D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier has pulled back on a plan to send some detectives out on street duty instead of letting them work their cases.
In a memo sent earlier this week, Lanier had announced district detectives would be sent to patrol streets in an effort to deter crime for one week per month starting Sept. 14. through January 2016.
The head of the department's union said the order was unexpected and that many of the detectives subject to the order are already working in units affected by a manpower shortage.
The detectives that would have been affected by the change work on cases like sex assaults, burglaries, street robberies and car thefts. According to the union, some detectives who work on child abuse cases would also have been reassigned.
After receiving some negative backlash, Lanier sent another department-wide email Friday night, announcing she would revising the program again.
A spokesperson for the department told News4 this was an "updating" of a patrol initiative that has been in place for the past 13 years.
Under the new plan, detectives assigned to district stations would not be reassigned to street duty, and neither would those assigned to the youth division, which includes those working on child abuse and other cases.
During news conferences earlier in the week, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and Deputy Mayor Paul Quander stood by Lanier's initial plan.
"Her ability to respond to a changing set of circumstances clearly has had profoundly positive results for the people of D.C.," Gray said.
