Doing the Safety Dance

The Criminal Code Brouhaha Is An Opportunity To Do Better

The District’s new criminal code bill is in limbo, after D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson pulled the legislation out of consideration, hoping to tone down Congressional criticism of it.

Still, he said: “We have to revise the criminal code. Our criminal code is one of the worst in the country. … And our options are better by pulling it.”

We agree — and also concur with Mayor Muriel Bowser’s and Police Chief Robert Contee’s criticisms of the proposed code. Bowser vetoed the bill.

And still, Bowser and Contee gathered — yet again — on a city street corner to condemn the rampant criminality pervasively degrading the lives of all Washingtonians. The mayor said the obvious: “We know that this neighborhood has been particularly hard hit with burglaries and other crimes in the recent days and weeks. While we know that violent crime is down