The Council of the District of Columbia has approved an emergency public safety bill aimed at addressing the increase in violent crime and homicides in Washington, D.C., Martin Austermuhle reports for DCIst. The legislation creates a new offense for firing a gun in public, allows prosecutors to extradite individuals for misdemeanor offenses and grants more flexibility to judges in holding individuals with past violent offenses in jail pending trial for new violent crimes.
Another bill passed on Tuesday allows Metropolitan Police Department officers to engage in car chases. The MPD previously interpreted local statute as mandating a no-pursuit policy.