A spat is brewing between the D.C. Police Union and one of the District’s violence interruption organizations after the union called to shut down peacekeeping programs in light of how they’re implicated in D.C. Council member Trayon White’s federal bribery case.
Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton said the council should end all funding and operations for the “unproven” and “shady” anti-violence groups in the city.
He tied the various organizations’ growth in recent years to Mr. White’s support for the programs. Mr. Pemberton also accused the Ward 8 Democrat of being an “unabashed antagonist of police” who has advocated for the groups as an alternative to greater policing.
“His rhetoric in support of funding violence prevention programs — beneficiaries of which include the business and its owner who bribed White — called for ‘retribution’ and ‘proper penance’ to be paid by D.C. police officers,” Mr. Pemberton said in a statement.
Marcus Ellis, executive director of anti-violence group Peace for D.C., hit back at Mr. Pemberton by saying that law enforcement has faced “many challenges” in recent years, but his anti-violence group is not calling for defunding the police.
He said that the police union leader “misrepresented” how the organizations keep the city safe and that they are effective in reducing violence in a targeted way.
“Our work has proven that we need to double down on a comprehensive approach to public safety instead of scaling back on what we know is helping keep our communities safer,” Mr. Ellis said.
Mr. White, 40, was charged last month with agreeing to take $156,000 in bribes in exchange for steering government contacts to his preferred anti-violence businesses.
The federal court indictment said the councilman pocketed roughly $35,000 when he met with an FBI informant who also runs a violence interruption group in the District. Mr. White allegedly told the informant that he has “great weight” when it comes to influencing how the city spends its money on anti-violence efforts.
Mr. White pleaded not guilty to the corruption charges in court last week.
In his statement, Mr. Pemberton said there is no “science-based metric or data” demonstrating the effectiveness of the peacekeeping work, and to terminate contracts with any provider who made financial contributions to city politicians.
The union chair further suggested that funding dedicated to violence interruption programs be redirected to the Metropolitan Police Department, which is at a 50-year-low in staffing.
However, the executive director cited the D.C. Auditor’s report from last week that found MPD has sufficient personnel to patrol the city.
In his response, Mr. Ellis pointed to positive comments police Chief Pamela Smith made about the groups’ peacekeeping work.
The city’s top cop said last week that the “violence interrupters have been very instrumental in supporting us in the crime reduction that you have seen across the District of Columbia.”
Chief Smith spoke on the topic after an armed violence interrupter was shot and killed by police officers earlier this month in Southeast.
Justin Robinson, an ex-felon who worked for the Office of the D.C. Attorney General’s anti-violence program, had a gun on his lap Sept. 1 after he crashed his car at a McDonald’s restaurant.
Police body camera footage showed Robinson, who was briefly knocked out by the collision, awaken to find officers ordering him to put his hands up. Instead, Robinson tried to grab one of the officers’ weapons that was poking through his car window. Police opened fire moments later.
Robinson, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene. Former felons cannot own guns in the District.
Meanwhile, the D.C. Council moved Tuesday to remove Mr. White from his leadership position as the head of the Committee of Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs.
The council launched its own investigation into the bribery allegations against Mr. White this week, and expects to have findings of that probe in December.
Mr. White, who is up for reelection in November, has chosen to remain on the ballot.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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