District of Columbia
D.C. police chief: ‘Community Engagement Policing’ will address hate crimes
Mayor, MPD announce new strategies to combat violence
A ‘Focused Patrol and Community Engagement Policing Strategy’ announced last week by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee to combat the rising incidents of violent crime in the city will have a positive impact in addressing hate crimes targeting the LGBTQ community, according to Contee.
Bowser and Contee provided details of what they said is an expanded version of the existing community engagement policies in place for D.C. police officers at an April 27 news conference.
In response to a question from the Washington Blade asking if the expanded community engagement strategy would help police investigate and prevent hate crimes, including those targeting the LGBTQ community, Contee said a key to investigating hate crimes is building a relationship of trust between the police and members of the community who are at risk of becoming victims of a hate crime.
“So, one thing it might very well do is strengthen that relationship,” Contee said. “And so, with that you can see an actual increase in the reporting because people are more comfortable having those conversations with our police officers,” he said.
He was referring to the belief by police officials and community activists that many hate crimes in D.C. and other locations go unreported because victims, especially LGBTQ victims, are often reluctant to call police or other law enforcement agencies.
D.C. police hate crime statistics show that for at least the past five years the largest number of reported hate crimes involve LGBTQ people as victims, with the victim’s “sexual orientation” having the highest number of cases compared to other categories such as race, religion, or ethnicity.
The second highest “victim” category is an individual’s gender identity as a transgender person, the D.C. police statistics show.
“This is actually about a police officer who gets out of their car who’s engaging with and who they have a relationship with” members of the community, Contee said in referring to the expanded community engagement policy.
A joint statement released by the mayor’s office and the Metropolitan Police Department says the new policing strategy “will utilize data to identify specific areas in each police district and employ focused patrols for proactive policing, community engagement, and problem solving within a small geographical area.”
The statement adds, “The MPD members assigned to these areas will proactively engage in business and building checks, assist in traffic enforcement, collaborate with the community, and identify area-specific issues with police officials to problem solve and determine necessary solutions to community concerns and crime.”
News of the expanded community engagement policing plans came about three months after gay Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Vincent Slatt expressed concern that Dupont Circle area residents, including LGBTQ residents, were being targeted for armed robberies including carjackings by juveniles coming to the neighborhood from other parts of the city.
Slatt and others who spoke at a community listening session organized by D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, whose office oversees prosecuting juvenile offenders, called for changing the existing city law that prevents the public disclosure of the outcome of cases where a juvenile is arrested for a violent crime.
“The mayor’s announcement of a shift to data-driven decisions on policing strategies is both a welcome and concerning announcement,” Slatt told the Blade. “As a data librarian, I can say that data-driven policy is, in fact, a good thing, however there is both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ data,” he said. “Full disclosure on the data being used, how it is collected and shared, are important for it to work well and to build community trust.”
Slatt said he has not yet seen a noticeable change in policing in the Dupont Circle neighborhood but continues to see an ongoing police presence that has been a part of the area in the recent past, including a police car parked outside the gay bar Larry’s Lounge not far from Dupont Circle. One suggestion he said that could enhance police presence would be for the MPD to set up “mini” police stations in some of the vacant storefront buildings across the city.
The official announcement of the expanded community engagement policing policy also came one day after Chief Contee surprised city officials and community activists by announcing he will retire from his position as police chief on June 1 to take a new job as an assistant director at the FBI.
Contee’s departure ends his 33-year career with the MPD, which began in his role as a police cadet at the age of 17 and continued with a steady rise in the ranks of the department leading to his nomination by Bowser to become chief in December 2020 and the D.C. Council’s confirmation of his appointment in January 2021.
“He has pushed our criminal justice system to do more and be better,” Bowser said in a statement in response to Contee’s plans for leaving. “He has led MPD through an incredibly challenging time for our country – from the pandemic to January 6th and navigating the effects of a shrinking department during a time when gun violence is exploding across the nation,” the mayor said.
“He has been a phenomenal ambassador of what it means to be a police officer in D.C. – brilliant, compassionate, and determined to build a D.C. where all people feel safe and are safe,” Bowser concluded.
LGBTQ activists familiar with the D.C. police have said Contee has been one of the MPD’s most LGBTQ supportive police chiefs. He has been credited with being a strong supporter of the department’s LGBT Liaison Unit.
District of Columbia
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Protest Pizza owners say community has expressed support
Gay activist Randy Downs said he and his business and life partner Ricky Bennett are grateful for the support they have received from the Dupont Circle community after they released a video showing a suspect breaking into their recently opened pizza shop and taking money from a cash register shortly before 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 21.
The surveillance video shows a man wearing black clothing with his face covered, smashing the glass front door of Protest Pizza, located at 1633 ½ P St., N.W. The video, which Downs and Bennett provided to D.C. police, also shows the suspect climbing over the bar to get to a cash register, which he opened to take out cash.
A D.C. police report obtained by the Washington Blade lists the incident as a Burglary in the Second Degree and says the owners reported “approximately $78 in cash” was taken from the cash register. The report says the incident is not listed as a suspected hate crime.
Downs told the Washington Blade that after he and Bennett reported the break-in and theft on social media, they received an overwhelming showing of support from neighbors and others, including business owners, from across the nation.
“The break-in was upsetting, but it is not what will define Protest Pizza,” Downs said. “What defines us is how quickly people showed up,” he told the Blade. “One person came looking for a cash register; our community saw a gathering place worth protecting. The response reminded us that Protest’s real value was never in the register.”
Downs said he and Bennett, who live around the corner on the section of 17th Street, N.W., near several other bars and restaurants, including the gay bar JRs are located, opened Protest Pizza in November 2025.
“Ricky and I built Protest Pizza as a positive, welcoming, queer owned neighborhood restaurant and bar — a space for protest and joy,” he said.
A D.C. police spokesperson said police offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect responsible for the type of burglary and theft that occurred at Protest Pizza. Police say anyone with information to help solve this type of crime should call the police tipline at 202-727-9099.
District of Columbia
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Annual ceremony held at conclusion of Trans Pride DC
The 2026 SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards ceremony took place at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in D.C. on Saturday. The ceremony was held at the conclusion of the day-long Trans Pride DC: Encore.
Honorees included D.C. Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs Deputy Director Vida Rangel; the LGBT+ Counseling Collaborative, Inc.; and Connor Keuntje, CLP, CLPC.
Trans Pride DC: Encore was held throughout Saturday with several workshop sessions and a virtual conversation with actress and advocate Dominique Jackson.
The annual Engendered Spirit Awards were renamed the “SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards” in honor of SaVanna Wanzer, founder of D.C. Trans Pride. Wanzer died on April 24 of this year.
Speakers at the ceremony included Japer Bowles, director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and Bianca Sprague, executive director of D.C. Trans Pride.
“The intent behind this award and honoring members of our communities, organizations, and allies, is to really elevate all of the work that they’re doing to provide resources, tools, learning opportunities and connections: centering trans folks, gender non-conforming, and gender diverse individuals,” Sprague said.
District of Columbia
Man charged with anti-gay assault in D.C. accepts plea offer
Community service offered in exchange for dismissing hate crime charge
A Germantown, Md., man arrested by D.C. police on a charge of simple assault with a hate crime designation for allegedly assaulting a gay man while using “homophobic slurs” has agreed to an offer by prosecutors to plead guilty to simple assault without the hate crime designation and with the promise of having the charge dismissed if he completes, among other requirements, 48 hours of community service work.
Dean Edmundson, 26, standing beside his attorney, officially accepted the offer of a Deferred Sentencing Agreement at an Aug. 18 status hearing in D.C. Superior Court after Senior Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo explained the details of the agreement and confirmed Edmundson’s decision to waive his right to a trial.
Among other things, the judge said the agreement offered by prosecutors with the Office of the United States Attorney for D.C. includes the requirement that he successfully completes 48 hours of community service work, stays away from the victim of the assault, writes a letter of apology to the victim, and does not violate any other laws or get into trouble for the next 12 months.
Puig-Lugo then announced he scheduled a sentencing hearing for Edmundson for Aug. 18, 2027, at which time a determination will made on whether he has fulfilled all the requirements under the agreement and whether the simple assault charge will be dismissed. The judge added that if it is determined that Edmundson did not fulfil the terms of the agreement the charge would remain in place and he could be sentenced to a possible maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Edmundson, who appeared in court wearing a business suit with a dress shirt and tie, was released on his own recognizance following his arrest by D.C. police on Feb. 7, 2026.
Police and court records show he was initially charged by arresting officers with simple assault with a hate crime designation. In a statement announcing the arrest, D.C. police said, “On Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at approximately 7:45 p.m. the victim and suspect were in the 1500 block of 14th Street, Northwest. The suspect requested a ‘high five’ from the victim. The victim declined and kept walking,” the statement says.
A follow-up arrest affidavit filed by police states that Edmundson followed the victim and called him “bald, ugly, and gay,” and then “pushed the victim with both hands, shoving them, causing the victim to feel the force of the push.” The affidavit adds, “The victim stated that they felt offended and that they were also gay.”
According to the court records, the Office of the U.S. Attorney filed its official charge of simple assault against Edmunson on Feb. 9 without the hate crime designation. The office has not responded to a request by the Washington Blade for its reason for dropping the hate crime designation. The office has also not immediately responded to a follow-up inquiry from the Blade this week asking if prosecutors consulted the victim to obtain the victim’s thoughts about the plea offer.
The Blade, which has a policy of not disclosing the identify of crime victims in cases like this without their consent, could not immediately obtain contact information to reach the victim for comment.
Court records show that Edmundson rejected an earlier plea agreement offer by prosecutors and he was scheduled for a non-jury trial on Aug. 18. The records show his attorney filed a motion earlier this month asking the judge to convert the trial into status hearing on that same day after his client accepted the Deferred Sentencing Agreement offer by the U.S. Attorney’s office. The judge approved the motion without objection from prosecutors.
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When home becomes a journey: migration, memory, and the African diaspora
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Trump-Vance administration’s LGBTQ brain drain: what you need to know
Not all trans people are the same
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Calendar: August 21-27
