This call comes after a second ACLU lawsuit alleges MPD failed to release critically
important policing data since March of 2020, despite the NEAR Act requiring data be
released twice per year
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, February 16th, 2021
Contact: Jonathan McNair, 202-288-0714, Jmcnair@dccouncil.us
Washington, DC – Today, Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie renewed his call for the Metropolitan
Police Department to release certain policing data as statutorily required. The Neighborhood Engagement
Achieves Results (NEAR) Act, authored by Councilmember McDuffie and passed unanimously by the
Council in 2016, requires MPD to publicly release comprehensive stop-and-frisk data twice per year. This
call for transparency and accountability comes amid recent national and local calls for racial justice and
policing reforms.
“At a time when police practices have come under deservedly higher scrutiny, I find it disturbing that the
MPD is, yet again, being sued over claims that it failed to release data that it is required to provide by
law,” said Councilmember McDuffie. “District residents deserve to know how the MPD is policing all
communities—especially communities of color. Publication of stop-and-frisk data is not only required by
the NEAR Act, it is essential to increasing transparency and building trust between the police and the
community. The MPD must immediately release this data.”
This call for transparency comes as the ACLU-DC filed suit today, once again requiring MPD to comply
with the NEAR Act data provisions. In 2018, the ACLU-DC and Black Lives Matter DC filed and later won
lawsuits that forced MPD to release the first rounds of data. However, the lawsuit claims that the MPD has
not published any new metrics since last March.
