Dear Neighbor,
I am writing with an update on my fall 2024 oversight and legislation plan including information on the hearings I am having on our 911 call center and violence interruption programs.
911 Call Center - OUC
On Monday, I held the first of a series of hearings on performance of the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) to ensure needed improvements in accuracy, transparency, and speed are being made at the District’s 911 call center. Alongside these roundtables and legislation, my team and I have begun conducting regular unannounced biweekly visits to OUC to check on updates, to speak with staff directly, and to help inform the legislative, oversight, and policy work that we do every day. This past Saturday night, I made an unannounced visit to OUC. The purpose of Monday’s roundtable was to discuss the recent operational failures and incidents at OUC and discuss some of the concerning observations I made during my visit over the weekend including the short-staffed dispatchers.
You can watch the hearing and review my takeaways from the hearing here. Intensive attention and work on recruitment, training, and technology for our hard-working call takers and dispatchers will help yield the improvements needed at our 911 call center. I will be holding two more oversight hearings on OUC this fall. The next hearing, held on October 23rd, will focus on performance and staffing as well as two bills I introduced to improve public transparency at the agencyand to provide childcare for first responders.You can learn more and sign up to testify here.
Violence Interruption Programs
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I am particularly concerned by the connection between the indictment of Councilmember Trayon White and the provision of government services and contracts for our violence intervention programs.
This upcoming Monday, October 7th at noon, I will hold a public oversight roundtable regarding the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement’s (ONSE’s) management of violence intervention grants.
I will be focusing on ONSE’s grantmaking process and its ability to monitor and oversee grantees under the agency’s Violence Intervention Initiative. I have been concerned about the oversight of grantees and urged the agency in the Judiciary and Public Safety Budget Committee Report to focus on consistency of training and grantmaking. Recent events have made clear the need to more deeply examine ONSE’s processes in this regard. I also understand that the Executive is undertaking a review of all of its violence intervention contracts and grants, including those awarded by ONSE.
I believe in the power and efficacy of community-based violence interruption programs when properly executed and I will continue to work with ONSE, the Mayor, and the Attorney General to ensure our violence interruption efforts are supported, efficient, effective, and transparently funded. You can watch Monday’s hearing streaming live on X (formerly known as Twitter) and on the DC Council Website (dccouncil.gov). There is a lot of critical work to be done this fall before the end of the Council period in December and I will be sure to keep you apprised of all that is happening in the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety.
Legislative Update
The Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety continues to move forward its busy fall agenda with hearings on important legislation before the end of the Council period in December. Here’s a round-up of what is coming up soon:
- October 21st: Hearing on Safe and Supported Pregnancy and Delivery for Incarcerated Individuals Amendment Act of 2024; Child Marriage Prohibition Amendment Act of 2024; The Firearm Suicide Prevention (Donna’s Law) Amendment Act of 2024.
- October 23: Hearing on Transparency in Emergency Response Amendment Act of 2024; Childcare for First Responders Act of 2024
More information on these hearings and instructions on how to sign-up to testify and submit written testimony can be found here.
Rosh Hashanah: This week, I want to wish all who celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, a joyous and warm Shana Tova. This year’s holiday comes at a time of great uncertainty and sorrow and I pray for a year full of blessings. As we enter into the High Holiday season, the District remains committed to ensuring safety around our places of worship and throughout our city.
Yours in Service,
Brooke
WUSA 9 DC Council probe into staffing and technical issues at 911 Call Center The five-hour-long hearing was held just hours after Councilmember Brooke Pinto paid an unannounced visit to the 911 call center on Saturday night.
WUSA 9 DC 911 failures the focus of Council roundtable The DC Council is holding the first in a series of oversight hearings on the Office of Unified Communications, which runs the city's 911 system. The chair of the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, Councilmember Brooke Pinto, announced a multi-prong plan to address longstanding issues with the agency earlier in September.
WTOP Despite hiring spree, oversight hearing shows staffing problems persist at DC 911 call center Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto, who chairs the public safety committee, said she made an unannounced visit to OUC this past Saturday evening and was frustrated by what she saw... “Staffing has to be a priority,” she said.
ABC 7 News Councilmember Pinto holds oversight round table on 911 system failures
Fox 5 News Free 24/7 child care for DC first responders proposed to support families Pinto said with first responder schedules - overnight shifts and odd hours - a lot of talented ones leave when they have kids. "Having this incentive, this benefit that is well deserved in my opinion, is going to be an important step in getting more folks in the door, to retaining folks, and to making very clear that we value the extremely hard and important work our first responders are engaged in," Pinto said.
Fox 5 News New bill in DC could end child marriages, setting age requirement at 18 "There’s a loophole in our nation’s capital allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to tie the knot if they have consent from a parent or judge," said Councilmember Brooke Pinto. She and other council members want to eliminate this loophole.
ABC 7 News Possible merger of DC's two violence interrupter programs appear to be on hold “While I support the goal of merging our violence interruption programs in the future, it would be premature to advance [a merger] this fall while we are busy ensuring that the appropriate supports and guardrails are in place to run an effective and efficient agency.”
WTOP How do you stop robberies at bars and restaurants? Some DC leaders want to remove the cash A new bill, the Entertainment Establishment Employee Safety Amendment Act of 2024, would allow select D.C. businesses that serve alcohol, such as restaurants, hotels, bars, nightclubs and entertainment venues to go cashless.
WTOP This popular cellphone carrier keeps disconnecting 911 calls in DC “The carrier was dropping many of those callers once they entered the queue line,” said Pinto. “And so we both need the public to know if you’re in the queue line, wait and don’t hang up. But we also need the carrier to know that call is not finalized yet, and you cannot be dropping those calls.”