Photo by Brandon Anderson.

On Wednesday, the D.C. Council will reconvene from its annual summer break and they won’t waste any time catching up on what’s going on in the city.

Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) will hold a public hearing on Wednesday to discuss the recent spike of violent crime in the District, as well as a bill to help address the rise of synthetic drugs, the “Sale of Synthetic Drugs Amendment Act of 2015.”

Thus far, D.C. is up to 110 homicides in 2015—a 41 percent increase from this time last year. Though the rise of synthetic drug use has increased exponentially in the District, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier have said that it’s but one of many contributing factors fueling the uptick in violence in the District. Recently, they announced new proposals to help combat violent crime in D.C., still the Council thinks more can be done on the legislative front.

“These homicides and other violent crimes have devastated families and communities across the city,” McDuffie said in a statement. “The purpose of this hearing is to discuss the steps that the city is taking to prevent and respond to violent crime, to address the underlying causes, and to prioritize community responses to what we must view as a public health crisis.”

The hearing will take place on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Room 500 of the Council Chambers in the Wilson Building.