Good morning. Im going to begin this press conference. This is a joint press conference the mayor and i have been doing since the pandemic and these more limited press conferences. Before the legislative meeting, i have a press conference where our report on the issues coming up in the legislative meeting the next day. Tomorrow, tuesday, june 9, the council will have its regular meeting for the month of june. On the agenda is, is not very large in terms of number of measures. So im going to speak to this, take any questions, then i will turn it over to the mayor with her usual press conference, and i will be staying for a while in case there are more questions regarding the councils business. The main items for tomorrows legislative meeting, we are doing we are approving the final reading on the temporary coronavirus legislation thats a comprehensive bill that we adopted at our last meeting. This was a consolidation of, im going to say four or five different bills that have been passed periodically since march 17. Measures in the district trying to help with the economy as well as individuals as well as appointment for residents and so forth. Im not going to go through what all those measures were and i actually dont have that list in front of me, but we have the temporary legislation which will put that in place for 225 days. As well as it will make additional clarifications with regard to some measures such as the limitations on the percentage Fee Commission it can be charged by thirdparty services that was eating into restaurants revenues, some clarifications regarding tenant ent plans, the rent freeze which we adopted on march 17. There are some new measures and tomorrows emergency, one is creating new Public HealthEmergency ResponseGrant Program at the request of the executive which would give grants for increasing awareness of covid and promoting prevention. Also, thats an executive sponsored provision. Another new measure will be modifying the beverage regulation administration, modifying the rules to allow for the increased Outdoor Dining and related alcohol purchases on public space. Thats to try to help with restaurants with reopening. Then we will be legislative ly being proving the symbolic designation of black lives matter plaza and approving a contract that will finally get the dollars out for undocumented workers. He may remember over a month ago, approved roughly 15 million, 5 Million Dollars for restaurants, 5 million for forls and 5 million undocumented workers, and where that lies at this point is a contract to disperse the dollars to undocumented workers and that contract will be before us tomorrow for approval. It will be passively approved on the solar track and we want to see it move quickly. That is in the coronavirus emergency bill that we have tomorrow. There is in addition emergency bills, one from Councilmember Robert white, emergency credit alert, which deals with the use of credit reports for individuals for whom there may be a payment plan which is not an adverse action or adverse matter on a credit report, but still we want to limit how that information can be used. So thats mr. Whites emergency councilmember bonds will have an emergency also dealing with some housing aspects, they are fairly technical and we will be combining those with the coronavirus emergency bill. I just spoke with council members, theres an emergency they noticed called the connected transportation Emergency Network amendment act. That bill attempts to take a program already announced by the department of transportation to use public space for alternatives, which could be for business use but also for bicycling or more recreational space, given the needs for social distancing, and so theres that program in place with dot, but this bill would codify some of that as well as require reporting on what so thatddot is doing, we can see that we are actually dedicating on a temporary basis, which is actually maybe three quarters of the year, dedicating some public space for nonvehicular uses. And then the final Emergency Zone by Councilmember Charles allen and is called the comprehensive policing and Justice Reform emergency amendment act. It proposes a number of provisions putting into law, prohibition on the use of neck restraints changing the law with regard to access to Body Worn Camera video recordings, for instance requiring mpd preserving Body Worn Camera equipment to a council request to or investigation. I am not going to go into each of the measures here unless i am asked, but it would instill greater accountability with regard to camera footage. A bill proposes some changes to the office of Police Complaints, including allowing the executive director of the office of Police Complaints to investigate evidence of abuse or misuse of Police Powers that the office identifies, even though it may not have been specifically alleged in the complaint. There is a proposal to expand membership of the use of force review board, which is an existing board. There is a provision to extend the time for corrective or adverse action against an mpd officer in serious cases, which right now by statute is limited to 90 days and this would give a greater period of time for taking adverse action, corrective or adverse action. The legislation would repeal an antimask law that is currently in the code. The bill would require certain procedural safeguards, whether where there is a consent search initiated by the police. I will read a little bit from the notes here, strengthens procedural justice in a case where where is based only on the persons consent to the search. The officer would have to claim that the person is being asked to consent and that they can refuse