Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – DC Mayor Muriel Bowser will not be making any changes at the top of the Metropolitan Police Department anytime soon, even after the Police Union conducted a poll that found an overwhelming amount of officers do not have confidence in the Chief to lead the department.
“I think Chief Lanier is a great Chief,” Bowser said at a press conference Tuesday. “She knows this city like few others do, and I know that she’s going to provide the leadership that we need to get though the pike in crime that we’re experiencing.”
DC has seen a dramatic rise in homicides from 2014. As of Tuesday evening, 105 people had been killed in the District in 2015, which matches the number of homicides in all of 2014.
“Our officers support the District of Columbia and its residents, and we support them,” Bowser said. “And we’re going to continue to support them.”
A press conference Bowser held last week was interrupted by residents and activists upset that her plan included putting more officers on the street, as indicated by the All Hands on Deck approach instituted last weekend. Despite that, the Mayor remained steadfast in her approach.
“I’ve never head a community say they didn’t want police walking the beat. I just have never heard it,” Bowser said. “They want to see police. They want to see them walking, they want to see them riding, and they want to see them interacting with community members.”
She also indicated there will be an increased effort at reaching out to community leaders in harder-hit areas.
“We will talk to some community groups that are proven and trusted in their communities where we know that we have neighborhood beefs,” Bowser said. “We are going to ask members of the community to work with us to identify and put those to bed.”
“This is what we say to our officers, including the Fraternal Order of Police: The District of Columbia supports our officers. Period.”
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