City Proposes Shifting Corner Forum Area Into First Police District

Under a proposal announced yesterday by Mayor Anthony Williams and D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey, the Corner Forum area, which is currently part of the Fifth Police District, would become part of the First District.

We would belong to Police Service Area (PSA) 102, instead of 511. Maps of the new boundaries are available online, at http://mpdc.dc.gov.

Citywide, the proposal calls for reducing the number of Police Service Areas to 39, from the current 83.

On average, therefore, the PSAs would be more than twice as large.

Currently, PSA 511 encompasses the area south of Maryland Avenue, north of Constitution Avenue, east of 7th Street and west of 14th Street, as well as the blocks between 13th and 14th streets and between Massachusetts and Constitution avenues.

Under the proposed plan, PSA 102 would encompass the area east of North Capitol Street, south of Florida Avenue, west of 15th Street and north of Constitution Avenue.

According to the police department, at least 21 officers will be assigned to each PSA. The department says that larger PSAs will allow it to keep officers within their PSAs more and assign stronger leaders to each PSA.

"The original PSA structure tried a `one size fits all' approach to community policing, which we have discovered is not as effective as it could be," Chief Ramsey said in a police department press release posted on its Web site. "By contrast, the proposed new structure honors natural neighborhood boundaries, creating different sized PSAs with different needs and different resource demands. Aligning PSAs with neighborhoods should help to energize more residents to get involved in community policing. It will also provide PSAs with the flexibility they need in the area of staffing, so that we can do a better job of answering calls for service and working with the community on solving crime and disorder problems."

The plan was unveiled at Crime Forum II, a public event held yesterday at Scripture Cathedral, at 810 O St. NW.

The police department said additional meetings will be held throughout the District to gather public comment on the plan. The department also invited citizens to submit comments through its Web site, at http://mpdc.dc.gov, or by writing to Metropolitan Police Department, Office of Organizational Development, 300 Indiana Ave. NW, Room 5140, Washington, DC 20001.

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6A voted on Thursday not to take a stand on the proposal until after the ANC's public safety committee, chaired by Jessica Ward (6A06), has a chance to consider the issue on Wednesday (see Calendar). Ms. Ward had proposed urging the city to align the PSAs along ANC boundaries, but Jennifer Flather, an active member of PSA 511, spoke out in opposition, saying the boundaries of the ANC and the PSAs should not be aligned, partly to keep the ANC from having too much power over the police. §