Why isn't a U Street nightlife task force not a standing function already?
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It's been so long since I attended some presentations in DC about dealing with night time management, by a guy based out in San Diego I think, maybe 15-18 years ago. -- "The Nighttime Economy," ICMA, article by Jim Peters
-- Planning, Managing, and Policing Hospitality Zones, RHI, 2006
-- "Hospitality Zones," Meesterlijk Gastheerschap blog
Although interestingly some of the strife in the Adams Morgan Business Improvement District is over funding for night time security ("Adams Morgan public space management + Adams Morgan Day," 2021). And I mentioned night life management as an A-M issue in one of my earliest blog entries in 2005.
WTOP reports ("DC council member assembles U Street nightlife task force") that the Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, wants to create a nightlife task force for U Street. From the article:
Ward 1 Council member Brianne Nadeau has created a task force to address “violence and vitality” along D.C.’s U Street corridor. Recent incidents have included a Saturday night stabbing and an early Sunday morning double shooting.
“Since my time on the (Advisory Neighborhood Commission), I have been working to support a vibrant U Street corridor that is welcoming and safe for residents, businesses and visitors, and a continuation of the legacy of ‘Black Broadway,’” Nadeau said in a news release.
“It’s clear we need better coordination and resources to address the serious safety issues that persist.” The task force will include community leaders, representatives from the police department, the attorney general’s office and the Alcoholic Beverage Regulatory Agency. “I know we can solve the problems we are facing,” Nadeau said.
The task force is expected to convene in June and have a series of meetings.
But given that nightlife districts always have issues, especially in cities like DC, why isn't this a standing function. Especially when Councilmember Nadeau has been in office for almost 8 years.
And how's the DC "Night Mayor" working out anyway? ("The Vision Thing and DC's Night Mayor appointment," 2018).
-- Economic Impact of DC's Nightlife Industry, 2020, DC Mayor's Office
Management and security needs to be built into dealing with the night time economy. Like any potential nuisance, the best way to ward off problems is to manage them.
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I mean, look at what has been happening in city nightlife areas, not just the crimes on U Street, but shootings in Sacramento ("3 alleged gang members charged with murder in Sacramento mass shooting," ABC News), Charlotte, North Carolina, and across the country.
I've suggested that one way to pay for it could be a 5% sales tax surcharge on night time service at bars, restaurants, and related businesses and cultural facilities in particular entertainment districts as a way to pay for it. It makes sense to charge people consuming the place at the time when there is increased risk of problems.
-- Nighttime.org
-- Global Nighttime Recovery Plan, Nighttime.org
-- "How the night-time economy helps build cities," MIPIM World Blog
-- "Economic Development After Dark," IEDC Journal
-- "Club and Bar Operators Flex their Economic Muscle and Collaborate with the Community," Bar & Restaurant
Labels: business improvement districts, commercial district revitalization, emergency management planning, nightlife economy, policing
posted by Richard Layman @ 3:25 PM&Permanent Link
4 Comments:
Interesting opinion article in the Philadelphia Inquirer
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/philadelphia-nightlife-arts-culture-public-safety-20220711.html
"Four ways to promote Philly’s nightlife as a possible antidote to nuisance and violence"
1. Establish nighttime governance and develop a plan
2. Use design and programming to improve safety
3. Invest in harm reduction
4. Signal good behavior
One is the author of the "Global Nightlife Recovery Plan"
https://www.nighttime.org/recoveryplan
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2022/08/08/an-inside-look-one-stretch/
"An inside look at one stretch of downtown Salt Lake City, where police, clubs work together to curb violence"
The clubs have always had security, but their owners recently began staffing more armed guards and partnering with police, who have increased patrols in the area after two large, violent brawls broke out on the block this summer. ...
This short stretch of Salt Lake City’s downtown, on Pierpont Avenue between 200 West and West Temple, is home to one other club, the nearby Sky SLC. Amid a weekly influx of people and patrons — mixed with intoxication and egos — one man ended up dead last month, a victim of a single random punch to the head, police have said. Several others have been hospitalized.
Most issues don’t develop on the dance floors. The real problem is the sidewalks and parking lots that people spill into after bars shut down, Salt Lake City police spokesperson Brent Weisberg said.
For the past several months, Salt Lake City police have tried to work with business owners to identify safety solutions, with one officer acting as a liaison. ...
Security has been on the lookout not just for obvious weapons, but also weapons hidden inside nonthreatening facades, like makeup kits.
When bouncers scan IDs, the technology cross references a list of names of people wanted by police, and immediately alerts staff who can then tell police — or refuse would-be guests entry. ...
Kesler pays four off-duty SLCPD officers $100 an hour to patrol a parking lot just south of the property, not wanting to be a “drain” on resources as the department tries to recoup staff lost after an exodus following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-police protests in 2020. He also relies heavily on his security staff to detain people until police arrive.
Weisberg said there is a gang issue in the area, but it’s not the whole problem. Any time there’s a large group of people, he said, there’s bound to be some gang members or people affiliated with them.
“But as I’ve said before, what we see is people who are definitely letting smaller things escalate into much bigger problems,” Weisberg said.
Wherever the night takes people, after-hours, crowds often gathered in the parking lot across from Echo, Kesler said. One way to make sure tensions don’t flare after-hours is to clear people from the area once clubs close.
In July, Weisberg said police worked with property owners to restrict traffic entering this block of Pierpont Avenue, shutting down the street to incoming traffic just before venues close. They also prevent cars in the parking lot across from Echo from exiting onto Pierpont Avenue, instead forcing them out onto West Temple and 300 South.
The move has cut down on the number of vehicles circling the block and encouraged crowds to head home, he said. ...
There were 273 calls for service for this block in 2021, compared to 148 the year before. This year, as of early July, police had been called to the block 115 times.
Same goes for Adams Morgan, obviously.
Adams Morgan neighbors pleased with new nightlife task force
https://wtop.com/dc/2023/03/adams-morgan-neighbors-pleased-with-new-nightlife-task-force/
Recognizing that Adams Morgan has seen an increase in robberies and break-ins, the D.C. mayor is starting a new nightlife task force in the neighborhood to help reduce them.
“As someone who has lived here for 40 years, I have never felt unsafe until my building was broken into,” one woman told Mayor Muriel Bowser following a news conference.
he is one out of a dozen neighbors in Adams Morgan, who applauded when Bowser announced the creation of a nightlife task force.
“Between June and December of last year, we drove down crime in three nightlife corridor areas — on Connecticut Avenue, U Street, as well as H Street Northeast, and saw an overall decrease by 28%,” Bowser said.
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2024/01/16/pittsburgh-south-side-entertainment-patrol-crime/stories/202401160147
South Side entertainment patrol has increased safety, city officials and businesses say
The South Side entertainment patrol was established in July, which allocates more officers to East Carson Street and its surrounding areas every Thursday through Sunday between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Sgt. Andrew Robinson, who directs the patrol, said its officers have made 95 arrests, recovered 18 firearms, and issued more than 1,000 citations since July.
... Don Berman, a community liaison for the anti-violence group SouthSideCan and the South Side Hospitality partnership, agreed that collaboration between the city and residents made the neighborhood safer.
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