Washington, DC – Clark Ray, candidate for DC Council, At-Large, today called on Council to ensure the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) releases the names of juvenile offenders who have escaped custody.

“DYRS must release the names of escapees so that communities affected by violence can work with police to ensure they are recaptured,” said, a former Reserve Police Officer. “We need an Amber Alert for offenders, to keep our neighborhoods safe.”

Ray’s proposal would not require the release of arrest records or other sensitive information. It would, however, require that communities be given the identities of offenders who have escaped custody and are still on the run.

Last week, Washington Examiner columnist Harry Jaffe asked: “What will it take? Will an escapee have to shoot up Wisconsin Avenue before Judiciary Committee Chairman Phil Mendelson wakes up?”

“Let’s not wait for the answer to that question,” said Ray. “First, Mr. Mendelson threw up his hands and walked away from the hard work of crafting a workable anti-gang provision, then he wrote to residents that crime is ‘not a legislative issue,’ and now we hear silence when it comes to substantive legislative responses to the latest tragedies.

“Council must also address critical issues such as: whether to give judges more control over sentencing of violent juveniles; whether current facilities for juvenile offenders are sufficient; what new services, education and training might break the cycle of crime for some inmates; what could be done regarding parents to prevent these youths from becoming offenders in the first place, and more.

“Council cannot continue to ignore these dangerous failures that put us all at risk. Our communities cannot be denied the information they need to work with police to keep our neighborhoods safe.”

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Tags: Clark Ray, DC Council At-Large, DC Council At-Large Candidate, DYRS, Harry Jaffe, Phil Mendelson, Washington Examiner

Dear Mr. Mayor and Members of the D.C. Council:

In light of the continuing reports that the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) has been unable to maintain custody of dangerous teens remanded to its care, I respectfully request that the Office of the Mayor, and the appropriate D.C. Council Committees, including the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, disclose to the public the following:

* the number of juvenile offenders currently remanded to the custody of DYRS for violent crime;

* the number of those violent offenders who have escaped DYRS custody over the past three years;

* the number of those violent escapees who are still at-large; and,

* the number of those escapees who were involved in nationally-recognized, outcome-based community mentoring programs.

I believe that the public is entitled to this information so we can know the scope of the danger posed by these at-large violent offenders.

I also believe the public has a right to know whether DYRS is using outcome-based community mentoring programs to reduce recidivism. It would be irresponsible for the Mayor’s office and the Council, which has oversight responsibility on programs involving criminal justice, to keep this information hidden from the community.

Sincerely,

Clark Ray
Candidate for D.C. Council, At-Large

Tags: Clark Ray, Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, DC Council, DC Council At-Large, DC Council At-Large Candidate, DYRS, Mayor

Council Cannot Continue to Ignore DYRS Failures that Allow Violent Youth to Walk in One Door and Out Another and Continue to Prey on the Community

Washington, DC – Today, Clark Ray, candidate for DC Council, At-Large, released the following statement on the arrest, in the killing of D.C. principal Brian Betts, of two teens who had been in custody at a DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) facility but had recently escaped:

“This unspeakable tragedy is another stark reminder that the repeated failures of DYRS to prevent violent youth, supposedly in custody, from returning to the streets to commit more violent crime can have deadly consequences. The DC Council must act to prevent further tragedies, and it must act now.

Although my opponent believes crime is not a legislative issue, I know that the Council can and must act to protect the public from violent criminals. DYRS cannot continue to allow violent youth to walk in one door and out another, and the Council cannot continue to ignore these dangerous failures that put us all at risk. This city deserves better.”

Tags: Brian Betts, Clark Ray, DC Council At-Large, DC Council At-Large Candidate, DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, DYRS