The Metropolitan Police Department is frustrated to see violent suspects out on bond while awaiting trial.
Police released surveillance video last month showing a robbery at an H Street business. Two men pointed guns and demand money, police said.
The two men in the video were among 13 robbery suspects arrested in a single week. At least three suspects are out of jail. A suspect accused of six robberies remains in jail without bond.
"It is very frustrating for us to see violent offenders who prey on our citizens released directly back into our community after they have committed a robbery,” Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham said in a written statement. “The message being sent by the criminal justice system to the police, the community and the offenders is that they don't take the robbery problem very seriously."
Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Kevin Donahue said Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed legislation six months ago to keep violent repeat offenders behind bars while they wait for trial.
“The mayor knows, and the numbers back this up, that there is a gap in our system when someone repeatedly gets convicted and rearrested for violent offenses, we need to tighten the accountability around that individual,” Donahue said. “She has legislation to do this.”
The D.C. Council will vote on the mayor's proposal next month, Donahue said.