the search. Then there is a provision dealing with mandatory continuing education and reconstituting the Police Officer standards and Training Board. The post board, Police Officer standards and Training Board was a reform adopted by the council in the late 1990s, possibly early 2000s, and it has become dormant and it is a way of trying to maintain rigorous standards for Police Officers, and there is a provision regarding identification of officers during First Amendment assemblies as local Law Enforcement. Then there are a few measures that are unrelated to the police, i believe repeal of Law Enforcement reporting for crime victims compensation, which is a precondition to a victim that they have to file a report, Police Report before they can apply for victims compensation. There is a measure that would restore individuals serving felony sentences. A department of corrections home confinement requirement that i believe tracks the cares act. I expect there will be quite a bit of discussion on this measure tomorrow, and ive circulated notice of four amendments i will be proposing, one of which is prohibiting Police Discipline from being a negotiable matter in a collective bargaining agreement. Prohibiting the hiring of officers who have a history of misconduct in other jurisdictions, and strengthening Police Access to mpd records when they have an investigation. In a nutshell, those are the issues before the council tomorrow. Im happy to take questions, and then i will turn it over to the mayor. Other than the amendment you are proposing, do you have any problems within their . There . I support the legislation and i expect it will be passed. I expect there will be some debate over some of the more technical aspects of the bill. Some of these issues are little bit more complex, and it is often thought in the public discourse, and i also think that, im aware that there are a lot of suggestions right now circulating in the public realm with regard to reforms that cities need to adopt. What many people dont realize is that this is not the first time that the district has dealt with issues of police conduct, and weve actually made quite a number of reforms over the last several decades. If i remember correctly, and i was not briefed on this, there was concern about 10 years ago with regard to the use of deadly force and there was an investigation, and there were some reforms adopted at that time. I say that only to say that what we need to continually review and evaluate whether procedures that we have and requirements that we have are adequate, there has already been quite a bit that has been adopted in the district. So mr. Allens proposals are necessary and useful, but they may not go as far as what we are hearing being demanded of Police Departments across the country, but that could be because we have already done a lot of that. One of the demands of heard is that there may need to be independent consideration of complaints by citizens of police conduct. We have a very robust Police Complaints board for over 20 years. Were there any Police Reform ideas that could with the 2015 resolution that are being revisited . I dont remember what would have not as im standing here, you have to refresh me on what was adopted in 2015, unless youre talking about the near act. It may have been, i think some of that was separate. I remember that the mayor proposed Body Worn Cameras separate from the near act. [indiscernible] i do believe the critical climate is different today. One of the provisions i mentioned was an amendment that has to do with the office of Police Complaints access to police records. That action was taken from legislation about 10 years ago. The mayor when she was a councilmember and i cointroduced that i think it has a good chance of passing now. Its a fairly simple change, but it makes it clear that opc has unfettered access to relevant records. What do you think about the bigger call being made out there to defund the police . What do you make of it . I think when we talk about the demand for defunding the police, we need to be clear what that means. Does that mean reducing the budget of the Police Department to zero . We have to remember that as much as there has been a tension to a shes of police misconduct, legitimate concerns about police misconduct, actually some heinous issues with regard to police misconduct, that police also serve a very important function with regard to crime. So what i think i think what the council is going to look to do is look at whether additional dollars can be found for increasing alternatives, which as you know is something the council initiated with the near act to look at nontraditional policing strategies toward reducing crime and responding to crime, looking at crime as often a Public Health issue, and looking at recognizing that crime often has, im going to say a cyclical aspect to it, meaning that what we see with a lot of the shootings that occur and someone is shot and there is retaliation and retaliation, cyclical in that sense. The near act went to that approach, and weve expanded that the last couple of years. I think thats what the council is going to look to do with the budget before us, is to put more emphasis on that. I would add that we also have to keep in mind that the fundamental issue, i think, is that, its been in the public debate for the last 10 days, has been not whether there should be a Police Response to crime, but rather police misconduct, and how police can be better at serving the citizens whom theyre supposed to be serving and protecting. To go off that, you said Something Like when it comes to the Defund Police conversation, you are going to be looking at alternatives . Is