Crime Prevention and Community Safety

Rashida knows that safety emerges from stability, opportunity, and healing - and she’s committed to prioritizing investments that lead to these outcomes. She has done the work already, pushing property owners to revitalize spaces, establishing Georgia Thrive, which replaced graffiti with murals and vacant properties with new businesses onLower Georgia Ave., like Midlands and Qui Qui, making the area more inviting and safer.

WHAT RASHIDA’S DONE

Co-founded and led what is now Georgia Avenue Thrive, a community led initiative that brought together residents, small businesses, and local government to address safety concerns not through increased policing, but through community activation, economic development, and collaborative problem-solving. Worked together with police to ensure 3rd and 4th District officers are connected to residents, community organizations and small businesses, utilizing a community policing model

Supported human services and supports to residents struggling with substance use disorder along our business corridors to ensure they receive care, rather than relying on police and EMTs. 

Supported evidence-based violence prevention measures in Columbia Heights and Park View.

Graduated from the District of Columbia’s Community Engagement Academy and walked the beat with MPD officers to learn firsthand about police operations, MPD’s technology system and how neighborhood level crime is addressed. 

Led community walks with MPD and city officials to solve neighborhood challenges, discuss crime trends and develop and implement approaches for reducing and preventing crime.

WHAT RASHIDA WILL DO

Promote community policing. Rashida will advocate for a strong community policing model for the District of Columbia to build community trust and increase police accountability. Officers should get out of their cars, get to know our neighbors, walk the beat and partner with the community to solve neighborhood crime. 

Fund what works. Rashida will work to dramatically expand funding for the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement violence interruption programs that treat violence as a public health crisis. These programs reduce gun violence by 30-60% when properly implemented at scale. Rashida will ensure they're funded according to evidence-based program design, not political whims.

Address root causes. The Fair Budget Coalition is right—we need massive investments in housing, education, and basic needs. Rashida will fight to restore the Emergency Rental Assistance Program to $20+ million, fully fund Birth-to-Three child care, expand year-round youth employment, and ensure mental health crisis response teams respond to psychiatric emergencies instead of armed police.

Implement Police Reform Commission recommendations. Rashida supports expanding public access to police discipline records, opposes expansion of pretrial detention, and will vote ‘no’ on creating new crimes with harsher sentences. She’ll vote to pass the Revised Criminal Code Act again when Democrats retake Congress. Overturning the code was strictly political theater, not about public safety.

Target persistent violence. While crime is down citywide, Rashida believes we must focus resources on specific blocks experiencing continued violence. This means violence interrupters, trauma-informed healing programs, economic opportunity, and community infrastructure—not more arrests.

Oppose youth curfews. Criminalizing young people for existing in public spaces doesn't create safety—it creates criminal records that destroy futures. As a social worker who has counseled youth and their families navigating downstream systems, Rashida has seen firsthand how criminalizing normal teenage behavior pushes young people deeper into systems rather than supporting their development. Curfews are particularly harmful to Black and brown youth who are already over-policed and disproportionately targeted. Rashida will focus on upstream resources and promising approaches proven to show real results and positive outcomes for our youth. 

Invest year-round employment and programming for young people. When young people have jobs, activities, and purpose, they're not gathering aimlessly. Rashida will work to expand summer youth employment to year-round opportunities with living wages and career pathways. Her work establishing Counties for Career Success proved that aligning workforce development with youth needs transforms outcomes. She’ll collaborate with trade institutions and unions to support these efforts. 

Safe spaces open late. Youth need places to gather safely. Rashida will fund recreation centers, libraries, and community spaces with extended hours, providing structured activities, mentorship, and positive adult relationships. Through Georgia Avenue Thrive, she activated spaces with movie nights, block parties, and youth-led events—giving young people ownership rather than punishment.

Mental health and trauma support. Many youth behaviors stem from unaddressed trauma. Rashida will expand school-based mental health services, peer support programs, and healing-centered approaches that address root causes rather than symptoms.

Youth leadership development. Instead of treating youth as problems, Rashida will engage them as solutions. She'll advocate to create youth advisory boards with real power to shape the programs and policies affecting them.

Violence interruption. Rashida will fund credible messengers with lived experience who can effectively mentor at-risk youth and mediate conflicts before they escalate.