DC mayor ditches George Floyd-era police reforms, vows to get crime under control

On Monday, Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that her administration would be ditching police reforms brought in following the death of George Floyd in favor of policies that will actually help bring down the city's skyrocketing level of crime.

The Addressing Crime Trends (ACT) Now Act deals with a variety of issues related to how police officers conduct their business, as well as how to best deal with two of the United States capital's "current crime trends," such as shoplifting and open drug use, according to Fox News. 

During a press conference, Bowser admitted that the previous set of reforms "just don't match the daily practice of safe and effective policing," citing "incidental contact you can make with a person, or how officers can use their body-worn camera footage to write reports, or whether police are allowed to safely chase a criminal who's right in front of them."

"We need to act now, and we need to send the strong message that violence is not acceptable in our city, and this perception that people have that you can commit a brazen crime and get away with it has got to stop," she said. "This legislation will help change that."

Under the new rules, a distinction will be made between serious use of force and incidental neck contact during an arrest, officers will be allowed to check their bodycams before writing their initial reports in some circumstances, and there will be clarification regarding when a vehicular pursuit is warranted.

On the criminals' side of things, it will now be illegal to "organize a theft for profit scheme by recruiting or directing other individuals to commit organized retail theft," or wear a non-medical mask while committing a crime.

The new policy gives the Metropolitan Police Department the ability to limit loitering by allowing the chief to "declare a drug-free zone for up to 120 hours to disrupt and prohibit people from congregating on public space for the purchase, sale or use of illegal drugs."

Bowser explained that "the establishment of a temporary drug-free zone will allow MPD and community members to work together to interrupt illegal activity and allow neighborhoods to reclaim our space." 

Following the death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter and other far-left groups urged leaders of major cities to "defund the police," and many did. The tide has since turned as governments and residents see that such policies led to even more crime being committed.