Violence Prevention and Community Safety
Zachary believes all neighbors deserve to be and feel safe in our Ward 5. Unfortunately, our current approach to public safety is not working. Simply throwing more money at policing institutions and parking more police cars on street corners will not address the fact that our approach unfairly and disproportionately harms our Black and brown neighbors. Zachary will fight for a comprehensive approach to public safety that targets root causes of crime, expands educational and economic opportunities for neighbors, and meaningfully repairs harm when it happens.
As your Ward 5 Councilmember, Zachary will fight to:
★ Address the root causes of violence through expanded access to education, comprehensive mental health support, and good-paying jobs
★ Establish community-based HELP teams to respond to non-violent incidents and increase funding for the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement
★ Support returning citizens with housing and employment support and expand transformative justice
★ Enact substantive police reform: end qualified immunity, truly ban military and chemical weapons, and put a hard cap on overtime
★ Enact government reform by establishing a DC parole board and deputy auditor for public safety
★ Enact statutory reforms like eliminating mandatory minimums for drug-related offenses and ending the criminalization of personal drug use altogether