A local nonprofit is asking the District to take a good look at streetlights across the city. They say they found and reported dozens of outages all over D.C. this weekend, with many in areas that have seen a lot of crime. News4’s Walter Morris reports.
A nonprofit is calling on D.C. officials to fix streetlight outages near Northwest’s busiest nightlife areas.
The Downtown Cluster of Congregations said they have reported dozens of streetlight outages, and many are in areas that have recently had crime.
“There’s 100 if not 1,000 pieces to the puzzle, but it seems to me, that an easy and quick one is having the streetlights working,” Terry Lynch, Downtown Cluster of Congregations executive director said.
A week after a man was killed and a woman injured in a shooting on V Street NW, the organization found a streetlight out just feet from where the crime occurred.
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“We want these fixed, we want them fixed now, we can’t wait,” Lynch said. “I should not be coming out here at night to find streetlights out at Florida and U Street.”
Photos the organization took over the weekend show streetlights out on U Street near 13th and 14th Streets as well as Girard Street in Columbia Heights.
“The other night we found about three dozen streetlights out by rec. centers, schools, commercial districts so it’s not an anomaly, we’re seeing it across town and it’s particularly concerning when we have it in these nightlife district areas like Adams Morgan,” Lynch said.
On Monday, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the city is increasing police presence in Adams Morgan. She also said the District is expanding its task forces focused on nightlife corridors and reducing violent crime.
“A task force is great, but we need the pedal to the metal, we need urgency, we need to see results,” Lynch said.
In addition to calling on the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to fix the outages, Lynch said he would like to see a citywide survey of streetlights.
News4 reached out to DDOT and has not yet received a response.
