ending the practice of

jump-outs by mpd officers and predominantly black and brown neighborhoods about which residents and advocacy groups have been raising alarm for years? What responsibility will he

assume in addressing the severe racial disparities and police

stops by mpd and increase transparency of disciplinary proceedings and outcomes.

What changes to internal mpd

practices to encourage officers to report police misconduct and

prevent retaliation against

those officers who do report misconduct?

What changes is chief contee committed to making in mpd's response to first amendment

protests to prevent a recurrence of mpd's excessive show of force

in response to racial justice protests such as those last year? Finally

finally when acting chief contee accepted mayor bowser's nomination as the next police

chief he emphasized his lived

experience growing up amidst

crime, violence, poverty and drug addiction. We hope that his first-hand experience with the struggles so many district residents continue

to face today coupled with his stated commitment to listen to

and learn from the communities the department serves will

inform his leadership of mpd.

thank you very much.

Next let me turn to roger merment. Marmet. >> good afternoon.

My name is roger marmet.

I am the city gun violence lead

for the D.C. Chapter of mom's demand action.

I'm also an every ou town

survivor or fellow but most

importantly I'm the fathers of tom marmet one of the large

number of people killed in D.C.'s plague of daily gun

violence on October 24, 2018,

driving home from his job

serving the community at so others might eat and as I mourn for tom and might for changes to

our city's approach to reducing

gun violence, I also mourn and

fight for every other homicide

If we were a state based on cdc

data from 2015 to 2019,

washington douglass commonwealth would rank highest in the nation

with the highest gun violence rate of any state and as a city

at 23.5 homicides per hundred thousand rerank number 3 among

the 25 largest cities in the country. By comparison new york city's

2019 homicide rate was 3.8 per

hundred thousand and los angeles 6.4.

So it is clearly possible to reduce our homicide rate but

what it takes and what we still

don't have is called a comprehensive plan.

Not just an eoc or separate ingredient in a cake as

councilmembers earlier, but a

government-led approach that

includes community and experts

in a focused unified and relentless public health approach to saving lives and it

will take a chief who embraces evidence-based solutions both

outside and inside the police department.

Because successful efforts to reduce gun violence have seen changes in both police philosophy and department

structure, examples such as

oakland police' cease fire

division and los angeles' smart

policing initiative, true partnerships with a goal not

only to reduce crime but also keep people out of jail.

It all comes back to the bigger picture.

A comprehensive plan and

elements of that plan must

include multi disciplinary

homicide and shooting reviews. Analysis of groups and individuals involved in cycles

of violence and retaliation.

And the regular sharing of this

information in a one-way

conversation with violence

interrupters and outreach workers in order to save lives. we must also engage fairly and

with focus in group violence intervention.

The most successful evidence-based strategy for reducing community gun violence.

But for it to work, police must

partner with the community and service providers to show unity

and a strong moral voice.

As discussed earlier mpd must fully m me mend implement and expand upon elements of the near act.

There needs to be a more robust

system for internal and external accountability including

discipline for officers who use excessive force. Or exhibit other forms of misconduct.

We need to focus more on diversion and within a comprehensive plan

evidence-based changes to 911.

And to reduce gun violence police must be every day to

build trust and legitimacy with residents and communities.

As the parent of a child murdered in D.C. Within the last three years, I understand all

too well the failures of planning and strategy, policing and governance that have gotten

us where we are. At this cross roads in our

city's battle to eliminate gun violence chief contee offers a

new vision for collaboration, improving relationships and outcomes and charting a new path

for public safety. On a personal level, in my journey of advocacy after my son

tom was murdered, chief contee has shown true empathy and compassion every time we have met and that means a lot.

Not just to me but to every survivor or family.

But what is really needed today

is that comprehensive plan across every agency of government using experts who

have done it before and community input to help unite our efforts and solve the problem.

We look forward to partnering

with chief contee as he reshapes

the metropolitan police department in order to provide a

more fair and focused approach

to public safety and eliminate

gun violence and bring peace to D.C.

Thank you very much, chairperson allen.

thank you very much, roger. Let me turn to patrick burke. Good afternoon. >> good afternoon, Chairman

Allen, members of the committee on the judiciary and public safety and staff.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify at this confirmation resolution hearing for acting chief robert contee to be named the permanent chief of the metropolitan police department. My name is patrick burke and I'm the executive director of the washington D.C. Police foundation. Previously I served with the metropolitan police department

for 27 years before retiring as assistant chief in the strategic services bureau.

I also served a term as the U.S. Marshal of the district of columbia appointed by President

Obama and I'm a long-time D.C. Resident who bought my first

home here thanks to a first-time

home buyer program for D.C. Police. the foundation's mission is to bring together business,

professionals, civic, nonprofit and individuals to promote public safety by providing financial and in-kind contribution resources to the chief of police in the

metropolitan police department. Our goal is to make the district of columbia a safer place to

live, work and visit for everyone.

I am testifying today to express my unequivocal support for

robert contee as mpd's chief of police.

During my nearly three decades of service with the metropolitan

police department I have been fortunate to work very closely with chief contee and have gotten to know him both personally and professionally.

I first met sergeant contee when

he worked in psa 206 under my supervision in the second district.

I was immediately struck by his professionalism professionalism, empathy and his

commitment to excellence in service. As we both progressed through the ranks of the department I followed his development and we

continued to remain in touch.

I watched him grow as a leader and progress in his job

knowledge as he served in myriad

units that worked to expand his aptitude. When I served as the assistant chief of strategic services I

was fortunate to have then commander contee run our recruiting division and I was again able to work directly with

him as he showed exemplary stewardship of our agency efforts to improve the quality

of our hiring efforts and attract the best and brightest to mpd.

Upon leaving mpd chief lanier inquired about my thoughts for filling my position and identifying the best of the best to fill that void.

While we had many strong leaders

my only answer was I had just one recommendation and that

robert contee was explicitly and in dispute bli the right person for the job.

It remains clear to me that chief lanier made the right choice.

I am familiar with chief contee's background growing up

in the city in less than I-deal

circumstances and I have seen

him turn those challenges into opportunities. He exemplifies the reality of

what can be possible with work, determination and perseverance. He represents the metropolitan police department as a person

with exceptional character, compassion and leadership qualities that embody the traits

that all police officers should strive for. While rising through the ranks of the agency, he continued his

journey as a lifelong learner

and earned his bachelor's degree at the george washington university in addition to

various other academic endeavors while maintaining his work life

balance as a husband and father.

His actions during the capitol

in surrecot tion when thrown into a chaotic situation beyond the boundaries of what most officers

will ever experience he showed

tremendous calm, leadership and resolve.

Chief contee and the entire metropolitan police department

handled that defining moment in a manner which should make all

of us proud and grateful.

On a personal note I have come to know chief contee as a man of

faith who frames his actions on foundation built on stone, a

sound moral compass and a devotion to service. He is a man of compassion that

truly cares about his fellow humans.

He combines that compassion with

the profound affection for the metropolitan police department and the need to move the agency forward in the direction where

we seek continuous quality

improvement in an unseizing commitment to garner the trust that the community deserves. I have seen him interact with his wife and children and I personally admire his devotion

and his commitment to their welfare.

He has demonstrated a deep concern for the well being and mental health of his officers.

I am blessed to call chief contee a friend and the district of columbia is fortunate to have him leading our city as the chief of the metropolitan police department. Thank you, Chairman Allen, to your time and I look forward to working with you in the future

and building a safer D.C.

thank you very much.

Next let me turn to gregg pemberton pemberton. Good afternoon. >> good afternoon and members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to testify. As the Chairman Of the D.C. Police union I speak on behalf

of approximately 3500 sworn police officers, detectives and sergeants who serve this community as members of the metropolitan police department. I'm extremely proud of the men and women of the mpd and I consider our agency to be among the most progressive police departments in the country.

Mpd has been a leader and a

successfully undertaken massive police reforms over the past 20 years. Chief contee has had an extraordinary role in those successes.

When chief newsham announced his retirement our membership

gravitated toward chief contee

to his he are replacement. It was not unusual for management officials to have a contentious relationship with the rank and file yet chief contee has successfully

navigated this common pitfall. Even with decades of experience as a management official he remains a well-respected member of the command staff and is widely considered to be a true leader among our membership.

It is with this effective style of leadership that the chief is able to find meaningful dis course in the labor management relationship, he possesses the

ability to engage the public in a productive manner and build relationships within the community to reduce crime and develop trust while ensuring the

safety and well-being of our members. One of the most positive aspects

we find in confirming the chief is that he has a passion for protecting and advocating for victims, something that seems to

have been forgotten by many in these discussions surrounding police reform.

In 2018 the homicide rate jumped

37%, in 2019 it went up another

4 and in 2020 we saw another jump in homicides. And now three months into 2021, the number of homicides is already 18% over where we were last year at this time.

The only way to combat this disturbing trend is with a victim centered approach that involves the community, advocacy groups, elected officials and of course the police themselves. The union believes chief contee

possesses the leadership skills to successfully manage these difficult issues and bring safety and prosperity to all communities in the district. One of the most important aspects of the labor management relationship is to enable the

agency to hire and retain the

best possible employees while combating attrition.

A well-trained workforce is the key to providing the best customer service while also policing communities responsibly. There are many voices on policing in society and even more disagreement. I believe there is one thing that most can agree on. We need to focus on improving our police departments.

We can only do that with the best candidates and the best employees. The union is highly optimistic that our relationship with chief contee will result in positive outcomes for the department and for our city particularly in our

most vulnerable neighborhoods. The D.C. Police union expresses robust support for chief robert contee to assume the position of chief of police and we support his confirmation without reservation. Again thank you for the opportunity to testify and I'm happy to provide additional information at the committee's request. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

thank you very much, appreciate that.

Next let me turn to james d.

>> good afternoon, Chairman Allen, members of the council

committee on the judiciary and public safety. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is james berry and I appear before

you this afternoon to register enthuse even

enthusiastic support for the confirmation of robert contee to become the next chief of police

Our reasons for supporting chief contee's confirmation resolution are many.

As you know, chief contee is a

31-year veteran of the mpd whose

interest in public safety as well as serving the district of columbia as a member of the department extends back to his

days as a police cadet three years before he became a sworn officer.

Chief contee rose within the

leadership ranks of the mpd

compiling an impressive service of experience along the way that we believe will serve him well in the role of chief of police. It is not simply his years of experience on the mpd but the various leadership roles which

he has occupied that motivates

us to endorse his nomination. Rather our view is largely

influenced by the fact he is well regarded by his law

enforcement partners regionally.

