Mayor Bowser Provides Update on the Federal Surge

(Washington, DC) - Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser provided an update on the District's response to the federal surge in Washington, DC.

The Mayor issued a Mayor's Order that continues the work of the Safe and Beautiful Emergency Operations Center (SBEOC) in managing the District's response to the Safe and Beautiful Task Force, established by the President, as well as the Presidential declaration of emergency. During and after the Presidential emergency, the SBEOC will manage the District's response, coordinate centralized communications, and ensure coordination with federal law enforcement to the maximum extent allowable by law within the District.

The SBEOC will communicate the District's requests that federal partners adhere to established policing practices that maintain community confidence in law enforcement officers, such as not wearing masks, clearly identifying their agency, and providing identification during arrests and encounters with the public. Post-emergency planning will include the coordination of continued enhanced federal law enforcement efforts with the following agencies, which the District regularly works with: the United States Marshals Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Park Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the United States Capitol Police, and the United States Secret Service.

The major workstreams of the SBEOC are public safety and justice, homelessness and encampments, beautification, and finance and economic resilience. The Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice is designated to lead the efforts of the SBEOC to address requests for services from federal partners and to coordinate activities with the Task Force.

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services will continue leading efforts around homelessness, encampments, and moving people into shelter and housing. Last week, the District conducted a census of people living outside across the city. Outreach teams identified 764 total individuals living outside, with 81 people living in tents (the outreach teams identified 40 tents with people and 14 tents without people). At the end of July, there were 107 tents across the city, with 128 people living in those tents. The 683 people who were not in tents during last week's census include individuals who the outreach teams suspected to be living outside but could not confirm. Since the start of the surge, approximately 80 additional individuals have entered the District's shelter system, but it is unknown where those individuals were living prior to coming into shelter.

View the Mayor's Order.

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