Breakfast links: A report finds DC police units used force only on Black people
Image by Ted Eytan licensed under Creative Commons.
DC police units used forced solely on Black people
A report by the National Police Foundation for the DC Council found that MPD’s Narcotics and Specialized Investigations Division disproportionately targeted Black people. While making up only 46% of DC’s population, Black people accounted for 87% of all stops, 91% of arrests and 100% of use of force incidents. Meanwhile, white people made up 5% of the teams’ stops. (Jacob Fenston / DCist)
Montgomery County increases resources for Latinx community
Montgomery County is providing about $6 million for COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, Spanish-speaking communications, and other services to community partners that provide aid to Latinx residents. This summer, Latinx communities were found to have the highest cases of coronavirus in the county. (Lola Fadulu / Post)
Arlington will study its missing middle housing stock
Arlington County will begin a study on missing middle housing on October 29th by soliciting community input from residents. Currently only 6% of the 116,000 homes in the county are “middle” housing like duplexes, and 75% of county land is zoned for detached single family homes. (Angela Woolsey / ARL Now)
A MARC train killed a woman on Tuesday
A MARC train hit and killed Lynette Michelle Green of Elkridge, Maryland on Tuesday morning. Witnesses say the conductor tried to get Green to flee as the train approached her on the tracks but she did not move. (Angela Roberts / Baltimore Sun)
DC Councilmember cleared of finance violations
DC’s Office of Campaign Finance cleared Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto of allegations that she violated the city’s campaign finance laws by using a Logan Circle home as her campaign headquarters. (Mitch Ryals / WCP)
Mayor Bowser tries to close contracting loophole
Mayor Bowser is introducing new rules for what qualifies as a “certified business enterprise” for government contracts. Her goal is to stop large companies from setting up small subsidiary shells in DC to win bids over actual local businsesses. (Alex Koma / WBJ)
Judge sentences a man for defrauding Metro
Kirby Smith was sentenced to 14 days in jail and repaying the nearly $180,000 he stole from Metro over two years by falsifying invoices and charging for supplies that did not exist. Smith worked as an assistant superintendent at Metro when he was fired in 2015. (Justin George / Post)
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