WASHINGTON, DC — During today’s legislative meeting, Councilmember Robert White addressed ongoing concerns about public safety, youth gatherings, and the District’s approach to enforcement and prevention. Residents across Navy Yard, the Wharf, U Street, Chinatown, and neighborhoods throughout the District have raised real concerns. People want to enjoy dinner, walk home, support businesses, and spend time in their communities without fear that large gatherings will escalate. Every resident deserves to feel safe. At the same time, policy must match reality.
“This conversation is full of strong opinions, but it must stay grounded in one question. Are we actually solving the problem residents are experiencing? For part of this past year, we have already had a curfew in place. And the very incidents being used to justify this legislation are happening while the curfew exists. It is not working. So, we have to ask ourselves, why would we make it permanent? This is not logical. We cannot continue repeating the same strategy and expect a different outcome. The proposed budget cuts over $6 million from the Department of Behavioral Health, including school-based mental health services. It cuts $35 million from the Department of Human Services, including family support services. It cuts over $5 million from Parks and Recreation, the very spaces we say will help keep young people safe and engaged.”
He contrasted those cuts with increased spending on enforcement.
“At the same time, we continue to find millions for enforcement and incarceration. We always seem to have the resources for consequences, but not the resources for prevention. When we do not invest in mental health, youth programming, and family support, behavior does not improve. Outcomes do not improve. They get worse. And then the response is to call for more enforcement. That cycle is not a strategy. It is a failure to address root causes.”
He also underscored a critical truth often overlooked in the public conversation.
“The vast majority of our young people are not engaged in this behavior. But they are watching. They are seeing this conversation. They are seeing fingers pointed at them. They are losing resources in their communities while those same resources are redirected toward punishment. This cannot be the way we operate. This cannot be the path forward. I want to see an end to the behavior that is disrupting our communities. Residents deserve that.
But we also have to be honest. This approach is not a path to a better outcome. It is a reinvestment in the same conditions that got us here. Young people deserve to be in public spaces. They deserve to enjoy their city. And many of them are telling us they gather in certain places because those are the only places where they feel safe. That should force all of us to think differently about what safety really means in this city. We need to invest in prevention. That means mental health services, family support, safe spaces, late-night programming, mentorship, and consistent community engagement. We need to show up before situations escalate, not only after. He closed with a clear and firm position.
“I understand the pressure to respond. But at some point, we have to be honest and we have to be logical. This is not working. I will not support making this approach permanent, and I will not be part of a system that prioritizes consequences over prevention. We cannot keep going in this cycle and expect a different result. And I cannot vote for a path that does not lead to a better outcome for our residents or our young people.”
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