takingmoney funding from police, is that something youre considering . Im sure the councilmembers will be looking at that as a possibility. Do you support the bill as currently written why dont we have her come up when she comes up. Other any other questions for me with regard to the legislative meeting tomorrow, or the issues on the agenda . Anything you want to see taken out . Any provision in the police will bill that you want to see taken out or removed . As i indicated, ive noted four amendments to add. Im not looking to strike anything from that bill. I would also note that the bill is before us on an emergency basis. That means it would be in effect for 90 days. There will be a temporary accompanying it, which would be in effect longer, then there will be work on permanent legislation. I think there will be some technical aspects that will get refined as we get to the permanent legislation, but substantively, i expect, i would be surprised if there were any substantive provisions that were removed from the bill. Just because of the nature of our structured government, the council is in a position where it can respond fairly quickly to events like this, doing legislation that you would see in other states when the legislature finally gets around to being able to meet and to adopt. We are able to respond more quickly, and i think that the work that mr. Allen has put forward reflects the expertise that is in the committee on judiciary and Public Safety with regard to ideas. There havent been any hearings on sweeping legislation, the committees have been working on these issues for years to jump on it now. Im suggesting the latter, but i also think some of the positions actually track. Requirements that are in the general orders, weve refined them a little bit but some of it is not new, but is being codified and there is value to that because then its a matter of the policy of the government as opposed to the general order that can be changed. Some of the provisions, like for instance, the prohibition on neck holds. Im not sure a delivery process adds anything there. I will still be here for questions if there are more. Thank you all very much. Thank you, mayor. Mayor bowser good morning, everybody. Im muriel bowser, mayor of washington, d. C. I want to thank chairman mendelson for being here and participating in a joint press or which i think is efficient for all of us. I know that he and the council are working hard and continuing to support our Covid Response in their legislative meetings, so we appreciate that. I want to invite chief newsham up to provide a quick Public Safety update as it relates to the districts response to demonstrations in our city, and then we will take your questions. Chief newsham thank you, mayor bowser. Thanks for your continued leadership. Yesterday marked the 10th straight day of protests here in washington, d. C. As anticipated, this weekend, we experienced the largest crowds on saturday that weve seen so far. There were tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators in the city. In fact, hard on the radio when i was driving in that the protests were being described as being largely without violence. I would correct that statement and say exclusively without violence. We did i will go through the arrests over the course of the last several days. Last saturday, we had 19 arrests, sunday we had 90. Monday we had 289. Tuesday, 29, wednesday we had zero. Thursday we had zero. This past friday we had one arrest for a simple assault. On saturday, we had one arrest for an attempted burglary of an establishment in the area of the protests, and then on sunday in the Early Morning we had a defacing property arrest. We anticipate more demonstrations as the days move forward throughout this week. We stand prepared to facilitate the Peaceful Demonstrations that we have seen in recent days. Thank you. Questions . Questions . Questions . Questions . Yes. What are your thoughts on the council [indiscernible] mayor bowser we will be going through it section by section today and discuss any changes or additions that we think we need with the councilmember, by and large, so far, preliminary briefings that ive received is that we can largely be supportive, but we want to make sure we understand all the technicalities. Yes . Reporter are you satisfied with the withdrawal of the maryland and new Jersey National guard forces, and are there any other forces that need to go, and along those lines, have you established a review of Standard Operating Procedure with the National Guard to make sure they inform you before their forces show up on the street . Mayor bowser we understand that all of the outofstate guard will be leaving the city if they are not already gone, would have been gone within 48 hours, i think, from yesterday. I had another meeting with general walker over the weekend, i believe that was, where we discussed a number of issues about the d. C. Guard. Keep in mind that the d. C. Guard is a federal guard. We have called up members of the d. C. Guard to help us both with Covid Response and with demonstration response including both over the last couple of months. So we will continue to have those discussions with general walker. Our congresswoman has a bill before congress that would change the organizational structure of the d. C. National guard, which we support. Any other questions . Reporter mayor bowser, one of the big complaints of been hearing over the weekend in regard to the policies with Body Worn Camera footage, is the program working as intended when there are families of people who have been killed by police who havent been able to see that footage . Mayor bowser well, we certainly think that the