(WASHINGTON) — Federal prosecutors will dismiss dozens of gun and drug possession cases, as the D.C. Police Seventh District Crime Suppression Team continues to undergo a months-long investigation.
Police Chief Robert Contee said on Wednesday that until the U.S. Attorney’s Office comes to a final outcome, they won’t know exactly how many cases will be impacted.
“When our Office learned of the 7-D Crime Suppression Team investigation, we began a case-specific assessment of impacted pending cases,” a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson told ABC News.
“Our review is ongoing, but at this point, we expect to dismiss dozens of gun and drug possession cases,” the spokesperson added.
In September, a community member issued a complaint against MPD officers following an interaction with police, which prompted an internal review of the Metropolitan Police Department’s body-worn cameras. During the investigation, MPD discovered a prior incident where two officers confiscated an illegal firearm without making an arrest. The person was able to walk away without an arrest or an arrest warrant.
Although the guns were accounted and turned into evidence for “the officer’s version in the police report is inconsistent with the body-worn camera footage associated with the seizure,” Contee said in September.
That discovery prompted Contee to have MPD review three months’ worth of body-worn cameras.
Seven D.C. police officers, including two supervisors, were placed on “non-contact status,” meaning their roles will not have contact with the general public.
“We have a responsibility to the community to make communities safer, and that includes taking bad guys to jail. People who have illegal firearms that does not make communities safer when we allow people in some instances potentially armed felons to go on about their business and just recovered a firearm,” Contee told reporters in September.
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