EDITORIAL: ‘Last call’ in D.C.

The D.C. Council didn’t bother to coordinate with the police department or the federal Department of Homeland Security before passing legislation that would keep bars and restaturants in the city open until 5 a.m. during inauguration week. But Mayor Adrian Fenty’s office told us that he plans to sign the legislation, despite concerns among citizens and the police union.

The Secret Service, which is the lead law-enforcement agency, has deemed Inauguration Day a “special national security event,” which means most of the law-enforcement focus will be on the festivities. D.C. neighborhoods take a back seat. During the celebrations, routine police patrols will include 4,000 officers from around the country, along with approximately 4,100 District officers, according to Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier - that’s to cover the estimated 4 million to 5 million people expected to converge upon the District. Assuming that a mere 5 percent of that number are consuming alcohol (some of whom will take to the road), that’s just one cop for every 31 alcohol consumers. It’s no wonder the District’s police union is questioning whether it will have enough manpower to handle problems associated with the time extension on top of its “priority” duties to manage inaugural events.

According to a report on WTOP.com, Council member Jack Evans aggressively pushed to get the bill through with virtually no explanation and public input, other than that “it would be good for restaurants.” He admitted failing to account for the security implications: “In the future, we should make more of an effort to consult affected agencies,” Mr. Evans said upon learning that neither Metro nor Chief Lanier were consulted.

To be sure, extended hours for bars and restaurants are a good move for inauguration week - which in 2009 coincides with the King federal holiday. Indeed, we encourage City Hall to be as hospitable as possible and that hospitality includes temporarily allowing hotels, restaurants and other establishments to accommodate Americans from all over the globe. But doing so also means making reasonable plans regarding health, safety, traffic and security matters. Neither the council nor the Fenty administration has done so yet.

Metro, our regional transit agency, says it will not extend its hours beyond 2 a.m. because doing so would cost an additional $27,000 per hour. What about feeder transit systems? What about fire and ambulance services? What about parking and bicyclists? What about regional hospitals? What about recycling and trash services? What about routine neighborhood patrols? Are taxpayers and businesses supposed to pray they don’t become prey?

“The District is gearing up to provide the necessary patrols to cover the extended hours,” is how the mayor’s office explained it to us. Sorry, Mr. Mayor, but that is insufficient.

This is the nation’s capital, so withdrawing the welcome mat is not an option. But a welcome mat for boozers for the sake of having another round isn’t either. The mayor, the council and federal authorities must develop a comprehensive plan that ensures the public safety of up to 5 million people - a challenge this capital has never faced. Ample time remains for such a plan to be developed and made public before the last call is made inauguration week.