Photo by aperryproductions

With the D.C. Council starting its 20th period this week, Mayor Vince Gray yesterday laid out two of his top priorities: more police officers and comprehensive campaign finance reform.

In a statement, Gray said that he would reintroduce a measure to allow the city to hire 50 more police officers. The same request was put to the council late last year, but it punted on it over concerns that police officials hadn’t explained why they need more officers. (The council also reversed a Gray initiative to link speed camera revenues to the hiring of new officers.)

While the force currently has just under 3,900 officers, city officials say that they are concerned that a coming uptick in retirements could bring the total number of officers down significantly over the next few years, unless they act now. Gray and Police Chief Cathy Lanier yesterday touted the city’s lowest homicide rate in 50 years, but also warned that other crimes remain stubbornly high.

Gray also said that he would seek to reintroduce a comprehensive campaign finance reform bill that he and Attorney General Irv Nathan proposed last June but that the council failed to act on. It remains unclear what fate awaits campaign finance measures before the city’s legislature—a number of legislators have balked at imposing new restrictions, saying that they’d rather see more disclosure and enforcement of existing laws.