Council hearing draws hundreds of public witnesses amid outcry over federal policing in DC

The Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety convened a lengthy public hearing on Dec. 4, 2025, where Councilmember Brooke Pinto, chair of the committee, opened the floor to testimony about the state of public safety and five bills before the panel. Pinto told residents the Council would continue oversight of local agencies while recognizing limits posed by the District’s home‑rule status and increased federal activity in the city.

More than 100 public witnesses described encounters they said involved federal agents — including ICE, HSI and other Homeland Security units — operating alongside Metropolitan Police Department officers. Multiple witnesses urged the Council to demand release of body‑worn camera footage and other records in officer‑involved incidents, and to press MPD leadership for answers about policies that allowed federal agents to operate in the District without clearer public notice. “We have seen masked men with guns jump out of unmarked vehicles,” resident Robin Lipp testified, describing arrests she said targeted non‑English speakers and people of color.

The hearing also considered five bills: amendments to the Child Fatality Review Committee statute, a proposal to make some juvenile curfew provisions permanent, the Evidence Based Gun Violence Reduction and Prevention Act, a first‑responder retention package, and a measure meant to standardize vehicle‑barrier safety for public events. Chairman Phil Mendelson, the sponsoring councilmember for the gun‑violence bill, outlined the measure’s core elements, including a group‑violence intervention program and a requirement for biannual repeat‑offender reporting. Dr. David Kennedy, an author of focused‑deterrence programs, told the committee that similar interventions have produced rapid declines in targeted violent incidents in other U.S. cities.

Policy witnesses and community advocates offered sharply different views. The Public Defender Service called the proposed permanent curfew expansion “overbroad” and warned it would increase police contacts with youth; civil‑liberties groups and immigrant advocates urged stronger local limits on cooperation with federal agencies. The deputy mayor for public safety, Lindsay Appiah, and MPD leadership defended targeted use of emergency curfew zones this fall and said the department uses social‑media intelligence and community tips to identify planned gatherings that have resulted in disorder or violence.

The Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency said it opposed a narrowly prescriptive vehicle‑barrier law and announced a new city administrator order creating a Vehicular Terrorism Prevention Task Force to develop a layered, risk‑based approach to event safety. Fire and EMS and MPD officials testified in support of retention measures to keep experienced personnel on duty. The committee recessed with a pledge to follow up on requests for documentation, to work with agencies on the new task force, and to consider witnesses’ recommendations as it continues deliberations on the bills.