Police District

(From the Washington Post)

In response to a recent surge in violence in the Northeast DC's Trinidad neighborhood, residents have been forced to endure at least five days of police checkpoints aimed at squelching the flow of guns and drugs into the area.

Similar projects designed to recover firearms and quell violence in the city have been flirted with periodically, but an all-out police state-like (dare we suggest Baghdad-esque?) check point system has yet to be enacted within the city.

The program is not without precedent. The article references a similar procedure in New York in 1992, where police cordoned off sections of the Bronx and queried drivers (not pedestrians) about their reasons for being in the area. Individuals who did not have a "legitimate" reason to be in the area were told to leave the vicinity. Anyone resisting police orders to vacate the area were arrested for interfering with police business.

DC's latest "Papers, please" operation is part of a series of larger initiatives attempting to find legs within the city. Other programs, like the Orwellian "Safe Homes" initiative and the militaristic arming of police officers are likely to be enacted in the near future regardless of community backlash. Forever shrouded in the usual rhetoric that such programs are for "community safety" we can be sure other, more oppressive programs are in the works should DC's high crime rates continue to rise or remain at present levels.

Checkpoints, semi-automatic rifles, and warrantless home searches do nothing to stop crime. At best, such practices provide a temporary reprieve from violence. Whenever and wherever oppressive programs are enacted, it is always the individual who must surrender his or her freedoms for the illusion of safety. The assumption is always the same: the police know what's best for the community, the citizenry are helpless to defend themselves against crime.

Maybe I'm ignorant, but I think sane, reasonable people, when confronted with the news of increased violence in one part of the city, would go out of their way to avoid coming in contact with the crime-infested region...but that's me.

If the DC police department were truly interested in solving the high crime rate in the area, a good place to start would be lifting the city's absurd ban on guns and decriminalize the possession, usage, and sale of drugs. Given the general attitude towards guns and drugs in the city, however, it's best not to hold your breath for any radical changes in that respect. Another--less radical--measure police can take would be to listen to the criticism offered by of 20 year Trinidad resident Wilhelmina Lawson and become more community minded.

The natural consequence of police state-like measures in any community is increased tension between residents and police officers, ultimately leading to higher crime rates. Given that police in Northeastern DC are already viewed as "not community minded," it should surprise no one that this initiative will fail to achieve its stated goals.