He has a progressive vision for

community policing in our city. He has shown himself to than an effective leader and advocate for public safety and community partnerships in this the city of

his birth. And reimagining police practices

and strategies he is being rightly and vigorously advanced by communities across the nation and in our city. We believe that the chief contee

is the type of leader who will work closely and cooperatively

with locally elected and other officials, as law enforcement partners and members of the

community at large to successfully usher the mpd through the process of meaningful change for such a

time as this. Since chief contee has been

acting in the role of chief of police his behavior in the community has shown signs of promise for substantive change.

He has continued to express strong opposition to discrimination of police practices of any kind whether on

the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation or the like. As it relates to the pressing community concerns about police style, use of force and other

forms of racial disparity, cleve

contee has already pledged to assign top priority to protect a resolution of these issues for his administration and in the shadow of the activity that took place at our U.S. Capitol on January 6th, he has called for background checks on personnel in the department to determine

whether they have ties to

extremist groups or ideologi sechlt es. He recognizes the problem solving solving offers the best opportunity to ultimately resolve the issues of poverty,

alienation and hopelessness that seem to be at the root of a lot of the the violent crime we are experiencing in our city.

He recognizes that the city will not be able to arrest its way out of our current dilemma but other strategies can be implemented to strengthen families, improve education

outcomes for children as well as

provide rather desperately needed training opportunities

and skills to troubled youth and emerging adults in order for

them to be more hopeful about

their there are far too many people in our community, both old and young, who suffer from a personal history of trauma that

influences them to engage in dysfunctional patterns of behavior, behavior that

sometimes results in episodes of

personal, domestic doosh community violence n this connection, chief contee seems

to understand the placed

interventions in these systems. They are warranted long before

they rise to the level of a police response.

In short, it's our considered believe that chief robert contee

has the temperament, the experience, the commitment, the background and the ability to

lead the mpd of the next chapter

through reform and reimagining policing in the district of columbia.

Indeed, we believe the son of

washington, D.C. Will work in a sincere, transparent be

collaborative way for supporters and -- to best agree to

collaborate on the obtainment of

these important goals, hence, we

urge the council to confirm his name nation for

nomination on the job.

thank you very much, Mr. Berry. Next, Mr. Pittman, good afternoon.

>> good afternoon, Mr. Allen.

To fellow members of the

committee, the staff, the community, I'm bobby pittman, I appear on behalf of the citizen advisory council.

We sit here again in this viral environment.

I started my testimony last time by referencing a horrible

robbery on h street.

Today, I refer an unspeakable

crime involving a 13-year-old and 15-year-old in southeast,

which you've already heard about about. It was unspeakable for a 15 year old and 13 year-old which came

into our city, not only carjacked a man, but caused his death, a father, grandfather gone for no reason.

What if that had been you or anyone God forbid.

Our police response was swift and the babies, these girls are in custody and charged with murder. i reference this event because it happened in your ward, our

ward, where we work so hard to

keep everyone safe and yet, we must all live with the fact that

we couldn't seep Mr. Muhammad

anwar safe, no amount of violence interrupters would have saved him. What could have saved him is

enough police to patrol in the

areas of high density and

opportunistic crime potential

I'm here for rob jert j contee.

The opportunity to support his confirmation as director of an

agency that he has spent most of

his life as a member of while

serving citizens, businesses and

citizens of our great city, state.

Robert is no stranger to me. I knew him as an officer in the third district and while we did

not interact that much, he stood out. His positions in other divisions

of the department where he also fostered intersections with interactions.

Is mo memorable, commander of the sixth district.

I worked with him to address gun violence and property issues that specific residents were having in his command area.

When I was told he was coming to our district, the first district, the police advisory

council hosted a welcome party for him, attended by leadership from a couple of law enforcement agencies and security firms. Robert has been a common voice in the

calming voicein the eye of concern. There's something that I do want all of you to know. While voices are raised now

about police trauma, inequalities and pleasing, feelings

policing,there's topics that he and I

have talked about for many years, long before black lives

matter or any of those movements.

We have discussed how community police and residents work

together to make the community whole. There's several points to point out. We know and have always known

that police alone will not keep any city safe. We know at some point if you use

a strategy of simply numbers of police, police are no longer police. They're an occupying force.

We know that there must be standards for police and however, there has to be standards for citizens, too.

We know there's juveniles who commit horrible adult crimes and

we understand there's social structures that are missing in her lives and lives of their family members that leads them to this intersection where

Robert contee fits into that massive area. I think robert would say you start by listening. As you can tell, that's what he has been doing and will continue to do. You demonstrate what police

officers do for the community,

block neighborhood that she or

he serves, seek to build trust, and you do that by listening. I caution though that in any relationship, both parties must

show an interest in wanting to improve their relationships if you're going to leave it to the police to foster the best of

relationships, then it will fail. Councilmembers, mental health laws in the district must change.

Congress must assess mental health laws as well. We must look at the fd 12 process and assess whether or not it's effective. If we want mental health response to many of the

situations that we're talking about, our laws have to account

for that and we don't have that. In my final seconds, councilmembers, as you as

officers of the corporation of washington, D.C., not only as having a voice for those who

feel that they are not heard is important, but ensuring that public safety of the city is also. Somehow, you must find a way to

balance all of these needs and

I'll sum it up by saying, where

robert contee and I disagree, he wants 4,000 police officers, I want 5,000. The city does more than just chase after juveniles.

We have many issues on a federal

level to look at, as has been

discussed and as we saw on

January 6th, and we must protect our buildings, we must protect our neighborhoods, we must also look out for the safety and the health of our fellow police officers, and you can't do that

if you work them to death and do

With that, I want to say this is the right person to be in this position.

Thank you, Mr. Allen and I support robert contee could to be police of chief. Thank you.

thank you, Mr. Pittman.

I see your name, but can't see or hear you.

If we're having technical problems, we can come back to you in just a little bit. >> you can hear me?

now I can. I can hear you. >> okay. Thank you.

My name is maddie lee yoi j thorpe, Jr., President Of the eastern pacific association here

in shaw, also the co-founder and

the Chairman Of citizen

controlled patrol efforts, a red

hats patrol group in shaw, crediting with shutting down 56

crack houses and over 120 anti

drug rallies since our founding in 1988.

For the record, I'm proud to say

that I've received city council

resolutions from this body here, three congressional records and

two proclamations from mayors

sharon pratt kell lien and anthony with a host of badges

and awards from chief fullwood

to chief newsham, and five books

written on drugs, crime, racism and politics in D.C.

Let me say, I was one that supported chief newsham. He worked very closely with me

in the shaw community, and he

also was very dig lant

lent in the shaw community working with the red hats group.

I was hoping the mayor reached

out to former chief charles ramsey and bring him out of retirement.

Nevertheless frork a black perspective, when you look at

the social, economic, political and cans of black people in this

city when you look at public safety, I think there needs to be reforms in the police department in term of arrests.

I'd like to see them work with

the U.S. Attorney's office, the

judicial system, and see if they can expunge some of these

records of some of these black men and women in this city because the city is

institutionally racism in all three categories, and when you

look at dc, 50% of black males

in dc, at least 50% or more have a criminal record. Then you look at the jenlt indication of this

gentrification and then look at the system, white people get off.

They get their records expunged, have money for diverse programs

while plaques who can't afford this, are basically shoved through the system.

I would like see contee work with these people and also. [Unintelligible] They come into a plighted

community and push people out through economic development.

I'd like to see some type of housing linkage go along with that.

I would like to see some type of economic benefits go along with that to raise the bar or the percentage regarding black developers getting contracts,

and also, I think when you start looking at what's going on here with these kids, a lot of these

black kids don't have a father in the house so when somebody

talks to them like a man in the affirmative, they take that the wrong way, like somebody is

trying to be hostile or disrespectful. Most men talk with base in their voice.

They're not used to a man in the

house because 60% or men of black women raise them and they don't do a good job because

that's why you have a high truancy rate in the city, and that's because you don't have a

lot of black males in there to basically role model for these kids. They need to see black men that

are strong in leadership positions, in juvenile justice agencies as well as private agencies that can role model for them so they have a chance of hope.

When city does amenities,

there's no amenities for them.

When they get board, violent, frustrated, there's no hope. To be honest with you, a lot is to blame with the black

leadership in this city, whether

women or females, particularly native washingtonians, but they

don't reach out and pull the people out of poverty, they don't do that.

They claim to be washingtonians,

but what they are, are basically

simulated pawns of the business establishment.

I would like to see contee not be the assimilated politician

that he is and actually roll up his sleeve and even his community engagement office. I haven't heard from them. They didn't do reaching out. He's talking about partnership with the community, let's see

him put his deeds where his mouth is. Thank you, sir.

thank you, Mr. Thorpe. Next, I have commissioner adofo.

>> good afternoon, everyone I'm

salim adofo, chairperson of advisory neighborhood commission 8c and I'm representing them at this confirmation roundtable on acting police chief contee. I've had the opportunity to speak to several community

members, residents of anc 8c, as well as some of the other commissioners that we have on the commission, and it's of our opinion that chief contee is a

good choice for chief of police,

for the reasons being is that he has 30 plus years of experience

coming up through the ranks in the metropolitan police department and he's currently the acting chief. Excuse me, he was assistant chief before becoming acting

chief, which gives him in terms

of military structure, the next pay grades. He should have been trained to work two pay grades ahead so he's already serving to some degree in that capacity. He's also someone from the city,

so he has the ability to move into sensitive spaces and to talk to people and touch people

in ways that are necessary for him to be able to do his job in the manner in which it needs to

be done by having these longstanding relationships. Finally, just from talking to some people that I know that work on the force, although they

have not met him personally,

what I've told that they've heard nothing but good things

about him in terms of his tenure as a police officer.

It's with these things in mind

that we recognize no sun with perfect, it's a very difficult position for one person to be

in, and that the public safety

of our community is not solely a police matter, that's a matter

of all government agencies

playing a part, but as it pertains to his part, at this point, he is the best choice for

a chief of police given all of the other things that have been mentioned, and that is going to take all of us working in

partnership with him to get the best results.

On behalf of advisory

neighborhood commission 8c, we recommend chief contee as chief of police. Thank you.

thank you very much, commissioner.

Now let me turn to brenda richardson. Good afternoon.

>> hey, Chairman, how are you today?

I'm doing well. How are you doing? >> good, good.

