WASHINGTON — The Washington, D.C., mayor and city council are locked in a public dispute over how to respond to rising crime rates and spiraling public tensions over gun violence in the nation’s capital.
The D.C. Council voted 12-1 on Tuesday to override Mayor Muriel Bowser’s veto of a sweeping rewrite of the city’s criminal code. Bowser vetoed the measure earlier this month, saying she opposed some of its provisions, including a reduction in the maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking, robbery and other offenses.
“Anytime there’s a policy that reduces penalties, I think it sends the wrong message,” she said.