Multiple pundits and commentators have noticed that Bowser really hasn’t criticized Trump’s occupation of D.C., even as multiple members of the D.C. Council have. One reason that goes mostly unmentioned is that Bowser has wanted a massive police build up; admittedly, she would like to have control of it herself, but she’s not adverse to an increase in D.C.’s internal security forces (regardless of the source).

To make sense of this, one must remember that Bowser is an acolyte of the former NYC mayor, Michael Bloomberg. The Bloomberg school of policing revolves around three pillars. The first two, lots of statistics collection used to assess performance and ‘stop and frisk’ (in D.C., these are referred to as “jump out squads”), are well known. But the third part is flooding certain areas with lots of police in areas where people from outside of the city work and play in order to arrest or run off undesirables, which includes not only the occasional criminal, but homeless people and ‘scary people’ (young black and brown people).

It’s no accident that the federal presence is occurring largely in these areas: Dupont Circle, the Business District, Union Station, the National Mall, Capitol Hill, Chinatown, Gallery Place, Penn Quarter, Judiciary Square the Wharf, and Navy Yard* (one exception to this is Columbia Heights, but those efforts seem to be focused on immigration enforcement). The goal here is to establish D.C.’s reputation as safe and ‘clean’–which is to say, no visible undesirables. Bowser’s dream is to hire 500 more police (for a police force of over 3,100 officers, in a city of 700,000 people), so she can flood the zone without federal assistance, but that’s what she wants to do.

Of course, the “jump out squad” approach is often combined with flooding the zone, with the goal of ringing up certain people as often as the police can, to the point where they eventually be jailed.

The guardsmen sent to protect the hellscape of Dupont Circle are walking around the actual circle and also are stationed outside the south entrance to the Dupont Circle Metro station, which is where homeless people can be found. Likewise, homeless people are found, in the evenings, in many of those neighborhoods I listed because few people are around once businesses are closed, so the homeless won’t be bothered**.

It’s also worth noting the kinds of things that don’t get included in this vision of public safety: violence prevention, improving child services, or improving the juvenile justice system. Remember, the goal is to run off the unlovely poor. It’s not racism: Bowser would be more than happy to have upper-middle class Black families from Prince George’s county move back to D.C., but she doesn’t want the poor, regardless of color.

In the broader picture, one thing to remember is that there are a lot of people whose attitude towards the occupation is “Yes, it’s bad, but…”, regardless of what the data suggest.

Anyway, this is a reminder that D.C. needs a better mayor. And statehood.

And friends don’t let friends support a Mike Bloomberg backed candidate.

*Apparently, north of M Street, thar be dragons!

**One result of this push is that residential neighborhoods have seen an influx of homeless people, including those in the worst shape. The politics of this will be interesting, as many of these neighborhoods are wealthy.