Good day, Chairman Al men

al legal, I'm brenda richardson, citizen of

ward eight and a big supporter of the metropolitan police department. I am here to strongly support

the confirmation of a very hon honorable, honest and distinguished man, acting chief robert contee. I've had the pleasure of working with him over the years. He's always clearly demonstrated his compassion for all communities in our beloved city.

Of the chief is one of the reasons I trust the police

because I call 9-1-1 quite often. In this season of trauma,

exhaustion and racial bias, I find it quite liberating to have

color at the helm. I chair this because chief contee is homegrown. I understand when he was growing up, he lived in a neighborhood like mine.

He started out as a police officer and worked his way through the ranks to acting chief of mpd.

Chief contee knows, understands

and appreciates our urban

culture and the spirited communities and all of the challenges that comes with.

It I hope he'll consider a mpd

act where the public gets to evaluate police officers after each encounter as a great way to hold them accountable in serving

the public equitably.

On January 6th, it was a test of his leadership on his first week on the job. As I saw it unfold on television, I thought the country was on the verge of

losing its democracy. However, it was mpd that led the

way to rescue the capitol and the city hours before the national guard was deployed. My heart went out to those who

were injured, racially bullied

and lost their lives.

I can't imagine what would have

happen fire department the police department had been greatly defunded. I know the chief can be a man of intense integrity and character. I honor and applaud the depth of

his work during his tenure at mpd as he serves and protects

the citizens of the district of columbia.

I am confidentiality that

confident that chief robert contee will do whatever it takes

to ensure equity and accountability in the department and that we're safe in our communities no matter where we live.

Thank you, Chairman Allen.

thank you very much, Ms. Richardson. Thanks to everyone on this panel for your testimony.

I have a couple of questions to follow-up on. Commissioner ad

adofo, let me follow-up with you. You've been a voice within your

anc and community about how do we both make change, how do we

work on community investments,

and work on violence prevention.

Tell me about what you've heard

from acting chief contee that

gives you cfs that you

confidence that -- do you see a chief coming to that

space to work with that violence interruption and violence

prevention model in a very holistic way? >> over the years with my experience with acting chief

contee to be honest have been brief, but very respectful and he's given me the confidence

that he is open to working with other institutions and organizations that are outside of the system, as well as some that are inside of the system. In dig to

addition to that, I believe

he's been as trpsz as transparent as

someone in his position can be. granted, there's a lot of

information and he has to and a

navigate to keep people as informed that he can, and I think he's done that. He's been extremely responsive.

We had a resident have a complaint around police misconduct and within minutes, he responded, so I think that's rare to see somebody at his

level be able to respond to something where there's several different chains of command in

between him and the incident, so

that gives me the confidence that he's willing and able to be

apart of alternative solutions that we haven't seen from previous administrations. And the final thing thai would say speaking on behalf of my

residents, the residents seem to

have great confidence in him, so I'm honestly speaking from the voice of the people that I've

been able to talk to and the

majority of residents have had good things to say.

They have not seen him as present in this community as

they would like to, that's a fair criticism I think, but they say the experiences they have had, he's been excellent and

he's a good choice. Honestly, we're talking about him and not other people, and so

just looking at what's on the table, yes, I think that the

process could have been, you know, better in terms of finding someone, but we ask our leaders

to make very difficult decisions

in very short periods of time so

we don't always have enormous

time to make quick decisions.

Being that he was already acting

chief, I think if people

understood the power military position, people act above their pay grade anyway. Someone who is acting assistance chief, you're in that position

to do the job as the chief of

police already and he's moved up

the ranks and got the confidence of the leadership already there

to be able to operate in that

space, so he's been doing it now.

thank you, commissioner.

Mr. Pemberton, I've known chief contee for several year.

Following January 6th, an

example, an emphasis on addressing mental health, behavioral health, and we talked

about it in the hearing with

him, he stepped forward and went through his own debriefing in a way that other officers were able to view. I think trying to

trying to help to build

confidence to show humbleness. I think that's a good thing to be able to do. He's also talked about change,

about increases in accountable, increases of transparency, about changes that the department needs to make.

From your perspective, how do you think he's going to be able

to build support among the members to be able to do to that space, to be able to make that change?

How do you see and you've experienced, if you have

experienced with him from a leadership perspective, of being

able to move people to a new

space, and be able to accept and adopt, and really embrace change. >> thank you, Mr. Chairman, i think that's a great question.

To touch on your intro there, I

think he did a phenomenal job

unprompted with efforts to go out and conduct debriefs with individual members and group of members who participated in that

and try to get them involved,

and he's continued to do that which I find very impressive. He seems to have, in the limited time I've had with him over the

past few years, he seems to have in high towards that, that officers are maintaining their health in a lot of ways and that's something that's important here because officers deal with trauma daily and often have to deal with the worse side of humanity and that's something that gets lost in a lot of discussions tox answer your question, which is how do we

think that chief contee can get

the department in a more progressive direction. I think the police department has been successful in that in the past, not necessarily with

every issue, but what I would

point to for example is the

decriminalization of marijuana a few years ago. The council went after that

through initiative 71 and it passed pretty much in record time, and the department came out and engaged the members of our union and got them to buy in

to what was happening and again,

we don't make the rules, we just enforce the laws that are on the books, and I think through

training and through an appreciation for what the city was trying to do, our members adopted the policies and

literally overnight, marijuana

in some respects became decriminalized and there was no groips about it from our membership.

I think in those areas where you see the department moving in a progressive direction, and as

long as there's that buy in and education and training that leads up to it, I think members with get behind a lot of these

ideas and there's a lot of ideas

out there that the union supports and the members support. I know there's discussions that need to take place, some disagreements in some areas, but generally, I think our members understand that there needs to

be improvements and reforms moving forward.

I think chief contee, as alluded

to in my testimony, he has a way

of moving things forward with an eye towards how it will affect

the rank and file members, and

as we move forward, when there's issues with that, he's the type of person that will reach out

and say, here's what's coming, here's what what it means to you, and this is what I need

from you men and women, and that's something that our members respect and I think that's why he's earned the respect over the years. I don't know if Mr. Burke has more on that, but I think if there's anybody that can convince the members about what the changes need to be and how

to get there, it's chief contee.

Mr. Burke, I'll turn to for a second.

I'm over time so if you can be brief, I have a couple of questions to come back to you,

but I want to let my colleagues ask question. >> absolutely.

Greg, I completely agree with you, he has the trust of the

police because of his long-term

commitment to their welfare and safety, and one thing that no police academy or no college can

teach you to be a good cop is empathy. I've seen chief contee in the

role of a cop at all ranks and as a person, he cares about people. When you care about victims and you care about even people that

are tweeting right now things that you might not necessarily like, you work to win them of or do your best to improve the

agency or make yourself better, make the police department better, and he really has that

profound sense of empathy that

makes him a good cop and a good

questions to you, but I'm going to turn to my colleagues and come back to you for questions.

Let me turn to councilmember gray. >> I just want to thank all of the witnesseses for their testimony. I've really listened to every witness and some of the

witnesses I know quite well.

I want to thank them for their support, their testimony, and I hope it continues as we move forward with this confirmation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Councilmember cheh councilmember

cheh doesn't have her video on

so maybe she stepped away.

Let me see if councilmember george is there?

I think she stepped away also.

Let me make sure I have no other colleagues here. I wanted to ask Ms. Hopkins a couple of questions.

One is, you heard in testimony, there was specific questions around data, to be able to publish and release data, at least what I heard was a

commitment from the chief about, that he doesn't want to have to

wait for a lawsuit to release data that should be released. That's the way I heard it. I wanted to ask you is that the

way you heard it as well?

Obviously, aclu has been helpful

in getting the data public, so what are your thoughts or takeaways from those commitments? >> thank you for the question.

I want to point out that this is sort of long work since councilmember mcduffie was chair

of the judiciary and worked with the judiciary and council to pass the near act, and when we

heard that as the aclu,

obviously, there was litigation after three years of not collecting the data, and because of the transparency and

accountability to the community,

and really legislatively was to increase police community relations by offering that type

of transparency, the timely release of that information was important so that second sort of

piece of litigation was around

-- we had to foia to try to get

the information, so hearing

chief contee on the record

commit to making sure that, that information is released in a timely manner is really

important, and so we're hopeful,

but you know, I think we're also cautious and we look forward to him, you know, keeping that

commitment and to the council ensuring that he keeps that

yeah, absolutely. Thank you. The other question I was going

to ask of you, have you in your experience, either with acting

chief contee or his previous roles, I know one of things we've talked about is being able

to implement the language on consent searches, and the aclu I think has been helpful to help think through what that language

should look like and try to help make recommendations. Any feedback from your perspective in terms of the way

either worked with the nominee in terms of that regard in terms of implementing some of that language?

>> so to answer your question directly, we haven't worked directly with the nominee on this. However, I just want to say

that, you know, we heard some

really good things today,

specifically about his answers around affirmative consent searches, looking at those and that this is the right

direction, and so we would stand

ready to have those conversations. We have obviously have a position about consent searches,

but I think what we heard today was that it needs to be reviewed, it needs to be looked

at, and that there was, you know, fundamentally as we are,

as the aclu, I think we've said this in testimony before,

consent searches are a legal fiction, given the power dynamic

between police and the community, so we stand ready for that conversation.

yep. Fantastic. I appreciate that.

I agree with you there were many

commitments that I heard, many

openness on a variety of topics that I think we've all been

trying to work on around accountable and transparency, so glad to hear your feedback on.

That frankly, I also know that we'll be able to continue to work with the aclu and other

lead nerves this space to leaders in this space to continue the work ahead.

Thank you for your thoughts on this.

I really appreciate that Ms. Thorpe brought up an issue that I wanted to take advantage of t he talked about the need to

look for record sealing and expungement.

So for the public, I think Mr. Thorpe May have dropped off of the call.

On April #th, the committee is going to be holding a public

hearing on two pieces of

legislation, the seakd chance

amendment act of 2021 and the

criminal he spongement act of 2021. I invite Mr. Thorpe and anybody

else who wants to be apart of

those important conversations. I want to thank everybody on this panel for your time, for your testimony, appreciate that and look forward to hearing and talking to you all very soon. Thank you very much. >> thank you, Chairman Allen.

we're going to move to

our next panel of public witnesses, and again, usually

takes a moment as we have to move people out of one setting and into another.

Let me read their names, then we will get started there.

I have sebrena rhodes, anc

commissioner for 5d01, robert

brannum, commissioner for anc 5e

08, henderson long ceo of dc's missing voice.

