A Washington, D.C., councilwoman introduced a sweeping crime bill that would combine several proposals and bills targeting public safety in the district, stating she wants the D.C. Council to move forward with it as soon as possible.

Councilwoman Brooke Pinto, chairwoman of the council’s Judiciary and Public Safety committee, announced in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that she would be moving her “Secure DC” plan as omnibus legislation.

“Every day, I hear from residents, businesses, and visitors about their serious concerns on the state of public safety and violence in the district,” Pinto said, pointing to the “devastating” statistics released for 2023 that show total crime increased 26% and violent crime increased 39%. 

The biggest uptick in crime levels came from carjackings at 82%. Robberies increased 67% and homicides increased 35% since 2022. 

“Residents are in fear of carjackings, thefts, and falling victim to crime across the district,” Pinto said. “This is unacceptable.” 

Pinto said her omnibus package will go to a vote in the Judiciary Committee on Jan. 17, saying it includes the “strongest and most effective” solutions that the committee considered in fall 2023. 

“This is not something that we slapped together last minute. We have been very thorough. We have been working on these provisions for months,” she said to ABC 7 News. “We introduced over a dozen bills. We had hearings; we heard from thousands of residents and stakeholders. I went to all eight wards and solicited feedback. I am confident that this is the right package for this time now.”

Most of the provisions in the omnibus have been previously reported on or discussed publicly, such as allowing the Metropolitan Police Department to establish up to 120 hours of “drug-free zones” in certain areas with high drug activity. 

Other proposals included in the omnibus bill increase maximum sentences for gun-related crimes from one to five years, expand the definition of a carjacking to make it a crime anytime the victim is not just in their car but in the vicinity of the vehicle as well, ban mask-wearing for people committing crimes, and make it a rule that juveniles will be held in pretrial detention if they are charged with certain violent crimes.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement to the outlet that driving down crime requires the government to send a “clear message that if you make our city less safe, you will be held accountable.” The mayor said she intends to sign the bill into law should it pass the council.

“I appreciate Councilmember Pinto’s leadership and partnership on this legislation that includes most of our Safer, Stronger 2.0 legislation and our ACT Now legislation. Passing it will support a system that prioritizes safety and accountability,” Bowser said. “In 2023, we saw pieces of this legislation move our city in the right direction. Now we can make those provisions permanent and focus on strategies and policies that will continue to make our city safer. I look forward to signing this bill into law and urge the Council to move with urgency to unanimously pass this legislation.” 

A spokesperson for Council Chairman Phil Mendelson told ABC 7 News on Wednesday that the chairman had not had time to review Pinto’s omnibus bill. Mendelson has expressed concerns about the drug-free zone proposal in the past.

Bowser has made some attempts to control the district’s rising crime rates. However, her “Tough on Crime” bill faced opposition from both lawmakers and Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who believed that making it easier to detain youths pretrial would be “traumatizing.”

Juvenile crime has become a focus point for critics of Washington’s handling of crime, with several current and former lawmakers and residents slamming the attorney general’s office for declining to prosecute youth criminals, many of whom become repeat offenders for the same crime or escalate to more violent crimes. 

Other councilmembers’ approaches to crime in the district are coming back to haunt them. Washington Councilman Charles Allen is facing a recall effort from those who say the representative of Ward 6 should be more dedicated to curbing crime. The recall organizers need to collect signatures from at least 10% of registered voters in Ward 6 to move forward to a special election. 

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Ward 6 is the largest in the district, spanning the neighborhoods of Downtown, Penn Quarter, Gallery Place, and Chinatown, all areas with increased crime rates. Allen guided the crime laws that Congress blocked in March and supported the controversial police reform bill in 2020 that was largely opposed by the D.C. Police Union.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the Washington attorney general’s office for comment.