On the 1st of April, Black Lives Matter marched on Anacostia's 7th District police headquarters backed by members of numerous other groups. SURG DC(Standing Up for Racial Justice, DC chapter) and #ResistingThis(which grew out of Inauguration protests were among the allies present. The main demand of the march was that DC fully fund the NEAR act instead of hiring even more police. The NEAR act if funded would establish an Office of Neighborhood Safety based on a similar programs in California and elsewhere, and focusses on empowering respected local community members to act as mediators to settle disputes. Similar programs elewhere have achieved 40-70% reductions in shootings without any addtional police.
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