Washington, D.C., Police Chief Cathy Lanier's All Hands on Deck program, which floods the streets with police during select weekends each year, is getting mixed public reviews, the Washington Post. reports. Martin Moulton says his neighborhood near the downtown convention center struggles with public urination, loitering, and other quality-of-life issues. Seeing police around is fine, Moulton says, but he doesn't think it impresses or intimidates criminals. “Even the most marginally intelligent criminal, when they see a police officer, will walk away.”
The police department has had every available officer work back-to-back shifts on designated weekends since 2007. Lanier describes the program as proactive policing that deters crime during times when it has historically spiked. That position has led to repeated clashes with Kristopher Baumann, chairman of the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Department, who characterizes it as a public-relations stunt. Some rank-and-file officers say that the temporary reassignments affect their regular investigations. The matter has gone to court, with an arbitrator ruling that two 2009 All Hands deployments violated the police union contract and ordering the city to pay overtime expenses. That amount, which Lanier estimates is $300,000 to $400,00, is another point of contention.