Norton Wants Show of Force On Mall - May 31, 2006

Norton Wants Show of Force On Mall To Reassure Residents And Tourists-- Speaks with D.C. Resident Attacked on the Mall
May 31, 2006

Washington, DC –Following a meeting with the U.S. Park Police Chief Dwight Pettiford, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that the Park Police “have grown accustomed to an almost crime-free Mall and Rock Creek Park, and need to redeploy more officers daily from watching for speeders, to patrolling the city’s parks,” almost all of which are under their jurisdiction. In her meeting yesterday afternoon, Norton was given figures on new officers assigned to the Mall but said that the new deployments did not indicate the necessary show of police presence. She said additional uniformed officers were added to the day shift but “not enough in any view” and was particularly concerned that more officers in uniform were needed at night. “The show of force that might be expected after a crime spree involving three brazenly violent attacks on couples in a little more than two days over a holiday weekend was not yet there, as of yesterday,” Norton said. The night non-uniformed presence Chief Pettiford presented to her did show promise of catching perpetrators in the future, she said. Chief Pettiford gave assurances that more police would be assigned.

One of the victims, a D.C. resident who was attacked on Thursday night, called Norton this morning to thank her for her work on the matter. The caller also praised the Park Police for their response and for their treatment of her. “These attacks are dangerous to our people and to visitors, and they are just as dangerous to the D.C. economy.” Norton said. “When your economy consists almost entirely of the federal government and tourism, the quickest, strongest response is the only appropriate response.” The Congresswoman said that the inattention to the Mall was perhaps epitomized by the bank of lights that were out at the Mall at the time, and that although the Mall was not dark, insufficient lighting could have played a role in attracting criminals. The Chief could not tell her how long the lighting had been out. Norton also expressed deep concern to the Chief about the attack on a jogger in Rock Creek Park and said that patrols there urgently need to be buttressed.

Although the low crime rate on the Mall may have caught police by surprise when the Thursday attacks came close together, Norton said that she believed a show of force on Friday and the rest of the weekend might have deterred the attack that followed late on Saturday. “The fact that a sexual assault could occur on the expansive and mostly open Mall area and that those assaulted were men and women walking together, shows not only the unusual boldness of the attackers, but also their understanding that they would be free from pursuit or surveillance,” Norton said. The attacks seemed to be well planned with three attackers surrounding the victims. The Chief assured Norton that he was working with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to see if there was a pattern from crimes occurring elsewhere that might help to get the perpetrators.

The Park Police have 325 police officers in the D.C. metropolitan region, and Norton said she believes that many of them may be assigned to less urgent duties, such as the George Washington Parkway and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. “Park Police need to reexamine police deployment on a permanent basis in light of these attacks,” she said. “The insufficient police visibility on the Mall has been noted by thugs and they also will take note of more cops in the area,” Norton said.

The attacks on the Mall involved some tourists but residents such as Norton herself, who uses the Mall sometimes at night for race-walking, are on the Mall at all hours. Norton also said she was concerned that Park Police funding had been flat for the past two years, with only enough increases for the statutory raises, and that she would urge appropriators to examine increased funding for additions to the force. She noted that the U.S. Capitol Police, who are responsible for the Congress, had had large numbers of officers added for a much smaller area and that the Park Police, which cover the entire region, had been far less generously funded. She said that the Park Police “have been very good on hard core crime detection and often have assisted MPD in tough police work, so I know they are up to the job.”

Norton is working on a bill to permanently designate a larger area than the present space between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial as the Mall. The expanded area will allow memorials to keep from crowding the present space. The expanded Potomac Park Mall area will be inviting,” she said, “only if the entire Mall returns to its well-earned reputation as a place where criminals are not allowed.”