Dear Neighbor,
I am thrilled and honored to have been sworn-in to serve my second term as your Ward 2 Councilmember. I am tremendously proud of all that we accomplished in my first term and look forward to continuing the work together. As we charge ahead, we must be ever mindful of the changing landscape with our federal government, which we know wields an outsized influence on decisions for our city and therefore outcomes for our residents.
Let us seize this moment to find strength in our unity. I am grateful for your partnership and invigorated for the work ahead we have together as one team championing safety, dignity, and vitality of all District residents. Thank you for your faith in me, I will keep fighting on your behalf due to the deep faith I have in all of you.
First and foremost, continuing to drive down crime and ensuring the safety of residents and visitors no matter where your work, live or visit will continue to be my top priority. As part of my second term priorities, I also plan to reintroduce more than a dozen bills that I introduced last Council period that still need to be passed. These measures address critical needs including housing, healthcare, and access to recreation space. I am also working on additional legislation to advance safety and opportunity in DC. I will be continuing my focus on oversight of the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) to ensure our 911 call center is fast, efficient, and accurate as well as prioritizing recruitment efforts for our public safety agencies.
Budget Forum: On Monday, January 13th, I will hold my annual Ward 2 budget forum to hear from you about your budget priorities for the next year. You can sign-up to testify and learn how to submit your budget suggestions here. I look forward to hearing from you with your ideas.
In the weeks and months ahead, I will continue to work diligently to promote the safety, vitality and vibrancy of all District residents.
Yours in Service,
Brooke
The Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety – along with all other Committees at the Council – will be holding performance oversight hearings through the end of February. Performance oversight hearings allow the public to voice concerns, support, or ideas for District agencies and the Council to ask agency leadership about progress over the last year on achieving the goals and outcomes of each agency on behalf of the public.
The Judiciary Committee will hold seven performance oversight hearings including:
- January 29th with the Office of Victims Services and Justice Grants (OVSJG)
- February 3rd with the Sentencing Commission, Criminal Code Reform Commission (CCRC), and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice (DMPSJ)
- February 5th with the Office of Unified Communications (OUC), and the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (BEGA), which is a new agency assigned to the Committee this year
- February 12th with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC), the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives (MOWPI), Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), and the Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS)
- February 19th with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the Office of the People’s Counsel (OPC)
- February 25th with the Office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia (OAG), the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE), and the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA)
- February 27th with the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (FEMS), the Corrections Information Council (CIC), and the Department of Corrections (DOC)
The Council Secretary’s office will be adding the hearings on the Council website and once added you will be able to find information on all upcoming hearings at the Council and sign up to testify here. Members of the public are invited to provide testimony and watch the hearings.
Witnesses who anticipate needing language interpretation, or requiring sign language interpretation, are asked to inform the Committee of the need as soon as possible but no later than five business days before a hearing during registration or by contacting Ms. Aukima Benjamin, Committee Manager to the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, at (202) 724-8058 or via e-mail at judiciary@dccouncil.gov.
Councilmember Pinto will reintroduce more than a dozen bills this Council period to improve the lives of District residents and visitors.
- Government Recruitment and Retention Act of 2025: This would improve recruitment and retention for key positions in our public safety agencies, including by authorizing retention and recruitment incentive payments, enhancing vacancy reporting requirements, and offering more career recruitment opportunities for high school students.
- Deferred Retirement Option Program Amendment Act of 2025 (DROP): This supports increased staffing at MPD and FEMS by establishing a deferred retirement option program to allow retirement-eligible FEMS and MPD members to continue working for up to three additional years while collecting supplemental payments in a separate retirement account.
- Support for the Capital Pride Parade Amendment Act of 2025: This supports the long-term success and safety of Capital Pride by waiving city fees for the Capital Pride Parade, Festival, and Block Party hosted each year.
- Fair Taxation of Municipal Bonds Amendment Act of 2025: This would support many District seniors in their retirement planning by ensuring that out-of-state municipal bonds acquired prior to January 1, 2025, remain exempt from income tax.
- Smoke Detector Safety Amendment Act of 2025: This updates smoke detector requirements by requiring all smoke detectors sold in the District to be tamper-resistant.
