The D.C. Council adopted a scaled-back version of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s request to increase the city’s police budget, agreeing Tuesday to spend an additional $5 million hiring new officers in one of its final votes on the city’s 2022 budget.

       Support our journalism. Subscribe today. arrow-right

       Bowser (D), who had asked for more than twice that amount to expand the police force eventually by 170 officers, said she was displeased with the council’s action, adding that more police officers were needed for public safety. Yet several council members expressed discomfort even with the more modest increase in funding, saying more police will not solve the city’s gun violence problem.

       Still, the $17.5 billion fiscal 2022 budget passed unanimously on the first of two final votes and will head to Bowser’s desk for her signature or veto. Bowser did not answer a Washington Post reporter’s question Tuesday about whether she will sign it but responded by echoing her concern about the police funding.

       Advertisement

       Story continues below advertisement

       The vote concluded weeks of deliberations over how to spend a city budget bulked up by more than $2 billion in federal funds as well as by a new tax increase on the wealthy. The final budget features boosts to social services, including trust fund accounts for low-income children. During Tuesday’s vote, the council also approved a pitch to allocate $3.5 million within the existing D.C. Public Schools budget to hire a librarian at every school, as well as $5 million to provide a one-time $500 payment to at least 10,000 residents who waited more than two months for unemployment payments because of failures in the city’s systems.

       In response to shootings that drew national attention in recent weeks and requests from police, Bowser on Monday proposed rerouting $11 million from infrastructure projects to hire additional officers, a repurposing of funds that she said would be replenished eventually with federal money for the construction projects.

       But council members Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) countered with a “compromise package” that maintains $5 million for new police hires — enough money for at least 40 additional recruits next year — and uses the remaining $6 million to boost spending on alternative means of violence prevention, such as violence interrupters. Council members also included enough money to accommodate Bowser’s request to hire 20 more officers this year.

       Advertisement

       Story continues below advertisement

       The council approved Allen and Mendelson’s version, with several members disputing the mayor’s assertion that more police will make the community safer.

       “We already had a gun violence crisis in late May .？.？. so what changed? What changed is we had a series of shootings in areas where they don’t usually happen,” said council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4). “I can’t help but feel that this last-minute budget request from the mayor is part of this political game.”

       After shootings, D.C. residents ask what city will do. ‘What’s in place isn’t working’

       “Every time there’s an alert for a shooting in this city, there’s a gasp and people holding their breath as to whether they know the person,” said council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5). “Let’s stop pretending that the police are going to solve these problems, and let’s give opportunities to these communities.”

       Story continues below advertisement

       Council member Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large) said he had “moral and philosophical” concerns about increasing the size of the police force rather than shifting officers’ jobs so they would not be responsible for non-emergency calls such as noise complaints and traffic issues.

       Advertisement

       “Proposals for more police usually come with proposals for harsher prosecution. These are the kind of policies that have failed decade after decade,” he said. Still, saying that Mendelson’s increase in the police force was more reasonable than Bowser’s proposed larger increase, White voted for the plan.

       Bowser voiced her opposition to the council’s counterproposal during a public appearance Tuesday, just before the legislature began its meeting.

       Story continues below advertisement

       “I think a lot of things you can compromise on. .？.？. Public safety is not one of them,” Bowser said. She added that if council members want to “experiment” with solutions such as professional violence interrupters, they should find money for that elsewhere in the budget while maintaining funding for hiring additional officers.

       Asked whether she would sign the budget if it did not accommodate her full request, Bowser was noncommittal. “Right now, we are running our police on a lot of overtime, and we’re going to break the department,” she added.

       Advertisement

       The council will vote next week on a bill that contains laws that must be passed to accompany budget changes.

       Story continues below advertisement

       With much of the more than $2 billion public education spending plan already settled, one of the robust discussions Tuesday surrounded the funding of librarians. Thirty-six of the school system’s 118 campuses are not expected to have full-time librarians in the fall.

       Lewis George’s amendment to mitigate the dearth of librarians passed easily, despite objections from the chairman, who ultimately voted “present.” In 2019, the school system made a change in its budgeting process that allowed principals to request that money intended for librarians be used for other purposes.

       Mendelson said he supported the intent behind the amendment but that passing it wouldn’t be fair. Eighty percent of schools opted for a librarian instead of hiring another school position, and he said that giving these 36 schools money for a librarian would be funding them at higher levels than other schools. Some council members countered that the schools should not have been in a position to choose between librarians and other staffing.

       As D.C. prepares to mask up, council members ask how long it’ll last

       Under the amendment, the school system would use $3.25 million from its enrollment reserves — money that is typically used to pay for staffing at schools that exceed their enrollment projections or have a midyear surge of enrollees.

       Advertisement

       Story continues below advertisement

       The school system argues that much of the $25 million reserve has been allocated and that the remainder, $6.7 million, must be kept in the fund.

       The finalized budget also includes an additional $6 million for laborers who were excluded from federal pandemic aid programs, for a total of $41 million in assistance. Mendelson’s proposal for $450,000 to open the Roosevelt High School indoor pool to the public also was approved.

       D.C. wants to take back parole from the feds. But it’s taken almost no action as deadline looms.

       Educator, father of four fatally shot in Northwest D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood

       How an education spending law may help keep this pool closed to the public