Kathy henderson, coordinator of 5d court watch.

Jeff rank kin, ceo of congressional aviation.

Andrew gappy, public witness.

William farr, public witness, reverend anthony motley,

representative for retirees for accountability.

Derek davis, representative of

retirees for accountability, and

thomas penny, President Of don

donahue hospital services

services.Donohoe. Baker with us for just a moment until we bring everybody into

the panelist section and then

we'll get started shortly.

I think commissioner sebrena

rhodes, I think I see you there.

Commissioner rhodes, are you

I don't see commissioner rhodes,

but I do see commissioner brannum.

>> yes, I'm here I don't think we've got commissioner rhodes here, so commissioner brannum, I'll go to you first and go in that order.

Good afternoon to you. >> salute takeses and Chairman Allen and members of the committee.

I'm robert vinson brannum, the

anc commissioner for single

member district 5e 08. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased, I am proud and I am privileged to

testify strongly in support of

mayor muriel bowser's nomination of robert j. Contee the third to be the next chief of police for

the district of columbia metropolitan police department. I have known acting chief contee

for a number of years, and only

as a law enforcement officer,

but also as a member of the new

bethel baptist church.

It was once said if not by me,

by others, at least by me, the conversation for a dc public

safety was also a sermon and a

church member community commitment, evidenced by the inclusive, distinguished

leadership of former pastor

congressional delegate reverend

robert font, and former director

of unified communications carb

rhema homes, acting chief contee

and to a lesser degree, yours truly. Chairman Allen, there's not a

better nominee for lead dc mpd

at this time of national criminal justice conversation, demonstrations, and in this

moment in district public safety

history than robert j. Contee

He's a son of washington, he's a graduate of spingarn high

school, as am I, he's an alumni

of george washington university,

so as I, but more importantly, he's a law enforcement officer, respected by those who serve under his command, by community

residents across the district

and colleagues throughout the metropolitan region.

Yes, there are a few factors,

but their knee jerk reflection,

reflective, destructive and deceptive defund the police rhetoric is not a district-wide

song and should not be

considered representing a unified district choir singing from the same hem.

The prayers of many district residents do not ask for defunding of police nor are they

blind to needed racial police performance.

Acting chief contee is not insensitive to share community

concerns about police misconduct, disrespect and overreach.

Chief contee hears the cries of

the affected and district activist pleas, prayers for reform and he responds with

compassion, understanding, and

recommended policy for change. Chairman Allen, acting chief

contee is a dedicated law

enforcement officer who values

the principles of individual accountable, transparency, and community policing.

He believes in good plows training, ebels in retaining

good officers, ebels in

getting jobs off of the street, social sofs for those in need

and housing for the homeless.

It takes strong, dedicated leaders to do what is right for everyone to advance needed

public safety, criminal justice

and law enforcement reforms.

Robert j. Contee the third is

the leader of the district of columbia metropolitan police department now. Now.

Now is his time to lead.

I thank you for this opportunity

to speak on this fabulous,

wonderful, and great nominee. Thank you.

thank you very much, Mr. Brannum.

Next, I'm going to turn to kathy henderson.

>> good afternoon, councilmembers, staff and ladies and gentlemens in the viewing audience.

I'm kathy henderson, and award

winning 10-term advisory neighborhood commissioner and

creator of 5d court watch, I'm

testifying on behalf of 5d court

watch to shut the revolving door on crime.

I thank mpd, particularly chief

ramsey, chief lanier, chief

newsham and our excellent commanders and officers to work

with me to reduce rhyme in our community. We're moving in the right direction and my community is more liveable of the average

home price is over $600,000, and I look forward to working with chief contee to help finish the

job, making our community completely safe. We don't need people that don't live in our community dragging us backwards.

The majority of individuals arrested for committing crimes in my community do not live here.

They come back looking to regain

street credible at our expense. Individual staging to attack the capitol set up shop at my community because they believed our community would allow them to hide in plain sight. A week before they attacked,

they began writing anti-police ex-splisessives on

ex-plissives on our sidewalk

I ask the council to study the -- [Unintelligible]

Making policing harder.

Two, staging in communities with public safety challenges or a

history of public safety challenges, essentially hiding hiding in plain sight. Defund the police rhetoric,

which led to violent protest, looting and the attack on the

U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Four, the city suffered 166 homicides homicides in 2019, including the

death of a violence interrupter.

Five, they suffered 188

Now this year, dc has claimed 40

homicides with the latest victim

killed by teenage kids. Six, assaults with deadly weapons are up.

Eight, this is the opening arena, our police chief must

deal with, including a constant barrage of threats against the district, which must be

evaluated for creditability and

mpd May have to respond to.

Nine, let us not forget the last

two police chiefs that left service feeling unsupported.

I regret not initially

supporting cathy lanier's confirmation for police chief

and she was an excellent police chief. I add that fact for the council to support our next police

chief, robert contee in word and

deed from beginning to end.

Ten, the police chief needs the resources to dot job to protect our city.

We are down to approximately 3600 officers, which we've already determined is

insufficient to protect our city.

I'm glad robert contee wants to

be the district's next police chief.

He has quietly and con sciencesly served the preponderance of the evidence

for approximately 32 years, a

family man and man of faith. I'm glad he understands what it is like to be a crime victim,

which will help to inform his work to make all dc neighborhoods safe for all dc residents.

I'm glad to hear chief contee's commitment for reviewing the records of our officers and taking steps to remove those

that do not uphold the high standards of the metropolitan

police department. If year continuing the narrative

of george floyd's death, we need to focus on the service record of the individual on trial for his death. Derek chauvin had 18 police complaints on his record for 19

years of police service. As in every organization,

there's individuals that do not belong.

Let us support chief contee in

removing the bad apples that

brings unfavor mpd. Mpd.

I urge you to vote to approve pr

24-61, confirming robert contee and let him do the job that needs to be done to make every

community in our district safe. Thank you for letting me share my testimony.

Next, we'll turn to geoff rankin. Good afternoon. >> good afternoon, chair allen, members of the committee on the judiciary and public safety, and staff. Thank you for the opportunity to testify for this public

roundtable for provosted

resolution 24-61, the chief of the metropolitan police department robert j. Contee iii confirmation resolution of 2021.

I'm the ceo of congressional aviation.

I'm also a ward seven resident.

I've testifying today about important infrastructure need

that'll mpd faces as chief contee begins. The base for the falcon air

support unit, which must be relocated before the lease expires next year.

As you know, congressional

aviation operating the south capitol street hell port which

for more than 20 years, has been

the only air field that supports

critical emergency services, including mpd and several district hospitals, such as

children's national hospital. We operate through a lease with a private landowner.

However, this lease will expire February 2022.

This site is expected to be redeveloped for another use. As a result, it's urgent that mpd and this committee take

steps now towards relocating the

heliport to prevent any lapse in the district's emergency infrastructure. Congressional aviation has been

preparing for this critical

transition since 2018, working diligently with district

agencies for during a new

location for congress nation

aviation to construction a new new heliport.

It must be located on the district's primary helicopter route ark long the anacostia riff, and also be centrally located and have direct access

to the west side of the anacostia, either by being on the west side of the river or the eastern bank. Working with the department of employment services,

congressional aviation has identified several potential sites that meet these requirements.

In early 2020, we submitted a

proposal to dgs, but the covid

public health emergency began soon after and progress stalled.

I'm pleased to say that does has D.O.E.S. Reengaged and we're work totion

secure a location as quickly as possible. However, dgs's reengagement is

only the beginning. Crucial steps remain to

completing this vital public safety project.

Since mpd is the client agency,

dgs needs direction from mpd to proceed. To coordinate the multiple agencies involved, we think that leadership from this committee is essential. In particular, we request leadership from this committee for identifying a new location

for the heliport that works for the entire district. From my years of experience

working on this issue, it's become clear to me that the decision about location that

moves in project forward simply

cannot be made without the leadership of public safety

officials and this committee. A location with full support of key agencies then committee is needed immediately. Congressional aviation is prepared to proceed with developing the heliport. As previously mentioned, we have already done substantial work towards this end.

We are a ward seven resident, minority owned business with a shovel ready infrastructure project to support mpd. We have also built connections

with the other stakeholders

along the anacostia river. Since it's on the river, we've had long interest in the anacostia. Furthermore, as a board member of the anacostia watershed society, I'm personally committed to being a big steward for the river and a good neighbor to residents, businesses and other

organizations throughout the corridor.

Accordingly, as we have investigated possible sites, we

have reached out directly to potential perspective neighbors to work together to determine

how to manage the footprint and potential impacts of a heliport.

In short, congressional aviation has taken left hand continue to

take steps to be inclusive, proactive so that the heliport can be relocated in a way that

works for the broader community.

Congressional aviation stands ready to support chief contee, mpd and other district agencies

in developing a new base for the falcon air support unit.

We're simply asking for the committee's affirmative support to move this project forward now so that there's no interruption

in critical public safety and emergency services. Thank you for the opportunity to

testify and for you and your staff engaging with us prior to this roundtable. I'm happy to answer any

questions you May have.

thank you very much, Mr. Rankin.

Next, I have william fark public witness.

>> good afternoon, chair allen, members of the committee on the judiciary and public safety. Thank you for this opportunity

to testify at this public

roundtable, pr 24-61, the chief of the metropolitan police department robert j. Contee iii confirmation resolution. I'm william farr.

As I testify in my individual

capacity, based on my 30 years of experience with the metropolitan police department, retiring as lieutenant. The reason I'm here today is because I want to bring

attention to an important mpd infrastructure issue that chief

contee faces as he begins his tenure.

Unless a division takes action now, mpd air support unit will

be without a heliport in fewer than 12 months.

This is because of lease for the current home, south capitol

street heliport, operated by congressional aviation will

expire in February 2022.

I am personally familiar with

the air support's unit and the

base at south capitol street. I work directly with the unit over the last five years of my mpd career.

As the air support commander, I was charged in overseeing the

critical missions activity.

I helped sustain the air support's unit capabilities within the district and neighboring jurisdictions while navigating the flight restricted zones. we provided support to officers on the ground? Responding to emergency calls,

as well as monitoring and escorting victim escorting vip packages throughout the district.

We also reallocated priorities

according to priorities. Proactively developing emergency plans and con contingency plans within the federal government. Should the resources be needed during a citywide emergency,

such as landing and evacuation sites.

Finally, we worked with the

interagency space working group in the capitol region along with

the national capitol

organization center to provide

services related to input and interagency decisions. While working with the unit, I became familiar with congressional aviation and the operator of the hell pot.

