By Tashi McQueenAFRO Political Writertmcqueen@afro.com
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser opened the District’s second Secure Industrial Hall Hub within the Anacostia neighborhood of Ward 8 on Could 13. The primary secure business hub was opened in Chinatown in February.
The hubs join residents to an array of metropolis companies they might want, aiming to maintain neighborhood corridors secure and unsullied.
“The concept could be very easy: These are locations the place residents can stroll in to get assist from D.C. businesses,” stated Bowser at a live-streamed press convention on Could 13. “It’s significantly aimed toward bettering public security to be sure that individuals are getting the behavioral well being companies that they want.”
The brand new hub shall be staffed by outreach groups from a number of neighborhood relations, human companies, public security and behavioral well being businesses that may reply to neighborhood challenges in actual time.
“We’re excited to have this useful resource locally and we realized some classes from the Chinatown hub. There we’ve seen a 15 p.c drop in crime since we opened the hub, together with a 78 p.c drop in violent crime,” stated Bowser. “We’ve additionally related greater than 200 individuals to DHS (Division of Human Providers) and to the Division of Well being by walk-ins.”
The Anacostia hub is situated at 2300 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., S.E. It’s open to residents Monday by Friday from 9 a.m. to five p.m.
“Time and time once more, we hear from residents and enterprise house owners and also you discuss your needs to have extra Metropolitan Police Division officers in your neighborhood,” stated D.C. Chief of Police Pamela Smith. “That is definitely a chance for us in the present day to have the ability to improve and embark upon these issues that you’ve always shared with us time and again.
“Additionally, this hub will provide a number of advantages for us,” continued Smith. “It’ll give our officers extra accessibility for police companies by their police desk. It’ll give the officers the chance to be readily accessible, and we’ll lower down on response time when issues are taking place on this space. We may have officers right here on bike patrol. We’ll have officers on this space on foot patrol.”
Tashi McQueen is a Report For America corps member.
