Knock Knock...It's the gun police
It's called the “SafeHomes" program. DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier's latest brainchild aimed at reducing gun violence in the city. Sounds harmless enough, but it has the ACLU and some DC councilmembers worried. And they should be worried.

The program is simple enough; in the next few weeks, DC police officers will start showing up at the doors of random houses (mostly east of the river) and ask the homeowner for permission to search the home for guns. If the homeowner says yes, they sign a consent form which allows police to search all or part of the home. If any guns or drugs are found, the homeowner or the occupant of the room where the illegal booty is found is given amnesty from prosecution. UNLESS the gun is later linked to a crime, then all bets are off, and someone is going to jail.

When Lanier and Mayor Adrian Fenty rolled out the program for reporters a few weeks ago, they touted the success the program had had in other cities such as St. Louis and Boston. What they didn't mention is that the St. Louis program died a slow death years ago, and the Boston program hasn't been implemented yet because of concerns from elected officials.

In 1994, St. Louis launched the “Consent-To-Search” program as a way to combat escalating youth violence. According to press reports, in its first year the program took 510 guns off the streets, police were searching as many as 30 homes a night, and almost every house they went to signed the consent form. In its second year, the program only recovered 31 guns, and the program was discontinued.

Three years later, St. Louis received a federal grant to revive the program, but in nine months only 29 guns were found. The program was canceled. A report in 2004 found the problem was a lack of commitment from the police department and community leaders.

Fast forward to 2007. Boston District Attorney Dan Conley announces the “SafeHomes” program. The plan has yet to be implemented, but it has already come under fire from elected officials and community leaders. In Boston, the city council held public hearings on the program. They heard about youths who were stockpiling guns in anticipation of the searches, they heard about fears of racial profiling, and they heard concerns that it just wouldn’t work.

Similar fears are being expressed here. DC Council Chair Vince Gray says he would like to have public hearings.

“There’s a potential for abuse here,” Gray said in an interview. “It’s bothersome in terms of the public’s understanding. What about the language barriers?”

Johnny Barnes, executive director for the ACLU of the National Capital Area, doesn’t like the “SafeHomes” program at all. His group is distributing flyers with questions residents should ask police before they sign the consent form.

The ACLU is also handing out signs for people to place in their windows that read “To the Police. NO CONSENT TO SEARCH OUR HOME.”

“We’re not comfortable with police banging on doors like the British troops did before we had a Bill of Rights.” Barnes said. “We’re going to mirror the activity of the police. The neighborhoods into which they go, we will go to tell people what their rights are.”

In case you are wondering, you have the right to SAY NO to the police when they come to your door asking for permission to search your children’s bedroom.

And that’s exactly who the “SafeHomes” program is aimed at, children and grandchildren. Lanier expressly asked for “parents and grandparents who aren’t sure what their kids are up to” to invite police in for a look around.

SafeHomes is a program that could have lots of unintended consequences. For instance, what happens if you tell police they can’t search your house? Is you name and your house put on a list? YES, according to Traci Hughes, a spokesperson for Lanier. What that list will be used for is unclear. Hughes says one reason to keep a list is to keep from knocking on the same doors over and over again.

Will police report their findings to other government agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DC Public Schools or the Public Housing Authority? YES and NO, says Hughes.

“Amnesty means amnesty, and that’s just across the board,” Hughes said.

Police will not notify immigration or Public Housing, but Hughes says they might notify the school system or Social Services of what they find.

“Part of the reason for the Focus Improvement Areas is to identify those homes that may need other government assistance. If we see that residents may require other services, then we will notify those other agencies that could be of assistance. The purpose of reporting the information is not to penalize anyone in the home, only to provide assistance.”

Another issue that concerns the ACLU, and at least a few news organizations, is transparency. The police department has denied requests from several news outlets to go along with officers as they conduct the searches for at least the first month of the program.

That’s something Barnes and the ACLU question.

“What do they have to hide? If what they’re doing conforms to the constitution, what do they have to hide? Our police department prefers to do things in the dark,” Barnes says.

Putting the Toothpaste Back in the Tube … or … Setting the Record Straight … You Decide
Last month’s column, “Help Wanted … Experience Necessary?” drew a lot of comments from readers. Some, like Vince Morris, the former flack for Mayor Tony Williams and Senator John Kerry, pointed out that the mayor / council breakfast meetings I wrote about date back to when Marion Barry was mayor, not just when Williams was mayor as I reported. Vince should know, he was the crack Metro reporter at the Washington Times who first reported on the meetings.

Another Vince had something to say about the column as well. Council Chair Vince Gray didn’t care for his depiction as someone who “leans on Councilmember Jack Evans for a great deal of advice.”

“I think I’ve proved my leadership, and I work with everybody on the council. At the end of the day I make the decisions as chair. I don’t lean on anybody inordinately,” Gray said in no uncertain terms.

To be clear, I wasn’t implying that Gray isn’t his own man, he is. I was just pointing out that Evans has a lot of experience, particularly in the financial arena.

Other readers thought I gave Evans a pass on his fiscal stewardship. “What has Evans done to save taxpayers and the city money?” questioned one faithful reader.

Because I’m here to serve you, the reader, I posed that very question to Evans. Here is an excerpt from his response:

“In my service as a Councilmember, I have led numerous efforts to reduce taxes, improve service delivery, and improve the financial management of our city which has led to savings for the taxpayer.

“I co-authored the Tax Parity Act, which both reduced personal income tax rates and residential and commercial property tax rates.

“I co-authored the College Savings Program Increased Tax Benefit Act of 2008 to increase the individual income tax deduction for contributions to the District of Columbia Savings program.

“We have surpluses and fund balances in the hundreds of millions of dollars, we have upgraded our bond rating to the highest it’s been in District history.

“Throughout my career on the council, I have served as an agent of change, even when it was difficult to do so. I believe we can and will continue to make the District government both leaner and more efficient.”

I could use this opportunity to take a cheap shot at Evans about that “agent of change” line, but then I wouldn’t hear from more angry readers.