It was clear to me that geoff rankin, now ceo, understood what

was required to operate the district's only heliport for mpd

and other first responders.

It was also clear that he had the foresight and sense of leadership and the public needs

of the district to develop a

long-term plan for its critical infrastructure.

He recognized that the lease from south capitol street heliport would be coming to an end and that the property would

be redeveloped, meaning that mpd and other vital emergency

services would need a new facility.

Several years ago, congressional aviation developed a plan for a

new heliport, began reaching out

to the district agencies and stakeholders.

Unfortunately, progress was slowed because of the of the pandemic

pandemicduring the last year.

At this late point with the least less than a year away,

it's becoming increasingly urgent that the district take steps now to ensure that there's

no interruption to mpd's final service.

Congressional aviation is a locally, minority owned business

that is ready to continue providing life saving emergency and public safety infrastructure for the city.

I am hopeful that the complete will provide immediate leadership and support so that

mpd and congressional aviation and other agencies can work

together on securing a new

location for congressional aviation to pilled a new public

use heliport for mpd and other emergency services.

Thank you for allowing me to

thank you very much.

Next, reverend anthony motley. Good afternoon. >> good afternoon, Chairman. You can hear me?

sure can. >> good to see you, Mr. Chairman.

good to see you as well.

>> Mr. Chairman and members of the committee on the judiciary and public safety, on behalf of

the retirees for accountability,

a group of military veterans, police, clergy, government officials and community

activists located east of the river we offer testimony in

support of confirmation of

robert j. Contee the third to

become the next chief of the district of columbia

metropolitan police department.

Mr. Derek davis, an army veteran

and a recipient of the bronze

star was scheduled to speak on

our behalf, but he had a medical appointment today so he asked me

to speak on his behalf and represent our group.

I'm a military veteran, and I'm say resident of ward eight.

On January the 2, 2021, mayor

bowser, she selected rob befort

j contee to be nominated acting chief of the department.

Upon obtaining that position,

chief contee was faced with an unprecedented challenge, one after another.

Immediately after becoming the

acting chief, chief contee was confronted with something that

had not happened in the united

states of america since the war of 1812. An insurrection against our

country and an assault upon our

city. This violent attempt to overthrow the government was at the united states capitol while in joint session, and caused

many deaths and property destruction.

The assault, which jeopardized

not only the life and security

of every member of congress, but the vice President Of the united states of america, the vice President Elect, the majority

member of the senate, and the

speaker of the house.

On that frightful day, when it became known that the capital

police were overrun and was in

the process of losing the

capitol, it was the leadership of chief robert contee and the

men and women of the

metropolitan police department

who saved the republic. Chief contee and his officers

responded and restored order, and preserved our democratic way

of life. For this age, we salute him and his officer is.

We also take a moment of silence

for the lives, those lives of

those officers and others who

died on January 6th, 2021.

Mr. Chairman, the retirees for

accountability is proid to

support the confirmation of

robert j. Contee, who has shown us ability to lead in some of

the most critical and political times facing our city and our nation.

Not only did chief contee

confront those insurrectionists

head on, he commanded the

breath, depth, length and width

of this acall on democracy with courage and vision.

His ability to communicate to congress during the hearings

after January 6th and

communicate calm and reassurance

to the residents of the district during the time was one of the

things our group was impressed by, thus garnering more respect and full support of his confirmation.

Councilmembers, we also believe

that once confirmed, chief

contee will work with the

community to work on public safety.

From the grass roots to the citadel of power, we believe he

will be a positive influence on us all.

We believe that chief contee

will continue to ensure that the

rank and file of his department

will have his support and will

do their jobs as public servants

with compassion, empathy and understanding when encountering

the general public, no matter the circumstances. We believe that chief contee

will continue to use his office as chief to work with and collaborate with community

groups, as well as government

agencies to employ comprehensive and intentional public safety strategies throughout the new

state of the douglas commonwealth of the united

Why do we believe this?

Because chief contee grew up in

a city that he has helped to reform from the days when our city had one of the worse

records of community policing to

now one of having national reputation of having best practices in the city.

A city to have to raise up a son

to be nominated to be the next chief of of its police department.

Many have spoken about chief contee's character, his growing up in dc and his life as a

police officer. [Overlapping speakers] I'm sorry, sir.

you're almost two minutes over, so wrap up, please. >> thank you, Mr. Chairman, I apologize. We want to end our testimony saying he has shown himself to

be a true leader with vision and

purpose, and one who has made us

proud to be known as our leader. As retirees, we salute him and

we know that he's going to do best for our city. Thank you and we remain any questions you May have.

thank you very much, reverend motley.

>> greets, Chairman Allen, councilmember gray, councilmember george, committee members and staff.

My name is thomas penny, the

President Of donohoe hospitality services.

As someone who grew up in what I

believe one of the most violent times in the history of this

city, at the height of the crack epidemic, my perspective has been significantly influenced by

those who were killed and incarcerated throughout the

1980s and 1990s. Consequently, I've spent almost

three decades working alongside community and government leaders and concerned citizens to ensure that young people are exposed to the hotel industry, and returning citizens can

transition and advance within our business. First, as founding board member, then working with councilmember

gray to transition hospitality high into four hospitality academies where we now have

close to 500 students learning about the hotel business from operations to ownership.

Today, we have returning citizens thriving in our

business and providing hope. Their life struggles and experiences experiences have proven to be invaluable as our industry struggles to find its financial pulse. Over the past several years, we

turn on the tv to see watch

police chiefs and police officials sympathize with mass shooters. We've watched police officials advocated for the stronger sentencing and more prisons. We've watch police officials

have difficulty with connecting with understanding the plight,

history and hardship of african-american communities of color.

I believe the court of old holds true. Quote, experience is the best teacher. While I've known and been a supporter of robert contee for sometime, the speech he gave

upon being named acting police

chief provided us with a unique opportunity to see what happens when you blend lived experiences, especially within the community you're not

responsible for serving with education, preparation, character, commitment and a

burning desire to lift, lead and unite your community.

Shortly after being named, chief contee solicited my assistance

with helping getting talented, but troubled young people off of

the streets, connect them to employment, then help them navigate the trauma they've experienced.

When the insurrectionists came

to our city, I reached out to chief contee for support and information to help protect the

safety of my team and guests. He was responsive and connected

me with a member of his team who maintained communication throughout the ordeal. If we've learned anything over the past 15 months, we've

learned that leadership matters, connectivity to communities of

color matter, authenticity matters, character matters, and supporting one of our own in the pursuit of serving as police

chief of his hometown matters.

It is for this reason I offer my

full support to chief contee as

I believe he provides the transformational and trusted leadership our city so desperately needs.

I strongly urge the council to unanimously confirm chief contee.

great, thank you all

very much for your testimony.

I had a couple of quick flul questions.

Mr. Rankin, I think you're still

there. Are you there? >> yes, I'm here.

I'm not clear. Have you had conversations with

dgs or contee or with both about a possible alternate location?

>> I've had discussions with dgs

and the C.A.S office.

Are there any sites you've been able to identify with dgs that

are possible alternatives?

>> there's several sites with the alternate sites.

What we're asking for now is

just endorsement to pick one of

are there any locations that you can share at this point?

>> not at the moment.

Reer happy to follow-up at

we're happy to follow-up after the hearing.

>> thank you for your time.

reverend motley, thank you for your testimony and I know you're speaking to several different people. The quick question I had for

you, in your role, have you had

much in the way with personal relationship, interactions with acting chief county in terms contee in terms you're giving your support, but wondering if you can expand on

any direct relationships you've

had around if you've seen him in action or decision making capacity, or seen him having to tackle a tough decision and working that through?

>> I'm honored to do that, Mr. Chairman. I met him when he came out of

the academy in 1989.

You know, that's one of the highest homicide rates in our

city during that time.

He was there when he was at the

-- we began the east of the

river clergy police community partnership which was a

collaboration of nonprofit groups, clergy led to address

the issue of violence.

He was a lieutenant then at the

rock east and that's where I saw

Qached him as we navigated a lot

of the issues in our community regarding homicides and violence, and finding

educational opportunities, and

he even worked with us when we

put together the different programs that we called 40 days

of increased peace, the summer initiative, he was with us there during that time.

We've seen him very close and personal. He's always, when he was the

commander over at the sixth district, when we did work over

there in the marvin gaye area

over there in northeast, he was

right there helping the community.

He's not a person that -- he

communicates and he communicates with compassion and understanding, but I've always

seen him as a leader, and he's

shown us that over the years,

and so we're just grateful to

have had him over here.

When he became assistant chief, one of the first things that he

did, we had the breakfast at the ihop.

We initiated the first breakfasts in October of 2018 because we were address the issue of increase in violence and we didn't under what it was.

Guess who was there at our

breakfast in 2018? Robert contee and he was

listening to us and so we've

been doing the first friday

breakfasts since then, and he's been right there with us.

Any time that he has been

invited somewhere -- as a matter

often fact, he's going to be on

the acc monthly meeting next tuesday. E8 be on the acc community

meeting agenda, so we thank God for him and we appreciate the

work that he is doing will continue to do.

okay, appreciate. That my time is up on this round, but I want to thank everybody for their testimony here. I'll turn to my colleague,

>> I want to ask a question to

Mr. Rankin and to Mr. Farr, both you spoke in support of the

confirmation of chief contee,

and of course, he spoke very

well before the council's committee earlier today.

are there particular attributes

associated with his candidacy that you find attractive to the work that you all are doing to

try to preserve the helipad, helicopter service for, especially our children in the

district of columbia? Mr. Rankin, Mr. Farr, either one

of you can go right ahead.

Yes, I feel like by contee being

a washingtonian and knowing how

important this city is to keep a

critical infrastructure, but clearly would be a priority for

chief contee, so I'm in full

support working with him to make sure we have it.

>> what about you, Mr. Farr? >> yes, sir.

I've known chief contee for many

years; and worked side-to-side

in rock east and he's very diligent in what he needs to get done.

You know, I think he's aware of

all of the issues currently with the resources that he needs and

mpd needs, and I just speak highly of him.

>> thank you very much. Mr. Penny, you've had, what I

would call amid or yik rise and appropriately so in the district of columbia, and to me, it's in he

incredibly impressive that

you're testifying in support of the confirmation of chief contee at this point.

Are there particular attributes

that he evidences that you

believe will serve him well in

being able to serve as our confirmed chief of the district of columbia?

