Help Bring Accountability to our Criminal Justice System

By D.C. Witness Staff - November 28, 2023
Editors Corner |

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face,” Mike Tyson said. 

DC is getting punched in the face. Homicides are up. Shootings are up. Carjackings are up. 

But if you listen to Mayor Bowser and the DC Council, even before the current surge, their violence reduction plans are an endless funnel of new strategies that end up making no difference. Remember building blocks? 

A vital part of reducing our city’s crime, and paradoxically reducing the number of people incarcerated,  is for the criminal justice system to work properly. But the system is designed to prevent you, the DC resident, from really knowing what is going on and therefore hold our officials and systems accountable.

For eight years D.C. Witness has gone beyond headlines, to tell readers what is actually happening, without agenda or bias. In 2023 we introduced the D.C. Witness Victim Notification System that allows DC residents to follow cases in real time. That is something the city should do, but it does not. 

If you are fed up with not having a voice, support D.C. Witness so we can give you more real-time updates on how criminal justice is being practiced and get beyond another round of policies that are destined to fail.

If you believe in holding our leaders accountable, please donate $50 this Giving Tuesday. As an incentive, every dollar will be matched.