Federal prosecutors plan to dismiss dozens of felony gun and drug cases impacted by a squad of D.C. police officers currently under investigation for alleged misconduct, according to spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Matthew Graves.

The Washington Post first reported the news.

In a statement Tuesday morning, spokesperson Bill Miller told DCist/WAMU that the attorney’s office began assessing individual affected cases after D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee announced in late September that the department was internally investigating seven officers within a crime suppression unit for allegedly seizing individuals’ guns without making arrest or filing a warrant. A review of months of body-worn camera footage found instances in which officers’ reports did not match the events recorded on their body-worn cameras.

“In determining how to proceed with each case, we take a number of factors into consideration, including burden of proof, witness availability, likelihood of success on the merits at trial, and the applicable law,” Miller said in the statement. “Our review is ongoing, but at this point we expect to dismiss dozens of gun and drug possession cases.”

Miller declined to comment further on the nature of the impacted cases or how many cases have or will be dismissed. According to the Post, 7th District crime suppression team officers were involved in several recently dismissed gun cases, including some for people who had previous felony convictions and were later alleged to have possessed a gun. If officers were somehow untruthful in their reports of weapons seizures, this would impact any potential testimony they gave in a trial.

The seven officers, currently placed on administrative leave, worked in the Seventh District — including Anacostia, Naylor Gardens, and Washington Highlands, areas with some of the highest rates of violent crime in the city. Instead of responding to routine calls, the unit was tasked with focusing on drug and gun related cases, and investigating patterns of violent crime.

The department first became aware of the officers’ alleged misconduct after receiving an unrelated complaint, according to Contee. In following up on the complaint, internal investigators learned that two officers had seized an illegal handgun from an individual on Sept. 11, but made no arrest. This finding prompted a review of several months of body-worn camera footage, revealing five more officers who had acted similarly and whose reports were inconsistent with video evidence.

“The firearms were reported. They were turned into evidence. They were accounted for. The suspects are the ones unaccounted for,” Contee said when announcing the investigation on Sept. 30. “The suspects were allowed to go free and they should have been placed under arrest or at the minimum an arrest warrant.”

Spokespeople for the Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately return DCist/WAMU’s request for an update on the investigation. Contee said when announcing the allegations that the department would be working with Grave’s office in conduction its investigation. The entire crime-suppression unit has been disbanded temporarily, and remaining members were assigned to other duties, according to reporting from the Washington Post.

The investigation comes as city officials attempt to address gun violence in the city, after homicides reached a nearly twenty-year high in 2021. Contee and Mayor Muriel Bowser have frequently touted the city’s in-house efforts to seize illegal guns and reduce gun violence, while also criticizing the U.S. Attorney’s Office for dismissing or failing to pursue firearms cases. (Spokespeople for Bowser did not immediately return DCist/WAMU’s request for comment on Tuesday.) As of Nov. 1, all violent crimes involving a gun in the Seventh District are down 4.3% from this time last year, according to MPD’s crime data. The department also publishes weekly round-ups of firearms recoveries, including the address, name of the suspect, and type of gun. Most recently, between Monday Oct. 17 and Monday Oct. 24, officers recovered 44 firearms.

Previously:
D.C. Police Officers Placed On Leave For Seizing Guns From Suspects Without Arresting Them