>> yeah, councilmember, gray, I

think that historically in the

city, we have really had a

police chief would could address

the community and the business, business community and community at large and bring both sides together around employment, violence prevention and critical issues. Typically, you've had a chief

that can speak to one of those absent speaking to the other,

and you know, he is the only one

I can say in recent memory that

has the unique ability to speak

to both audiences and bring everybody together in a

compelling way, and you know, I

just think that obviously, with

the challenges in some parts of

the city, it's going to take someone to bring it together and I think that's a key attribute

he has, unlike some of his most recent predecessors.

>> thank you very much, Mr. Penny. I had an interesting experience when I was mayor.

The police chief was cathy

lanier, who I thought did a

marvelous job as chief, and we

were trying to identify somebody

to be the commander of the sixth

district, and she called me up and said I really want to talk to you. She said I think I have something who can really do the job, he has all of the qualities

that I think you need to be the

next commander of the sixth district.

I sid, well, catty, who do you have in mind?

Guess who she had in mind? Robert contee who became the commander and did a sterling job as the commander of the sixth district.

Some of the attributeds, all of you have identified, certainly

are the ones that I've seen as a leader over the years, put it that way. I want to thank all of you for your testimony, ep

Mr. Penny, Mr. Farr, Mr. Rankin,

thank you also, reverend motley. Your he will question about his leadership qualities aren't lost on me. I've seen them over time. Thank you all very much.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

absolutely, thank you,

councilmember. [Unintelligible] Councilmember george, are you there? She May have stepped away. Thank you.

I want to thank this entire panel. Thank you very much for your

testimony today. We'll turn to our third panel of

public witnesses and again, takes a moment as we move

forward from the attendees and

the panel iflts back and forth. Panel three I'll read out the names as we bring them in. I have ed solomon, President Of

the georgetown business association.

Sarah bever, chair of the 2 d

citizen advisory council.

Yvette alexander, the horn rabl yvette alexander of y alexander

April goggans, court organizer

with black lives matter D.C. Men

ben takai, public witness. Anthony lorenzo green,

commissioner for anc 7c04.

Jay brown, public witness, laura richards, public witnesses, and

johnny scott rice, public witness. good afternoon to you all. I'm going to wait a moment to make sure we've moved everybody over and in before we get started here. The first person on my list is

ed solomon and I see you there, Mr. Solomon, so why don't we begin when you're ready and we'll keep moving. >> sure.

thank you. >> thank you, Chairman Allen and members of the council.

My name is ed solomon, residing

in ward two since 1976, have

owned and operated a business in

georgetown since 1979, totaling 42 years.

I was President Of the citizen

association and served as a

commissioner for 4 2e commission. During that time, I chaired the safety committee.

I presently an co-chair of the georgetown community partnership safety and student life committee, and also President Of the georgetown business association. I'm here to support the nomination of chief contee.

I know the business community and residential committee very well. My passion is addressing the

crime issues in this community. The residents, business owners and mpd officers I have spoken to over the years have nothing

but praise for chief contee. Chief contee and I crossed paths

while he was a sergeant, lewd,

and commander while assigned to district 2.

This is about 20 years ago. The character traits that I

found to be most impressive was

his empathy, highest integrity, trust worthiness, and most of

all, look you in the eyes while listening to you and speaking to you.

As a community leader, he was my go to officer when I had a question or concern n 2006, our community of devastated when we learned that our commander contee was being transferred.

We understood that this was the process. Chief contee is a forward

looking person, not afraid to try new things or policing. Two examples.

After 9/11 I was concerned bs a as a business owner, how would I know

our city or I are in danger? I with other business owners and

a local tech firm, started a

pilot program on text alert

messaging. I went to my go-to officer contee for his input. Without hesitation, he was on

board and said, go for it. This program is in use today as

A few years later, I spoke with chief contee about a crime text

alert system using the technology based on a text alert system.

Again, he was enthusiastic. He knew the value of community involvement in reporting crime

in realtime. We did another pilot program which became the crime alert

texting system in use today. This man is not afraid of

change. There has been discussion of the definition of community policing. To me, community policing is

communication. You look at the first seven letters of each word, they're the same.

If you do not communicate with residents and businesses you will be policing with one hand

tied behind your back.

Not only does the chief have the ability to communicate with sincerity and passion, he has

The georgetown business association had their annual meeting in January. Two and a half weeks after January 6th.

I reached out for assistance if chief contee could attend. I never thought he could because of the time frame. I was told he had a conflict but would try. He attended. Not only did he attend, he answered all questions, and stayed over the time that he

said he would allot to us. I add my voice about the concern of reduction of officers and

share chief contee's concern. I remember former chief ramsey telling me one of the most important part of community policing is the integrity of the residential and business patrolling. Once this pattern is broken, it

will affect community policing. Councilmembers, we all agree that we cannot determine how

many crimes have been prevented.

But we do not what crimes have been committed.

I'm for a wholistic approach to addressing crimes including mental health and programs like as violence interrupters. The decision you make will affect our communities. It is your responsibility with all these programs, including mpd, to keep us safe. i hope we make the right decisions. Thank you for this opportunity to testify, and I'm open to any questions. Thank you.

thank you very much.

Next up I've got sarah bever.

Rarely, if ever, has anyone walked into their first day of the job and had to deal with what acting chief contee dealt with on his first day.

My memory, as he was sworn in the night before 1/6. On top of that, he's already been called in to testify to the

His story is completely inspiring. He speaks to all of us in the district, no matter what neighborhood we live in.

His record is impeccable, and his performance under fire has

proven faultless. What I also like about the acting chief is that he cares about every member of the force,

and he's a fierce advocate for

their mental health. He has a psychologist -- led drama debriefing after January

6th. And he opened this up for

observation by the entire force.

And over 1,000 officers chose to observe his trauma debriefing.

He did this to encourage the officers to be fearless, in seeking help after experiencing

trauma. He makes it okay for each officer to take care of their own mental health, so they can

take care of the city. i can't think of any case where a man has met his moment more

than acting chief contee. I would have said thank you, but I'm going to use the rest of my

three minutes to talk about dbh because I heard several people

First of all, they have nine

crisis teams during the day, and

after hours, they only have two, plus another guy who is good, can sort of be a crisis team on

this own. They can't transport someone

who's having a psychotic episode

if the person won't agree to commit themselves for

psychiatric evaluation. Only mpd will do it.

So at this point, mpd is still

completely stopped transporting

the behavioral health problems.

I would foresee maybe in the

future if they get any funding,

and dbh at this point in that

crisis area has got no extra funding. They haven't had any plans for

any expansion, or taking over

any actions that the police have been involved with.

So as of two months ago when I had the fortune of talking to the guy who is in charge of it, you know, all they've got is what they've always had, and we haven't heard anything about any plans for anything different.

But I would hope or foresee in

the future to get mpd out of this, that maybe some officers would end up getting hired by

dbh so that they could be, you

know, trained specifically with psychotic issues, and then they could be part of that transport

team. Anyway, as this results to, as

chair of the -- well it reminds

me also of several references to

the 6 to 12 officers standing around in dupont circle with the

guy with the shovel, and it's just important to say that I

don't know any of the details. But assuming it was someone having some kind of psychotic

episode, in those circumstances,

someone is extremely strong, and

is extremely quick in their behavioral change.

And extremely unpredictable.

Just completely unpredictable.

So, I would look at having six officers in that condition, or

12, I think I heard both from previous people.

If that's what was helping keep everything under control, and

the other thing is, I've heard, I think there are studies that

the more officers on the scene at a particular event, the less

likelihood of anyone getting injured. So -- and this also ties in to

the fact that dupont circle is within the second district, I'm

the chair of the second district

cac which I heard one of the councilmembers in the morning kind of refer to as we're the toadies to mpd. I just want to be clear. I will follow up with the commander. I don't know anything about this issue that happened, or this incident.

But I'll follow up with the commander, and find out if they called behavioral health, and if

they didn't, why didn't they? If they did, how long did it take behavioral health to get there?

What was the outcome?

And, you know, I invite everyone

to come to our meeting next one is tuesday night, 7:00, April

And we do our best to try to prevent everything,

feedbackwise, positive and negative, from the community, at least in the second district, to our commander. So now thank you.

Thank you very much. Let me next turn to April goggans.

Good afternoon. >> I'll unmute myself.

I do want to start by saying the

comments just made about people who May be having a behavioral health crisis were incredibly, incredibly disrespectful.

We don't know that they had --

all the things that -- as a person who both deals with

mental health personally and in my family, that's incredibly disrespectful. Anyways, my name is April goggans, and I'm a core organizer with black lives matter D.C. I'm a proud ward 8 resident and have lived and raised my

daughter in anacostia 15 years. Black lives matter D.C. Continues to celebrate what

amounts to the well-earned demotion and effective removal of peter newsham. He was exactly who we told the council he was before his

Muriel bowser's announcement of assistant chief robert contee as interim chief is no surprise to us. The media seems far more interested in his collection

than we are. it's just -- in D.C.

The police got a raise, an extra $43 million in a pandemic for overtime but still can't flow or stop the blood from running in our streets.

People dismiss the so-called rhetoric of defund. But interestingly enough never have data to prove we're wrong. Precisely because we use mpd's own data. We like concrete evidence to

back up what they call rhetoric.

To be clear, mpd just released

data based on 80,698 total stops from January 1st, 2020 to

December 31st, 2020.

And that data showed that only

1.2% of all those stops in a

five-month -- in five months of

data, led to a seizure of a weapon of any kind.

And for the whole time with respect to guns -- that led to the seizure of a weapon of any

kind were only 1.0%. The data confirms that policing has not, is not, and cannot stop the bloodshed.

In addition to being black lives

matter organizers, we are black people. Like so many others, some of us are survivors of violence.

I've lost friends and family members to community violence and have been otherwise impacted by community violence. We're awakened by violence on our block and phone calls from our friends and neighbors when someone in our community has lost their lives.

This week alone financially and emotionally supported four

families with burial assistance for -- gun violence. In the last three years we have

done the same for nearly 20 families.

Our fight has always been a fight against the institution of police.

We are clear that the race, origin, story, lived experience

and birthplace of any person occupying the position of chief will never fit policing and that reform doesn't work. There have been black police chiefs and commissioners for years in all cities all over the nation and nothing has changed.

This is bigger than one person. Black people make up 46% of D.C.'s population and mpd is already 60% black.

And as contee indicated, living in D.C. Often does not make a

difference. Mayor bowser ignored the recommendation of the D.C. Police reform commission for selecting a new chief while many councilmembers also remained silent.

