Washington, DC: Worker Slain After AFSCME Calls for More Security

Larry Hutchins, a member of AFSCME Local 2091 (District Council 20) was shot to death on the job in October. Just one day earlier, the local's members complained to officials at the Department of Public Works (DPW) about the lack of security and lighting.

Larry Hutchins (Photo credit: Hutchins Family)

District of Columbia

Larry Hutchins, a member of AFSCME Local 2091 (District Council 20) was shot to death on the job in October. Just one day earlier, the local's members complained to officials at the Department of Public Works (DPW) about the lack of security and inadequate lighting at several work sites, including the Washington, DC, yard where the shooting occurred.

Hutchins, 51, of Suitland, Md., was a 24-year sanitation technician for the DPW. Known to many as "Uncle Larry," Hutchins was killed in the early morning hours at a sanitation lot in Northeast Washington by an unidentified assailant wearing some type of uniform, police said.

A second worker, Lucius Anderson, a member of Local 2091, was wounded in the incident. Also a sanitation technician, Anderson was treated at an area hospital and released.

James Ivey, president of Local 2091 and an electrician for the DC Water and Sewer Authority, says city officials have refused to provide additional security at various Public Works facilities, citing budget constraints. "Most yards and buildings don't have security," he says, despite numerous security breaches, including one last year - at the same facility where Hutchins was killed - in which a worker was stabbed.

At the meeting with DPW officials, which occurred before the fatal shooting, Local 2091 members cited a large spike in the number of workplace violence incidents. "But the response from the city's representatives was inadequate," says Donnell Pringle, a sanitation crew chief for the department who is also vice chapter chair of the local. "They said there was no money in the budget for them to continue to provide security at certain locations. It was almost as if something's got to happen before they take it seriously."

Then something did happen.

Immediately after the shooting, the district posted an armed guard at the front gate of the sanitation yard where Hutchins was killed, says Pringle, who hopes the city will now put up security barriers "to help make our workers feel safe."

To recognize Hutchins, the city renamed the building where he was killed in his honor.

Since the shooting, the city hired a private security firm and increased lighting at the yard where Hutchins was killed, and also cut down shrubbery. Local 2091, which had recommended those actions, continues to seek other safety improvements at DPW facilities.