Dear Residents,
My comprehensive bill to combat and prevent crime will come before the Council for a final vote today. You may view the live stream of the legislative meeting here or tune into Channel 13.
How you can get Involved
- Share this information with your neighbors, family, and friends
- Join in on the conversation on social media and use #NEARAct
- Learn more at kenyanmcduffie.com, follow on Twitter @CM_McDuffie and like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KenyanRMcDuffie
The Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results Amendment Act of 2016 (NEAR Act) is a comprehensive bill that adopts a public health approach to addressing crime by not just addressing crime after it occurs, but rather working to prevent crime by treating its root causes in a sustainable way. The NEAR Act addresses crime in several ways, including using a public health approach that requires the collaboration of law enforcement, employment, and health and human services agencies.
Taking a public health approach to violence by establishing the Office of Violence Prevention and Health Equity (OVPHE)
OVPHE is a recognition of the years of research that show that violence is a public health problem. OVPHE will require the city to develop and implement a public health strategy using risk assessment tools, cognitive and family based therapy, and service coordination to combat the spread of violence, including placing clinicians in every hospital’s emergency department to respond to victims of crime immediately and prevent violence from escalating the minute they are brought in.
A recognition of the intersection of mental health issues and crime
The NEAR Act will establish a Community Crime Prevention Team Program which will pair mental and behavioral health professionals with MPD officers. The professionals will be able to identify and serve individuals with unmet needs who frequently interact with the police. Getting individuals connected with services prevents crime and assists those individuals in meeting their needs in a positive and constructive manner.
Using an open data approach to crime and policing analysis
The NEAR Act includes provisions that will require MPD to collect data on felony crimes, stop and frisks, and use of force incidents. As a major initiative born from the of the Task Force on 21st Century Policing, the President launched the White House’s Police Data Initiative (PDI) on May 18, 2015. The NEAR Act’s data collection provisions will allow the District to meet some of the goals of the PDI, such as using open data to build transparency and increase community trust, and improve internal accountability and data analysis.
BE SMART ON CRIME