- Expanding Access to Public Restrooms Act of 2025: This dramatically increases the availability of public restrooms. It provides grant funding to facilitate the provision and maintenance of public bathrooms and requires that all new and substantially renovated parks that are one acre or more in size have a public restroom.
- HIV In-home Test Tax Exemption Amendment Act of 2025: This exempts sales of HIV in-home tests from taxation.
- Removing Barriers and Reducing Stigma to Encourage HIV Prevention Amendment Act of 2025: This would encourage uptake of the prescribed use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (an HIV prevention medication commonly called PrEP) and reduce the stigma associated with HIV and HIV prevention medication by prohibiting insurers from factoring the use of PrEP in decisions related to the issuance of disability, life, or long-term care insurance policies.
- Hygiene and Laundry Access Pilot Program Act of 2025: This establishes a pilot program to give grants to organizations to provide and manage publicly accessible shower and laundry facilities.
- Expanding Community Access to Safe and Clean Recreational Space Act of 2025: This requires the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to establish a program in partnership with District of Columbia Schools (DCPS) to expand safe and sanitary community access to recreational facilities in every ward on evenings and weekends, outside the hours in which facilities are in active use by schools and students.
- Fairness in Use and Negotiation (FUN) for All Recreational Property Act of 2025: This requires the Mayor to satisfy certain public engagement requirements before entering into a long-term exclusive agreement regarding the use of District owned recreational property.
- Vehicular Noise Reduction Act of 2025: This helps to reduce excessive vehicular noise by establishing a two-year noise camera pilot program, creates a vehicle repair subsidy program, and requires a study on strategies to reduce vehicular and transit noise in the District.
- Lead-Free DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2025: This requires that all lead service lines in the District on both public and private property be replaced with non-lead lines by December 31, 2030, at no cost to the property owner.
WATCH: DC News Now: Staffing Levels, Answer Time Improving at DC Call Center
“Our work and partnership with the OUC has been going on for many months,” said Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who chairs the Judiciary and Public Safety committee... “District residents and visitors deserve to be able to call 911 and know someone is going to answer quickly, effectively and they’re going to get their dispatch accurately,” she said. “Where we are today is very different from where we were three months ago or a year ago and that brings me a lot of hope and optimism.”
WATCH: WUSA9: Here’s what the future of Capital One Arena is expected to look like
“Police data released this month shows that violent crime has dropped nearly 90% in the Chinatown neighborhood since the city launched its Safe Commercial Corridor Hub back in February. Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto who represents the neighborhood says, it's a reflection of what's happening in the city overall... "We are finishing this year, with the lowest level of crime in 20 years," she said.
READ: Washington Post: Violent crime, including homicide and carjackings, drops in D.C.
“D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), who chairs the public safety and judiciary committee, pointed to Secure D.C., which she sponsored, when asked what caused the sharp decrease in violent crime. “We are seeing the results,” she said in an interview. The lawmaker highlighted a provision that made it easier for judges to hold people charged with violent offenses pretrial, helping to end what had been seen as a revolving door from arrest to release, often within a day. She also said that part of the bill allowing police to collect DNA from suspects at the point of arrest helps solve cases quicker. Pinto said she is committed to improving the city’s violence intervention efforts, which consist of employing community members to spot conflicts and defuse them. She said she wants to see the two such programs — one operating under the mayor, and the other under the independently elected D.C. attorney general — merge under the mayor. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D) said he is open to collaboration.”
READ: The WASH: Logan Circle crime drops nearly 20% from 2023
“Logan Circle Community Association president Karen Franklin attributes this decrease to Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto’s crime-prevention bill from early March... The legislation, known as Secure D.C., prioritizes prevention and ending cycles of violence, accountability for crime and government coordination and oversight. Highlights include establishing new felony offenses for gun penalties and strangulation, drug-free zones, gun tracking and more access to police body-worn-camera footage.”
Budget Forum: On Monday, January 13th, Councilmember Pinto will hold the annual Ward 2 budget forum to hear from residents about budget priorities for the next year. You can sign-up to testify and learn how to submit your budget suggestions here. Councilmember Pinto looks forward to hearing from you with your ideas.