Civic and Business Leaders Release Public Safety Letter

On January 21st, 2024 Opportunity DC circulated a letter calling on lawmakers and relevant agencies to pass and implement critical public safety legislation including Secure DC. Over 100 civic and business leaders representing hundreds of DC businesses and employing thousands of District residents signed the letter.

Dear DC Councilmembers and Mayor Bowser:  

We write to you as owners and leaders of businesses in the District of Columbia, but we also experience DC as residents and homeowners, taxpayers and voters, parents and neighbors, employers and customers. Through every lens, in every ward, we are concerned about safety. 

DC’s crime statistics for 2023 were alarming: 

● Homicide: Up 35%. Last year, more people were murdered in DC than in any year since 1997. 

● Motor vehicle theft, including carjackings: Up 82%. On average, 18 cars were reported stolen every day last year. 

● Robbery: Up 67% 

● Total violent crime: Up 39% vs. 2022 

● Total crime: Up 26% vs. 2022 

Each of the 34,414 incidents reported to the Metropolitan Police Department last year – every crime –  had multiple victims. In addition to those who have been assaulted, robbed, and murdered in our city,  there are families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and many others who have experienced the trauma of that crime as well. The broader community is also affected.  

Following a pandemic that set our city back, crime is now undercutting DC’s welfare and capacity to revitalize our economy. We hope you feel the urgency we do. What will make DC safer? Commonsense policies, investments guided by evidence and empathy, and collaboration across District and federal agencies. 

We see these principles at work in the Secure DC Omnibus legislation proposed by Councilmember  Pinto, which includes major provisions of Mayor Bowser’s public safety proposals and is complemented by Chairman Mendelson’s own bill. Collectively, this legislation would increase accountability for adults and young people who commit crimes in the District of Columbia and for those individuals and offices responsible for preventing, investigating, and prosecuting them. 

We call on DC’s lawmakers to pass and fund evidence-based solutions that District residents broadly support, and we call on local and federal law enforcement agencies and court systems to then implement these measures faithfully, efficiently, and in coordination. 

In a survey of DC residents conducted last fall by Opportunity DC, respondents strongly endorsed more investment in law enforcement, including more police presence in neighborhoods, additional tools and resources for MPD, and reduced 911 response times. DC voters also support root-cause solutions to crime, recognizing that offenders often violate others’ safety because of insecurities in their own lives.  Investments in workforce development, affordable housing, equitable food access, high-quality schools,  mental health and addiction support, and productive activities for young people will help combat crime in DC long-term. 

In the last 25 years, DC has experienced an exciting renaissance, thanks in no small part to pragmatic political leadership. Fueled by new businesses, new jobs, new residents, and new visitors, the District of  Columbia has been able to fund groundbreaking programs in education, expand our social safety net, 

build more affordable housing, invest in infrastructure and transportation, and establish a dynamic,  inclusive reputation befitting of our nation’s capital. 

However, a city that feels unsafe to its residents and appears unsafe to observers will repel residents,  businesses, and investments. It will not be a place where people want to shop, dine, or gather. Tourists will be wary of visiting. Employers will abandon and avoid DC in favor of safer, more business-friendly markets. 

We are counting on you to lead at this critical moment. Protect the District of Columbia from an existential threat to its prosperity by urgently and collaboratively addressing public safety. Pass, sign,  and implement the Secure DC Omnibus in its current form. 

Sincerely, 

Akridge 

Alturas Real Estate Interests 

Anacostia Organics 

Apartment & Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington 

Atlas Brew Works 

Aurora Market 

Baja Tap 

Ben’s Chili Bowl 

Bernstein Management Corporation 

Blake Real Estate 

Borger Residential 

Bozzuto Group 

Buffalo & Bergen 

Building Bridges Across the River 

Buttercream Bakeshop 

BXP 

Cahill Advisors 

Captivate Perspectives Corporation 

Carr Companies 

Carr Properties 

Centrolina 

Club Pilates Georgetown DC 

Club Pilates Mount Vernon Triangle 

Clyde's Restaurant Group 

Colada Shop 

Community Three 

Cork Wine Bar and Market 

DC Association of REALTORS 

DC Chamber of Commerce 

DC Nightlife Council 

DC Pie Shop

DC Restaurant Group (801 Bar and Restaurant, The Bottom Line, Madhatter, Prost, Shaw’s Tavern, Vagabond). 

District of Columbia Building Industry Association 

Donohoe 

Dolcezza Gelato 

DW Tax Preparation LLC 

Eastern Point Collective (The Duck & The Peach, La Collina, Meli, The Wells)

El Tamarindo 

Enlightened 

Federal City Council 

Fish and Fire Food Group (Ivy City Smokehouse, Nick’s Riverside Grill, The Point,  Tony & Joe’s Seafood Place) 

FLINT, LLC 

Forge Company 

Fountain Square Beverage Concepts 

Framebridge 

Friedman Capital 

Georgetown Events (Due South, Jetties, Surfside) 

Giant Food 

Graham Holdings 

Greater Washington Black Chamber of Commerce 

Greater Washington Board of Trade 

Goulston & Storrs 

Hines 

Hoffman and Associates 

Horning Brothers Management 

Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners 

JBG Smith 

JL Restaurant Group (Hank’s Oyster Bar) 

Long Shot Hospitality (Dauphine’s, The Dubliner, The Salt Line) Miller & Long 

Monumental Sports 

MRP Realty 

Neighborhood Restaurant Group 

NoMa Business Improvement District 

NoWords.Space LLC 

Number Nine 

One Street Commercial Properties 

Opportunity DC 

Perkins Eastman 

Perry's Restaurant 

Piccolina 

Pizza Paradiso 

The Point 

Potomac Investment Properties

Prescription Chicken 

ProFish 

PRP Real Estate Investment 

Quadrangle 

Rebuilding Together DCA 

Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington 

Ris 

Roadside Development 

Savills 

Silver Diner 

SJG Properties 

The Society For Children Orphaned By AIDS Inc. (SOCOBA) 

Spectrum Management 

Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats 

Stonebridge 

Sunnyside Restaurant Group (Good Stuff Eatery, Santa Rosa Taqueria, We The  Pizza) 

Tin Shop (Astro Beer Hall, Church Hall, Franklin Hall, Penn Social, Tall Boy) Trade 

UIP Companies, INC 

Urban Atlantic 

Usource Construction 

Washingtonian Magazine 

The Wilkes Company 

Cc: Chief Pamela Smith, Metropolitan Police Department 

Attorney General Brian Schwalb 

U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves 

Chief Judge Anita Josey-Herring, Superior Court of the District of Columbia Robert Anthony Dixon, U.S. Marshal for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Chief Judge James E. Boasberg, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Leslie C. Cooper, Director, Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia 

Richard S. Tischner, Director, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of  Columbia