D.C. Backs Off From Door-to-Door Safe Homes Initiative
April 7th, 2008
D.C. police have scaled back plans to go door-to-door asking residents in high-crime neighborhoods whether officers can search their homes for guns as part of a new amnesty program aimed at getting weapons off the streets.
The Safe Homes program instead will be offered by appointment only at residents’ request, said Chief Cathy L. Lanier.
The program was supposed to begin last month but was delayed after a backlash from residents, D.C. Council members and the American Civil Liberties Union. The critics said some residents could feel pressured or intimidated by officers asking to enter their homes.
It’s not often I find myself on the same side of a headline issue as the ACLU, but this is one of those times.
The start date has been pushed back to mid-June.
I noted this last month and also pointed out a similar program in Boston that I had mentioned previously. The current Washington Post article notes the Boston effort:
That department has yet to get a call to search a home.
“We’re still waiting for the phone calls to come in,” said Elaine Driscoll, spokeswoman for the Boston police.
How shocked can anyone be that the phones aren’t ringing off the hook with calls from people inviting the police over to search their homes?
