By Rep. Oye Owolewa
The Washington Informer
https://www.washingtoninformer.com/
Washington, D.C., doesn’t need a more bloated police budget. What we need is justice, community care, and leaders willing to invest in people — not profits.
As someone who has spent years fighting for D.C. statehood and against federal control of our city, I cannot stay silent while more than $300 million is poured into police recruitment. Families are struggling with skyrocketing rents, underfunded schools, and inefficient public transit. The crisis isn’t merely police staffing; it’s decades of disenfranchisement and neglect.
D.C.’s RFK stadium deal is also part of this story: public land handed to billionaires while residents overwhelmingly vote for affordable housing and basic services. More than half of D.C. voters say not another empty luxury development, gentrification accelerator, or traffic-clogged “innovation zone.”
Over 80,000 D.C. residents lack stable housing, yet our leaders rush to subsidize the NFL. We deserve neighborhoods that serve us, not playgrounds for the wealthy.
Mayor Bowser and D.C. Council’s plan to pour $314 million more into policing, in the midst of cuts to D.C. Medicaid and Healthcare Alliance, is a step backward. The Metropolitan Police Department’s $600 million FY25-26 operating budget already dwarfs investments in housing and violence prevention. In addition, crime is down year over year in D.C. in every metric and not even in the top ten violent cities in the US. This is a clear message to the people of D.C. directly. There’s not enough respect for this city or the sovereignty that Washingtonians deserve.
Studies increasingly show that policing alone doesn’t solve crime: D.C. already has one of the highest concentrations of police forces in the world, but our schools lack basic classroom supplies, tech services, and food security. Imagine if those millions made college free at UDC, or restored Medicaid for every D.C. family.
Due to us lacking statehood, Washingtonians are forced to watch leaders in other cities stand up to Trump’s blatant threats while our own mayor is forced to abide by Trump and his cronies. It’s time to the rest of us to reject militarization, uplift our schools, our youth, our elders, and former federal workers.
We can do better. Let’s invest where it counts. Let’s lead the nation by example, and make the “District of Courage” the capital of community-centered justice.
