Opinion | A crime-free D.C. starts with drug-free zones

We’ve previously advocated several of the measure’s 100-plus provisions, and most of them enjoy wide support among law enforcement, elected officials and the community. Key elements of the proposal, compiled by council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), would extend emergency legislation from the summer that made it easier to hold those suspected of violent crimes in jail pending trial — and require judges to issue a written explanation when they refuse to do so. It makes organized retail theft a felony; legalizes the sale of pepper spray and using it for self-defense; expands services for crime victims; bans wearing masks for the purposes of intimidation or committing a crime; expands the definition of carjacking to include coercing drivers to hand over their keys; and it gives police the authority to enforce civil offenses for Metro fare evasion.

One of the contested provisions of the bill, which some council members might try to remove before final passage, would reinstate D.C. police’s ability to declare temporary drug-free zones in crime hot spots. Supporters argue that it’s necessary to stem the violence associated with open drug-dealing. Using cannabis has been decriminalized in the District, but its sale for recreational purposes remains illegal, and much of the pot-dealing business takes place on the streets, as does the trade in meth and fentanyl. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) recently estimated there are about 10 “open-air drug markets” in the city. Though that’s fewer than there were at the height of the crack-cocaine epidemic of the 1980s, they still create nuisances and hazards for the community, as the presence of illicit cash inevitably leads to fights, robberies and, all too often, shootings.

The bill would address this by empowering the police to declare 1,000-square-foot areas drug-free zones for five days, whereupon officers would issue notices declaring it unlawful to congregate in them for the purpose of using, buying or selling drugs. Police would have the authority to disperse anyone whom they see, say, exchanging small packages or otherwise behaving in a way that police reasonably consider related to drug-dealing or usage.

Undoubtedly, any such criteria could be susceptible to abuse. Melissa Wasser, the American Civil Liberties Union’s D.C. policy counsel, has argued that “allowing officers to … harass people in designated zones will not make D.C. safer” and that “the District can’t make it a crime to simply stand around.” Similar concerns led the council in 2014 to take away from police the authority to declare drug-free zones, though the version of the law in force at the time had not been successfully challenged in court. As a council member, Ms. Bowser was one of those who voted in the majority on that bill. But she had a change of heart in response to new realities; D.C. needs a drug-free zone law, she said in October, to stop an “emerging trend” of drug-dealing along prominent corridors such as H Street NE and Chinatown.

The proposal before the council appropriately balances public safety and constitutional concerns. To assuage concerns about the power being misused, Ms. Pinto added language specifying that police cannot target people who are waiting in line for medical services, such as near a methadone clinic, or at their home.

Meanwhile, the decline of Gallery Place shows the quality-of-life deterioration that a brazen drug trade in a central commercial area — or anywhere in the city, for that matter — can breed. The Metro station’s exits often reek of marijuana. It’s common to see people buying and selling drugs under the Chinatown arch. Before he signed a deal to move the Capitals and Wizards to Virginia, Monumental Sports founder Ted Leonsis and his representatives repeatedly complained about these illicit transactions outside Capital One Arena.

Drug-free zones, used properly, are an appropriate tool to reclaim public spaces and help revitalize downtown Washington. Assuming the public safety committee passes the bill on Wednesday, the full council will take it up next week. The mayor says she’ll sign it. Along with the rest of the bill, drug-free zones wouldn’t be a panacea for D.C.’s crime problem, but they would be a step in the right direction.