Date: July 11, 2016 at 4:54:24 PM EDT Cc: Hadiah Jordan <Hadiah.Jordan@dcwater.com>, "CreativePages, LLC" <creativepagesllc@aol.com>
Subject: DC Water CEO and General Manager George Hawkins’ statement on recent crimes in Bloomingdale
Dear Residents,
I am deeply saddened to hear about the recent street
robberies and the shooting death of a resident in Bloomingdale. I know the fear
that such acts engender – I was held up at gunpoint several years ago in a
nearby neighborhood – and members of the community are rightly concerned about
these horrific crimes. We are also concerned for the safety of our workers who
are in the neighborhood every day building critical new infrastructure to
safeguard Bloomingdale against flooding.
We have strived to be good neighbors during our First Street
Tunnel project, and we will uphold that commitment until the work is done later
this summer. I have called Chief Lanier to offer our assistance to try and
deter crime in Bloomingdale. I have also asked our team to explore any and all
measures to enhance security around our construction sites in the neighborhood.
Working with the project’s contractors, we are taking the following actions:
·
Checking and repairing lighting - During
the project, lights were added to better illuminate sidewalks around our
construction staging areas. Residents have reported some of these lights are
out. Electricians are checking to ensure the lights are functioning properly,
and if not, making the necessary repairs.
·
Improve visibility – Beginning
immediately, workers are removing the noise blankets that shield nearby homes
from the construction areas. This will hopefully increase visibility and
eliminate blind spots that could allow criminals to surprise victims or escape
capture. The blankets can be rehung as needed for noise suppression during
heavy construction.
·
Additional patrols – DC Water is working
to supplement security around the construction staging areas. This will include
off-duty police officers or private security personnel.
·
Free transportation for residents – The
tunnel project continues to offer free rides in the neighborhood on request for
residents who call the 24 hour hotline at 1-844-FST-INFO [1-844-378-4636].
No one should have to fear walking down the street in their
own neighborhood. We will continue to work with MPD to respond to this very
troubling and tragic series of crimes.
George Hawkins
CEO and General Manager
DC Water
CEO and General Manager
DC Water
Hadiah
Hadiah S. Jordan, Public
Outreach Coordinator | DC Clean Rivers Project | DC Water | Hadiah.Jordan@dcwater.com
5000 Overlook Avenue, SW | Washington, DC 20032 | t (202)
787-4717 | f (202) 787-4476
4 comments:
Why did it have to take a murder for this to happen? People have been pointing out the broken lights and the string of robberies for weeks. Why aren't security cameras being explored?
Why don't we organize a walk through of Bloomingdale neighbors around the block as protest? We should!
Glad to see them doing something, but as others have pointed out, why did it finally take a murder to cause action? These steps are essentially the same things a number of Bloomingdale residents emailed DC Water asking for last week. Hell, I told them their street lights were off on July 6th after another armed robbery. Their response - normal canned BS that they remain committed to safety...MPD has responsibility for safety...blah blah blah.
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