That's the wrong approach it seems to me. I am concerned that the program in the prisons will be lost if we cede jurisdiction of the prison system to the federal government. That would be a big mistake. These are both important goals that we should do everything we can to encourage. I fully support these programs in the public schools as well.
Public health is everyone's responsibility.
In 1995, the Council summarily abolished the Civilian Complaint Review Board, thereby allowing the Metropolitan Police Depoartment to handle all public complaints about excessive use of force or abusive language by the police. I was disturbed when the former Chair of the Committee on Judiciary summarily ended the program without notice. I am well aware of the problems associated with the old CCRB, most notably a lack of police cooperation with the process. Ultimately the result of a more effective system will be greater confidence among various communities in the Metropolitan Police Department and this will enable greater cooperation with the department on community policing efforts and other strategies to fight crime. In other words, we will all benefit from such a program.