City leaders have long lamented the proliferation and accessibility of illegal guns with crime again on the rise. D.C. police often highlight all the arrests they make for possession of them, too.
But not everyone arrested is convicted, or even charged, a D.C. Council member said Tuesday night.
鈥淎bout a third of all of MPD鈥檚 gun arrests don鈥檛 get papered by the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office,鈥� Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen during a town hall focused on crime in his ward. 鈥淢eaning they don鈥檛 move forward to be charged. That鈥檚 concerning and I want to know why.鈥�
Allen said his office just received that information last week. D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine wasn鈥檛 ready to substantiate that claim, and Magdalena Acevedo, a representative from the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office, suggested that the real number of arrests that don’t get charged might be more like around 15%.
She said some gun arrests “may not pass constitutional muster,鈥� but she and Racine also pointed out that the standard for an arrest and a prosecution are different.
鈥淟et鈥檚 say there鈥檚 an individual stopped in a car and there are three people in a car and one gun. In that case, the police officers can arrest all three individuals for potentially having control over that weapon. But for prosecutors, we have to show which one person is responsible for possessing that gun. Most of the cases that are 鈥榥o papered鈥� are cases like that,鈥� Acevedo said.
Both Allen and Racine agreed it鈥檚 important to have all that context to help police improve.
鈥淎s a policymaker, we need to know that,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淚f the no-papering decision was because there wasn鈥檛 enough evidence, I know the chief wants to know that, so that they can think about with MPD how best to train. If it was because it was an unconstitutional stop, they need to know that so they can train and make sure that they correct that. If there鈥檚 other pieces of information, they need to know that.鈥�
Allen also said of the two-thirds of cases that do get charged, the conviction rate is only 57%.
鈥淲e regularly meet on this,鈥� Racine said, adding that a plan is in the works for 24/7 hotline to a juvenile-crimes prosecutor so “we can talk about what鈥檚 necessary in order to try to shore up the arrest and shore up the evidence so that 鈥� cases are not dismissed in the first instance by courts.鈥�
Allen noted that changes to gun laws in Virginia mean the neighboring commonwealth is no longer the biggest source of illegal guns in the city.
鈥淰irginia changes its law, and all of a sudden North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia 鈥� that鈥檚 where we start to see those guns,鈥� said Allen.
He also said the use of 鈥済host guns鈥� 鈥� essentially, kits that people put together themselves 鈥� continues to increase.
