On Thursday, December 4, 2025, at 9:00 a.m., Councilmember Brooke Pinto, Chairwoman of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, will hold a public hearing on public safety in the District as well as the following measures:
- B26-0052 - Evidence-Based Gun Violence Reduction and Prevention Act of 2025
- B26-0328 - Vehicular Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act of 2025
- B26-0358 - First Responder Retention Efforts Amendment Act of 2025
- B26-0411 - Child Fatality Review Committee Amendment Act of 2025
- B26-0461 - Juvenile Curfew Amendment Act of 2025
Last year, crime dropped to its lowest levels in more than three decades after the Council passed Councilmember Pinto’s Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024 (“Secure DC”). Secure DC included more than 100 interventions that help prevent and end cycles of violence, enhance accountability for crime, and increase oversight of our public safety agencies. Earlier this year, building on the success of Secure DC, the Council passed Councilmember Pinto’s Peace DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2025 and several other pieces of legislation to empower youth and strengthen neighborhood harmony, prevent violence, support our public safety workforce, and reduce recidivism. The Committee is continuing to identify next steps to see more sustained safety across our city and is holding this hearing to consider several bills focused on improving public safety and to hear from the public about how we can continue to advance public safety moving forward.
The purpose of B26-358, the “First Responder Retention Efforts,” is to expand the MetropolitanPolice Department (“MPD”) Senior Officer Program, which permits MPD to rehire retired police officers on annual contracts under specific circumstances, to include lieutenants in addition to the officers who currently qualify for this program. This legislation would also eliminate the mandatory retirement age of 60 years for both MPD police officers and Fire and EMS workers, ensuring that the agencies do not prematurely lose skilled and experienced members.
The purpose of B26-0052, the “Evidence-Based Gun Violence Reduction and Prevention Act of 2025,” is to address gun violence in the District of Columbia through several means, including establishing a Group Violence Intervention Initiative, allowing MPD to hire civilian investigators, requiring the Sentencing Commission to publish biannual reports on repeat violent offenders, authorizing the Mayor to take action on criminal blight, and requiring the Director of theDepartment of Healthcare Finance to submit an amendment to the Medicaid state plan to make community violence prevention services available to Medicaid beneficiaries.
The purpose of B26-328, the “Vehicular Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act of 2025,” is to establish safety standards for roadway barriers used during temporary street closures by requiring the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) to create rules specifying barrier requirements for different road types, with priority given to anti-terrorism certified barriers for collector and arterial roads. The bill aims to reduce reliance on District employees for road closures during special events while improving protection against vehicle ramming attacks.
The purpose of B26-411, “Child Fatality Review Committee Amendment Act of 2025,” is to make changes to the relevant law so that the relevant Council committee with oversight of theChild and Family Services Agency, in the present instance the Committee on Youth Affairs, is permanently included as a member of the Child Fatality Review Committee.
Residents who wish to testify or submit testimony can do so by clicking here.