Mayor Adrian Fenty
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC
20004

Re: Crime Problems on Scott Montgomery Elementary School grounds

Dear Mayor Fenty,

We the undersigned residents of the Shaw community wish to bring to your attention a serious crime problem which exists on the grounds of Scott Montgomery Elementary School outside of school hours.

Here are two recent examples of the crime problem on the school grounds:

May 8, 2007, approximately 7:00PM: An arrest for distribution of marijuana, and an arrest for possession of marijuana on the school grounds. Two days later, the alleged dealer is seen again on the school grounds.
April 15, 2007: A gunman and an accomplice were brandishing a gun on the school grounds, and then held a passerby at gunpoint on the 400 block of P Street NW. The gunman hid the gun in the dumpster on the school grounds. Had the gun not been recovered by the police, a pupil at the school might have found it.

The local 5-n-O gang, which has been involved in a recent wave of shootings, claims ownership of the school by tagging all over the school grounds. The MPD has specifically implicated the 5-n-O gang in a drive by shooting at 7th and O Streets NW on the afternoon of Sunday, May 6. This gang has been so confident of their control of this territory that they have taken to storing their personal sports equipment on the school grounds. You should visit the school, and observe the graffiti and liquor bottles yourself. Talk to the Principal, Ms. Martin, about the destructive effect of these criminals on her school.

The campus of Scott Montgomery Elementary School is attractive to criminal elements because it is wide open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The ineffectual chain link fence is permanently open. There are many dark corners for people to hide in. When the police come by the people will scatter, and then they just come back later.

We ask you to make Scott Montgomery less attractive and accessible to criminal elements by doing the following:

Immediately removing the gang graffiti on the school grounds. People in the neighborhood have made requests for graffiti removal on the school grounds, and some of these requests are months old. Clear any bureaucratic obstacles with having the DPW clean up graffiti on DCPS property.
Install a new fence around the entire campus, made of a material that cannot be easily cut through, such as wrought iron.
Lock the school grounds, including the parking lot, evenings and weekends and any other time that school is not in session. So that people attending the churches on either end of the block can have a place to park, we suggest sharing the key to the lock with the churches on the condition that the churches agree to lock the gate to the parking lot when services are over.
Improve the lighting so that there are no dark corners for people to hide in at night.
Until the new fence is in place, we need a stationary police car at the school grounds from the time the school staff leave, until midnight. Post signs saying that the school grounds are closed after dark and that violators will be arrested, and arrest any violators.

Please take action before somebody dies as a result of the criminal activity on the Scott Montgomery school grounds.

cc: Melissa Martin, Principal, Scott Montgomery Elementary School
Lt. Ralph Neal, PSA 308
Commander Larry McCoy, MPD Third District
Victor Reinoso, Deputy Mayor for Education
Jack Evans, DC Council Ward 2
Phil Mendelson, DC Council at large
Vincent Gray, Chairman, DC Council
Robert Bobb, School Board President