D.C. Council

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Then-U.S. Park Police Chief Pamela Smith discusses preparations for the upcoming 2022 State of the Union Address during a news conference, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) ** FILE **

Pamela Smith, first Black female D.C. police chief, takes over amid crime crisis

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

Washington Metropolitan Police investigate near the Supreme Court and Capitol after reports of a suspicious vehicle in which two men and a woman were detained with guns, in Washington, Oct. 19, 2022. The head of the D.C. Council said Monday, March 6, 2023, that he is withdrawing the capital city’s new criminal code from consideration, just before a U.S. Senate vote that seemed likely to overturn the measure. But it's unclear if the action will prevent the vote or spare President Joe Biden a politically charged decision on whether to endorse the congressional action. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) **FILE**

Emergency bill gives judges leeway to jail suspects before trial amid spike in D.C. crime

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

Washington Metropolitan Police investigate near the Supreme Court and U.S. Capitol in Washington, Oct. 19, 2022. The Republican-led House is set to approve a resolution Wednesday, April 19, 2023, that would block a District of Columbia police accountability bill, further escalating the feud over the right to self-government in the nation’s capital. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

House passes bill rejecting D.C. police overhaul in second rebuke of city government

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

Food Truck on wheels in night street. File photo credit alexfan32 via Shutterstock.

D.C. Council approves long-sought overhaul of street vendor laws

By Vaughn Cockayne - The Washington Times

President Joe Biden speaks during a Nowruz celebration in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 20, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden signs measure nullifying D.C. criminal code overhaul

By Ashraf Khalil - Associated Press

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters following a closed-door policy meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Schumer criticized House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's decision to unleash a trove of Jan. 6 Capitol attack footage to Fox News' Tucker Carlson, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. The conservative commentator is working to reverse the narrative of the attack that had played out for the world to see into one more favorable to Donald Trump. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

33 Senate Democrats join Republicans in major bipartisan rejection of D.C. criminal code overhaul

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

A Washington Metropolitan Police officer puts yellow tape around the Potomac Avenue Metro Station in Southeast Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. An armed man shot three people, killing one, Wednesday in a morning rampage that started on a city bus and ended in a Metro tunnel after passengers attacked and disarmed him. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) **FILE**

Senate won’t let D.C. off the hook, proceeds with planned slap-down of city’s contentious crime bill

By Tom Howell Jr. and Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

A Washington Metropolitan Police officer puts yellow tape around the Potomac Avenue Metro Station in Southeast Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. An armed man shot three people, killing one, Wednesday in a morning rampage that started on a city bus and ended in a Metro tunnel after passengers attacked and disarmed him. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) **FILE**

D.C. leaders lean too far left even for some Democrats

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks during a news conference on Nov. 9, 2022, in Washington. Amid rising crime rates and spiraling public tensions over gun violence, Bowser and the legislative branches are locked in a public dispute over the future of crime prevention in the nation's capital. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) **FILE**

D.C. mayor’s amended criminal code rewrite to get committee hearing, public safety chair says

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., calls for impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Rep. Andrew Clyde formally objects to DC crime overhaul with weaker penalties

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, Thursday, March 25, 2021, in Washington, in this file photo. Sen. Cotton said at a Judiciary Committee meeting Thursday that nothing in an antitrust journalism bill will stop Big Tech and media organizations from censoring conservative content for alleged trustworthiness concerns and through other private arrangements. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool) **FILE**

Senate Republicans move to block D.C. plan for illegal immigrants voting in local elections

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks during a news conference on Nov. 9, 2022, in Washington. Amid rising crime rates and spiraling public tensions over gun violence, Bowser and the legislative branches are locked in a public dispute over the future of crime prevention in the nation's capital. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) **FILE**

D.C. mayor, council tell Congress to butt out of their criminal-code rift

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

In this file photo, a Metropolitan Police vehicle is parked on the other side of a tape police line along the Tidal Basin as cherry blossoms cover the trees, in Washington, Monday, March 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) **FILE**

House GOP fights D.C. proposal to go easier on crime

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks during a news conference on Nov. 9, 2022, in Washington. Amid rising crime rates and spiraling public tensions over gun violence, Bowser and the legislative branches are locked in a public dispute over the future of crime prevention in the nation's capital. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) **FILE**

D.C. Council overrides Bowser’s veto of rewritten criminal code

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks during a news conference on March 15, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) **FILE**

D.C. mayor to veto proposed criminal code changes over softer stance on gun violence

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

A couple walks their dog in Los Angeles, on Jan. 24, 2021. In the eyes of the law, pets are property when it comes to divorce. But new ways of working out custody of the dog, cat or parrot have sprung up in recent years. There are special mediators and a push for "petnups" to avoid courtroom disputes. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

D.C. bill would consider well-being of pet when determining custody in divorces

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

New DC Voting Law Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

D.C. Council votes to dilute its citizens’ votes

By Andrew Arthur

D.C. Jail (File photo)

Early release, removal of most mandatory minimums proposed in D.C.’s overhauled criminal code

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

In this March 18, 2014, file photo, voters cast their ballots in Hinsdale, Ill. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

D.C. voters to decide next mayor, other races in Democratic primary

By Mica Soellner - The Washington Times

Police departments are struggling with a shortage of officers because of mass resignations since protests last summer over racism and police brutality, along with calls to “abolish” and “defund” the police. As a result, officers who remain have heavier caseloads. (Associated Press)

Cops vacancies overwhelm short-staffed police departments

By Emily Zantow - The Washington Times