Mayor Muriel Bowser's proposed budget to expand DC's Safe Passage program
WASHINGTON (7News) — D.C. officials are looking into whether to expand the Safe Passage program to Brookland Middle School after a teen was shot and killed at the metro station less than half a mile away last week.
Safe Passage provides grant money to organizations so they can support students getting to and from school safely. Safe Passage Ambassadors, who are trained workers versus officers, are currently placed around 50 schools in priority areas more prone to violence.
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Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah, whose office assumes day-to-day management of the Safe Passage program, told 7News her office is looking into whether there has been an uptick in incidents in that area and how best to utilize resources, since there isn’t enough funding to have the program at every school.
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"We understand that a single incident can make people feel unsafe," she said. "Safe passage isn’t the only tool available to help us to address what we’re seeing there, but we’ll do all that evaluation now."
Mayor Muriel Bowser’s budget proposal includes $9.7 million for Safe Passage to support students getting to and from school safely and expand the program’s coverage through roving teams in neighborhoods experiencing short-term increases in crime. The program currently gets $9 million in funding.
"Our goal and what the increase in the budget is, is to allow us to have those teams that are flexible," Appiah explained, saying most of the teams are currently site-based. "These [roving teams] would have the flexibility to help support in those areas where there may be some additional support needed short-term."
"We know presence deters crime," Appiah said. "It also helps our young people to feel safe, knowing that if they’re taking this route, that they’ll get to school."