Just a couple of hours after five people were shot outside a shopping center in Southeast D.C., John Branch, commander of the D.C. police department鈥檚 Seventh District, walked around Alabama Avenue talking to members of the community before addressing a few reporters who were still on the scene.
After a few minutes of talking about the particular incident, just the latest of several shootings that have plagued that area recently, the frustration over what happened 鈥� the brazenness and willingness of people to just 鈥渟pray and pray鈥� as he called it 鈥� was evident in his voice.
鈥淭here鈥檚 another way,鈥� lamented Branch. 鈥淭hey have to look beyond what鈥檚 around their immediate surroundings.鈥�
Then he started delving into personal terms. Branch, who has been a cop for nearly 30 years, was assigned to the post of commander of the Seventh District at the beginning of May.
Since then, he鈥檚 spent a lot of time responding to shootings. Too much time. In fact, the Sept. 21 shooting that injured five people 鈥� including a 13-year-old child 鈥� took place on the same day that a separate shooting hurt a 9-year-old boy only a mile away.
鈥淚 grew up in this area,鈥� said Branch. 鈥淚n fact, I was born not even a block away in these apartment buildings over here,鈥� he added, pointing to some buildings behind the shopping center that was still surrounded by police tape.
As he continued to implore those behind the spike in violence, he was asked how personal his mission had become.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very personal,鈥� he said with no hesitation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very personal. I take my job seriously. I want to have a good society where everyone can thrive and live and enjoy themselves.鈥�
He didn鈥檛 hide the enormity of the job at hand right now.
鈥淚t seems overwhelming at times when you have so much gun violence lately,鈥� he admitted. 鈥淚n the Seventh District, we have so many areas unfortunately where there鈥檚 gun violence.
鈥淵ou put resources and police in one area and then you have another area, and then you have another area, and this pops up and that slows down and you鈥檙e trying to do that. It鈥檚 like playing whack-a-mole. You鈥檙e trying to do the best that you can but we can鈥檛 do this ourselves. We never could.鈥�
Branch credited his parents and other adults in his life for helping him avoid trouble and showing him 鈥渢he right way鈥� to deal with society and conflict.
鈥淚 wanted to do something positive,鈥� he said, adding that it was up to him to 鈥渂reak the cycle.鈥�
He stressed it will take that sort of support throughout the community, not just policing, to have a similar impact on the rest of the neighborhood he used to call home.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not an issue where we鈥檙e going to lock our way out of this situation or put everyone in jail,鈥� said Branch.
鈥淲e have to change people鈥檚 mindsets, we have to change people鈥檚 way of thinking. We have to show them a new way. We have to give them opportunities. We have to give them that type of assistance. Prison isn鈥檛 always the answer. I can tell you that honestly it鈥檚 not. But we need to stop these kids and adults from entering this life to begin with and show them a new way.鈥�
For Branch, that means finding a way to clamp down on the proliferation of illegal guns, which he said are still abundantly available no matter how many hundreds of them that officers assigned to the Seventh District take off the streets every year.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e just getting them back again,鈥� he lamented. 鈥淓veryone has to do their part. We鈥檙e one small part of the system. Everyone has to do their part, whether it鈥檚 the citizens, the neighbors, the Justice Department, the Mayor鈥檚 Office 鈥� everyone. Everyone has to have their part to play. We need everyone鈥檚 help.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 do this alone.鈥�
