Posted by Juliana Brint on Jun. 2, 2010 at 10:30 am



The crowd outside Covenant Baptist Church in Congress Heights last night seemed none too friendly toward Councilmember Phil Mendelson, organizer of the evening's community meeting on public safety.


Clark Ray, who is challenging Mendelson for his at-large council seat, and his campaign team greeted all of the meeting's attendees with a targeted flier: "Another election year meeting in Ward 8. We Deserve Better: Communities need to be involved every day to solve the issue of crime, not just during an election."


The crowd inside was scarcely more welcoming toward Mendelson, who chairs the Council’s committee on public safety and the judiciary, or the other panel members he brought with him, including representatives from the Office of the D.C. Attorney General, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the Office of the U.S. Attorney General for D.C., and the D.C. Superior Court.

Gathered just a block away from site of the March 30 shooting that left four dead, the group of roughly 70 victims' relatives, concerned community members, and anti-violence activists voiced tremendous frustration with how they've seen the D.C. government deal with violent crime.