Hearing Set on Controversial Initiatives

A hearing on the D.C. police department's recent initiatives to root out crime - Safe Homes, Video Interoperability for Public Safety and Neighborhood Safety Zones - will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the John A. Wilson Building.

Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) , chairman of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, had promised a hearing last week after the police department announced that it was launching the safety zones in Trinidad.

That initiative, which involved setting up a checkpoint in and out of the Trinidad neighborhood, drew criticism for the American Civil Liberties Union, some council members and other groups.

They questioned whether all of the recent initiatives, which include knocking on doors and looking for guns and connecting the city's 5,200 cameras to monitor the District, infringe on civil liberties.

According to a media release from Mendelson's office: "Those who wish to testify at the hearing should contact Victor Bonett, Legislative Analyst, at (202) 724-4865, by fax at (202) 724-6664 or via e-mail at vbonett@dccouncil.us and provide their name, address, telephone number, organizational affiliation and title (if any) by Thursday, June 12, 2008."