But, the similarities of the mayor, likely positioning herself for a possible

re-election ignored the recommendations of the committee chair, councilmember charles

Prior to being named interim chief, robert contee was the

assistant chief over the investigative sftz bureau which

houses the narcotics and special investigation division.

We have long fought against this units aillegal jump out tactics

and inclusive use of force on

black people and ties to white

supremacy. Despite saying he'll look at the -- despite the failure to reduce homicides as demonstrated

in mpd's own data. There has been no transformation with this appointment. The excitement over what looks and sounds good will soon give way to reality.

We remain unmoved by performive spirited oration and attempt at iconic imagery.

thank you very much. Next I've got ben takai. Am I pronouncing that correct? >> yes, that's correct. Okay.

My name is ben takai. I currently serve as the vice

chair for the mayor's commission on asian-american, pacific islander affairs. Asian-americans have historically had a complicated relationship with law enforcement and government bodies because of a long track

record of institutional racism and xenophobia. That has never been more underlined than in the previous year with the alarming rise in anti-asian incidents and crimes

stemming from but not limited to the former President And his administration's disturbingly blatant racist rhetoric surrounding the covid-19

pandemic. Blaming this disease that knows no borders on an asian country

and people of asian descent.

This is not left D.C. Unaffected

with over 40 reported hate and violence incidents from the

group stop aapi hate but not limited to the attack on a tea shop owner nr dupont circle and many other incidents that were communicated to me from friends

and colleagues that have gone unreported. Nationally this culminated last week with the horrific shootings

of six women of asian descent in atlanta, and the subsequent

depiction of the event by the local police not as a hate crime

but attributing the attack as a perpetrator having a bad day. And this is what he did.

The reason I say that last example is the police has a very important role in protecting the

community but also a role in highlighting public safety. And safety issues. And doing their part to describe

hate crimes as such, and make inroads to communities to

prevent and mitigate such incidents.

I am hopeful that chief contee's statement of making police -- for different communities extends the bias incidents against the asian-american pacific islander community and all communities of color.

And also hope that he places

increased trust and resources -- mpd like the asian-american pacific islander liaison unit and use them to create stronger relationships with all communities [Inaudible].

thank you very much. Next I've got commissioner anthony lorenzo green.

Good afternoon, commissioner. >> good afternoon.

Thank you for having me.

My name is anthony lorenzo

green, I am a five-term advisory

neighborhood commissioner, representing district 7c04 which

is the resilient and mighty dean

wood community in ward 7.

Even gray can smile a little bit. Dean wood is very forth right and I'm very thankful and proud

to be a native of this city.

I am here today really to remind our community that the more that

we struggle with each other to get to a space of safety, the

more we have to realize the

elephants in our rooms that's creating these barriers. My other hat that I wear is also as a coorganizers of black lives matter D.C.

And for the last year, my comrade and many other comrades from different organizations,

that's one thing about D.C. We are a leaderful city.

And so many people have been

organizing and fighting every day to make sure that we are telling folks why we fight so

hard for housing for all. Why we fight so hard to educate people about the ills of

capitalism, and how it spreads into our community and creates the violent conditions that we live in. Because it creates the environment that allows us to address the core issues of why our communities are so violent

And one of the things I like to remind many members of my

community is that there are so

many community spaces east of the river, whether we're talking

about civic and citizens associations, anc commissions,

or citizens advisory councils,

these are spaces that are

always, 100%, occupied by mpd. And when I say, I mean their

presence is there every month.

So, there is no narrative out

there that can say that. There are conversations being had and mpd would like to be part of those conversations. They're always in those

conversations. And, it's gotten to the point where so many black folks in our

community refuse to be in those spaces. Which is why those communities are always so small.

They have become extensions, actually -- police departments and people have been making it very clear to this council, to leaders, even over at the reform commission, about how in so many ways, that they don't see police as a form of safety for them.

How people have been challenging this city to reimagine what

public safety looks like. Trying to create a world where

in the future, we don't need a institution, a white supremacist institution as policing in this country.

You know, it took two hard years

to fight just to get the release of the body worn camera footage for black men that have been cut down by mpd. I mentioned this in a previous

hearing that it took a man from

minnesota name george floyd to

die just for D.C. To do what was

right, to show the families, and

provide publicly to our communities what happened in

these incidents. And any time there's endless reports whether you're talking

about aclu or different organizations or the auditor's

office who released their most recent use of deadly force report. Many times over the past two

years mpd has done nothing but really gaslight our community members. Made them feel like the harm they experienced and the trauma they experienced in our community, in the name of D.C. Government, in the name of every single taxpayer across our city,

They were made to believe that

officers who came to perform

searches on their property with no warrant, you know, and then let back into our community to

be involved in a big brawl, you know, made it very clear that these leaders in policing, and leaders on the council, haven't been wanting to listen. And for contee, and for me as a

D.C. Native, as a black man, that I got to really make it very clear.

I find it insulting that anyone

would call them a native of this city, and stand before us as a

black man, as I am, and use

this, the tools of policing as

weapons against their own people. He made it clear today that there are people who are

disposable in our community. I'm here to declare no one is

disposable. There are many people who are involved in violent crimes who

are also the victims of violent crimes. Any time we sit in community spaces and hear those stories

and ask people to unpack the layers. How did this happen? How do we get to this point

where you and this person had this conflict, where the only

way you can resolve it is with a weapon. Whether we're talking about a gun, a knife, a vehicle, you name it. It's a long list of violent things that have been taking place in our community that we can have been doing the work to

prevent. There's been talk about how in areas where there's high crime

and there's police there, and

violence interrupters. Violence interrupters can't do their work if the police are in

people's faces. Violence interrupters will continue to be seen as working

as an extension of police. I'm one of these people who feel we need to work in a space where

we have an independent arm that

is managing violence prevention efforts in this city. We can move police out of the middle of conversations and have it solely for our communities and our leaders. So I'm going to go land the

And, really, just not really trying to get too involved

whether contee is the right chief. Because I'm of the belief it don't matter who the face is.

If the whole system of policing is racist. And also want to highlight a

point about the January 6th insurrection. And I can't let that go, just as

a native, because I have to give kudos to being on D.C. And many other organizations that put the work in for two months from November to January, trying to educate businesses downtown. Trying to educate people in our city to not allow white supremacists to come in to your establishment. Do not serve them.

Do not allow them on your property. Please let community members know when they show up in your neighborhood. And people did that. People posted videos. People made it clear that, yo, we're not going to tolerate this in D.C.

The struggle was that there were leaders, mayor bowser and chief contee and chief newsham who did not want to listen to us when we were sounding the alarm about the white supremacist threat on our streets. The sfakt that they were organizing. The fact that they were attacking people in black lives

matter plaza and popping up in black neighborhoods.

Not to write anti-police

graffiti, as Miss Kathy tried to state.

That wasn't white supremacist. The white supremacists made it clear what they were going to do. But the question had come down to who was the threat in this city. And that incident showed exactly

who was the threat. When it was me and my comrades on the streets they used the national guard.

When he was me standing next to brown hilton's mom on georgia avenue and we both got pepper

strayed together, we were the threat. But when white supremacists stormed into the city, they were allowed to go home. Thank you for this time.

thank you very much. Let me turn to yvette alexander.

>> good afternoon, it's good to see so many people here. Greetings, Chairman Allen,

members of the public safety and

judiciary committee. Councilmember gray, councilmember george.

It is my honor to present

testimony today in favor of acting chief robert contee's confirmation as chief of the

metropolitan police department. I've known chief contee for

In the various positions that he's held. First and foremost as the commander of the sixth district. As I was serving as the ward 7

I've witnessed firsthand his

passion, his professionalism, and his leadership as the sixth

The success of the metropolitan

police department depends in a large part of the choice of the head of the department, and in

the manner in which they lead.

I've heard from several sworn

officers and civilian staff

across the city, and this is a

key that they have respect for acting chief contee.

And I think that is a key. When you have respect in your position you can lead in that

position, and you can carry on your mission in that position. And I think chief conif I can do

that. I have to say something personally as I've heard a lot of testimony, I'm going to go off the script a little bit.

While I was councilmember, I had someone actually who was a

returning citizen on my staff.

And he had a passion, as he was

on the wrong side of the law for

so many years, but he had a

passion to actually work with the metropolitan police

department when he reformed his life and turned his life around.

And I can say long before the

near act was even thought of, we had a collaborative way of doing things in ward 7.

And that was under then commander contee's regime.

He thought out of the box then.

To say, we need to engage other members of our community.

We need to engage those persons who have been on the wrong side

of the law, who can really reach

out to some of the people who are causing, you know, causing the bedlam in the streets now. We need someone who can really

listen to them. So, he thought about that then. And that was his passion then.

And it was very successful.

I can say during his tenure as

commander in ward 7 our violent crime was lower. Our violent crime stats were on

a decline at that time.

And community policing was at an all-time high. We did things then that were thought of with the police

department in terms of community

policing, forming little league teams in our public housing community. Going in to a public housing community during holiday time

when we know some of our most vulnerable residents, our children, might not have had,

you know, a positive image of the police department.

And where they can see members of our police department as elves and santa's helpers and santa claus going through the community. That means a lot.

I mean, I can go back to when I

was growing up and we did have officer friendly, and the school.

That was my first impression. Of the police department. And I think that will play a role. Police are not the bad guys. Some of them are.

But, as a whole, police are not the bad guys in our community.

And we need to have those examples of the really good police officers out there. The majority are good.

I have been a victim of crimes myself.

I have been a victim of some injustice that I'm not all pleased with all of our members

of our police force, as well.

But I know who robert contee is,

as a person, and as a professional. It's evident through cadet roll call, because he was a cadet himself. I have attended cadet roll

calls, and he was chief contee

will be the -- he will make sure his officers know the community that they serve.

He will make sure that his officers know the different cultures, and the community that

I think that his passion, and

his future, his experience will

then go on to the others who are serving our city and public safety.

I have witnessed it myself, and others throughout the community have witnessed it. So I think that his leadership will then demand those things in the officers that serve our city.

I think we will see a shift in some of the cultural changes with our metropolitan police department.

I think robert contee will ensure that.

I'm confident that our public safety and law enforcement are

in capable hands with this native son of the district of columbia.

And when I say native son, I do think that matters as a native

washingtonian. Myself, he knows the community intimately.

He grew up in a community. Many people know him from a little boy to a grown man. And that makes a difference when they see someone that they saw

rise through the ranks of carver terrace and rise through the ranks of the police department to become the chief, that says

something to our community. And that sends a positive

message to all washingtonians. I'm confident he will operate in full transparency.

