While D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams pushes to increase the size of the police force by some 1,300 officers, one resident is asking that more be done with the ones currently on the job.

Brendan Bush, a two-year District resident, has kicked off an online petition to demand that more police patrol neighborhoods on foot, instead of driving around them as has been the norm. He writes:

Putting cops on foot instead of in their cars not only allows them to focus more on our neighborhoods, but also puts them in constant contact with us — the residents of these neighborhoods. Community policing should involve more interaction with our law enforcement — allowing us to get to know them, and allowing them to get to know our neighborhoods.

Putting cops on foot also keeps would-be criminals on their toes. Much of the crime in this city happens out in the open, and by use of force, weapons, or groups of people. Having cops walking the streets make it less likely that these crimes can be committed in such a brazen fashion, as they are able to not only see problems, but hear them as well.

A victim of crime himself — seven car break-ins, one house break-in — Bush claims as motivation a general disappointment with the feeling of insecurity in the city. “Basically, I’m interested in this issue because I’m pissed off that I live in a city where I am not safe to walk around,” he wrote in an email to DCist. He hopes that the petition will reach city officials, but also expressed interest in working with communities to identify workable solutions to the problem of crime in the District.

Given our general stance that throwing more police at the problem won’t solve it, we’re happy to see Bush take on the initiative of engaging the city’s leaders. Since the D.C. Council has shown itself unwilling to propose solutions other than curfews and surveillance cameras, the city’s residents may as well take do so.