We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
It’s been a week since D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey, inspired by the cops in Israel, ordered that officers keep the roof lights on their cruisers constantly lit. But the order appears slow to make it down the command chain. A Washington City Paper street survey found two vehicles lit up and six unlit. Officer Rosa Roldan Torres was among the proud flashers. “It lets people know we’re here,” she said. Another officer, with small orange and white lights winking on his van, complained about the mandate for the same reason: “It’s a waste, an interference, and a hindrance to other motorists,” he said. “It confuses people—they think they’re being pulled over.” A double-parked cop without his top lighted (because he was stopped, he said) likewise disparaged the order: “Other than making us visible, I can’t see what good it’s doing.” —John Metcalfe