He will hold his officers accountable, and work in a proactive manner to ensure that

the best practices of the metropolitan police department

are adhered to. I am here to answer any questions that you May have,

because I have intimate knowledge, firsthand knowledge

of his leadership, and his experience within the metropolitan police department.

Thank you for your time, and I am in full support of his confirmation. Thank you.

thank you very much.

We have -- richards on the list. She's not here. Let me turn to johnny scott rice. I think you're muted.

let's see if we can unmute. >> all right. I'm unmuted. How are you?

we can hear you now.

Well, let me tell you about contee. He is the perfect person for

And the reason I know this is

because I've been living in ward 7 since 1974. I had this house built.

And he was a young police officer over here.

At assistant chief at one point. And between him, and robin we had the best police in town.

I live across the street from several D.C. Interrupters, as a

matter of fact. I live in du pont park.

Where contee grew up, I used to

go through there on my way from brown junior high school back in the 1950s to the library there because it was the best library in town.

And I lived in trinity.

So I graduated from elementary school, there was a library that I could go to from my house. When I got to junior high school and went to brown.

Think about it, I could cut through college terrace, stop in

the library, do my homework, get

home and then I could hang out. I know carver terrace.

I know good people that lived in carver terrace. And contee comes from a good environment.

When I was a kid, brown was

known as the hill of knowledge.

You could go to charles elementary school, you went to brown junior high school. The boys could go to phelps for

vocational high school, and you had the academic junior high school. All of that has disappeared because people have lost sight of what the black communities look like. When I was growing up.

I am a fourth generation washingtonian. We're all still around when I

You can call it capital hill

east but my deed sis trinidad and it's not going to change. I am 80 years old. 60 years of marriage to the same

So when I met contee, I just fell in love with him because he

was so nice. I was going up, give you an

example of contee. I'm going up the road, the christmas, the first christmas

we were here, and I see our just left police chief stopping my kids that lived around the

corner from me, with their new bikes, on benning road in the corner.

I stopped, get out of my car, I said what are y'all doing?

He tells us the kids tell me, he said we stole these bikes. I said no you didn't. So I told that past chief that we just got rid of, because I couldn't stand it, because he was not fair to my people. And he was working over here in

ward 7. And I told him. I opened up the trunk of my car. I said you are going to put

these kids' bikes in my trunk,

and these kids are going home with me. And when I get home I'm calling down to the police station and i'm going to let you know what you're doing out here on the corner in front of the service station. You're not going to continue to do this to my community.

Contee was one of those kind that did not do that.

He could see a bunch of kids on the street.

He'd pull over, get out, what y'all doing? What y'all up to today? They would tell him. He would take the time to stand

there, talk to those kids.

Ask, come on join the police when you get old enough. You become a policeman. We used to feed families every

thanksgiving at the boy's club. On benning road.

Guess who was out there feeding them families? Contee. There was a young man, one year,

at the food for families. He lived off benning road. He wanted to see a police officer. I saw contee come in that door. I said contee come here.

He came over, introduced him to

that young man. That young man is now a policeman for ward 7. His mother didn't want him to be a policeman, because she thought it was the worst job in town. It wasn't. I went to his graduation.

His mother thanked me.

Now he's a policeman. I got a nephew right now, he got out of the marine corps he wanted to be a policeman. His father wanted him to be a lawyer because he's a lawyer. He didn't want to.

I had to talk his father into letting him join the police department. Guess what? He called me with contee's name

came up to be the chief, talk to my dad.

Had his dad to call me.

Let me tell you something. Our policeman over here, not

just contee, but it's a whole lot of them they care about

And I am glad to endorse contee. That won that was on here

talking that crap and that young girl sitting there, and that

young man, they did the right thing --

come on now. Come on now. >> charles you know how I am.

we are not going to go there. >> okay. I won't.

>> all I'm telling you is he's the best man for the job. He's going to do a great job at it.

all right. >> and I thank you, charles, for letting me be on here to tell you my truth.

all right. I appreciate that.

Thank you. Let me also clear up real fast. I don't know anybody in trinidad

who is trying to call themselves capitol hill east. Trinidad is trinidad.

And I'm pretty sure my ward 5 colleague would have something to say about it, as well, if you tried to rename trinidad. So we'll get that out of the

way. >> I would just like to say for the record that I did not

you muted yourself, April, I'm sorry. >> the host muted me. But I was saying, I just want to

for the record that I did not come for anybody. That's all.

So I want to thank everybody for their testimony.

And, one of the things, you know, I've been trying to reflect as we go through the whole day. We had our nominee for about five hours with questions.

A lot of my colleagues came. I thought we had a lot of good discussions. We had a great group of folks coming here. Most of the public witnesses have come in to speak in support

And so I do feel like I want to -- commissioner green, I just want to turn to you for a second, because I think it's

important that as we are looking

at the nominee, it is my belief, at least, commissioner, that, you know, when you come today, you're not just speaking for yourself, you're speaking for a

lot of other people, right?

We have gone through an entire year of a heightened level of conversation around what do we mean when we say public safety? What do we mean when we talk about policing? What has to change? What needs to change, and how

does it change? And those conversations don't just go away. Right? So I enter this space believing that you're actually speaking on behalf of a larger group of people. They May not be in the zoom panel right now.

But you're speaking for them. And one of the things I -- you

said early on in your testimony, you talked about recognizing people kind of recognizing the

false dichotomy that there is a victim, and there is an offender. And it's just these two buckets and that's it.

When the reality is, trauma puts people into both those spaces at the same time.

That an individual who commits a violent act, in most likelihood, has also been the victim and survivor of violent acts. And if we don't do a service to

anybody if we just put them in two different camps and walk away. That was one of my first

questions to the chief today, was to say do you recognize that

and how do you reconcile that? And also how do you then speak

to the officers, both in training, in reinforcing, but also just in the way that they act, to realize that these

things are together? So I definitely appreciate your comments.

You know, and you talked about not necessarily speaking about the nominee specifically, but

talked about the larger issue. I've heard from some who said well they feel like they've

heard the chief make certain commitments, make, you know, speak out about where he wants to take the police, and take mpd

I guess for you, I was going to ask, is there -- you're going to -- I trust that you're going

to be here working on reform no matter what happens in terms of

nominee, right? >> pretty much.

so -- >> that's the space I'm sitting in.

exactly, right. So you've been there before. You're here today. You'll be there tomorrow.

I know that. Is there anything that this

nominee or any nominee, frankly,

could show or do in a way that you believe could help change

status quo for the better from your perspective? Because I know we've heard different commitments. I'm just curious to see what are some of the things you believe you'd need to see if we were to truly believe the status quo was

>> I don't know -- well, I will

say that, you know, it is based

on not things we hear, because

we, even chief newsham, and I

agree, Mr. John -- Ms. Johnnie wright you know we disagree. I have a completely different experience with that.

However, I think we do agree on one point, where, you know, it's

really trying to get them to

show, not just talk about, you know, because newsham loves to talk.

But, we're about action. And we prefer, you know, people

who say that they care about our communities, to show where they're at. And I speak as someone not just, you know, speaking for part of

my community, and just to remind

folks, I ran on the [Inaudible]

I ran on the defund platform. so, you know, these are conversations that I was happy

to lean into, because for one,

it allowed people to take more ownership in what is happening

in our communities, instead of constantly believing, and I think everyone can agree with this, that police are the only solutions to the problems in our community. And we're really challenging people to step outside of their comfort zones, out of their comfort spaces and really think

outside the box about how can we improve our lives together? How can we keep each other safe?

You know, really putting on one another as a neighbor. You know, just this week alone,

you know, I saw a posting someone in southeast who

currently had cops knocking on her door and her neighbor's door

because someone in the building called police about marijuana smoke. Why is police being called about that? That sounds like that should be a conversation with your property manager. You know, not bringing in police

officers to a scenario where now, neighbors who weren't involved in any of that are being accused of doing something that they didn't have no involvement in, and one of those

neighbors just so happens to be someone who was active in our community.

So just that experience of that

one person who has assets to resource, has assets to

challenge the status quo and hold people accountable in some type of way, to see that happens

before her eyes in her own living space disrupted the claim

that they claimed they were responding to. Jay brown and I responded to

that incident in southeast where I guess there was a barricade, someone did not want to come outside.

But we were just really trying

to say did you call dbh?

You didn't call dbh? We can call director bazwell right now.

Matter of fact, we're going to call director bazwell. Are you having dinner. Can we interrupt it real quick? Can you send a team. The fact that community members

had to do that, you know, really showed how far we still have to go to get to a space where police are not the only solution.

And the data supports this.

You know, even the data released by ouc about the type of calls they're getting and the number of calls they're after, you know, very small amount of calls that are really for police, the police answer to everything.

You know, police don't have to

show up for every part of our lives. Everything that happens in our community. And really got to get beyond this space where we're looking

at our neighbors as the enemies. Where we're scared to go next door to have a conversation with our neighbor about dogs barking. Oh, no, let me call the police about this dog. Why?

And this is the conditions that, you know, we're accustomed to. You know, people believe that it's better and easier to talk to a cop than to talk to their own neighbor.

That is not a safe community. That's why I put a lot of work

in trying to build out some type of community network and being where folks can at least lean on each other when things happen.

If someone robs a business in deanwood, let's believe that business owner is going to hit me and say hey, here's what my camera says. Let me know if you know them. Let me know if somebody in the community know them. And I share that with the

community. Yeah, this happens to business in our community. Can you talk to them? And we have been able to

mitigate a lot of stuff. But it doesn't answer the core issue. People need resources. People need money. We have children who are

starving. Children down at bp gas station

who are younger than 13, you know, who could be on their way to robbing, stealing cars, which equals money. Robbing people walking from the

station, which equals money.

All of this is about people trying to survive. And we keep putting the focus and the investment on cops and not on the things that we need in our community to keep us safe. Communities with the most resources are the most safest communities in the country.

I appreciate that. I'm aware of my time. But I appreciate that.

i know there's a lot of conversation, again, has been understandably about the nominee. I just want to make sure we

create some space to be able to have that. Councilmember gray let me turn to you. >> thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

I want to thank the witnesses

for your testimony today. Coming down and speak however they May feel about the

candidacy of chief contee to become the next chief of police in the district of columbia.

I appreciate that councilmember gray. Again let me extend my gratitude to everybody for taking the time and your patience today to make sure your voices are heard in