On the day the District saw its 98th homicide of 2015, many police officers are asking for more work.
The D.C. Police Union urged officers on Wednesday to contact Mayor Muriel Bowser and ask her to reinstate plain-clothes vice units and adopt other tactics. Bowser and Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced earlier Wednesday an increase in rewards for tipsters with information on shootings and illegal guns.
Changes like these aren't enough, D.C. Police Union Secretary Marinos Marinos said.
"Our officers are feeling helpless," he said.
Plain-clothes units were disbanded and officers were ordered back into uniform this spring, Marinos said. Many officers say they can be more effective dealing with people when they are out of uniform.
"[Police sources] don't want to be seen by people, knowing they're telling information to a police officer -- whereas as a plain-clothes officer, if I have a source, I can walk to the back of their house and talk with them for a few minutes," Marinos said.
The union also faults what are known as fixed post assignments, which limit officers to particular blocks. If a crime is reported nearby, they may not be able to respond, Marinos said.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Lanier dismissed the criticism.
"There's nothing that police officers hate more than change," she said. "Vice units were very, very effective for drug organizations in the '90s, but they are not as effective today because we need to have those tools and technologies and the advanced trainings."
