More curfews, cameras, cops lead to drop in robberies and assaults
Crimes dropped and arrests rose during the District’s crime emergency, which officially ended on Nov. 3, according to data released by the Metropolitan Police Department.
Violent crimes fell by more than 19 percent and property crimes fell by more than 14 percent compared to the same period last year. Adult arrests rose by about five percent while juvenile arrests rose by more than 14 percent.
Increased officer presence was the hallmark of the emergency measures. During the emergency, there were three hundred more cops on duty at all times.
“The more police you see on the street, the quieter things are … inparticular if they can get out of their cars and walk the beat,”
Georgetown ANC commissioner William Skelsey said.
To expand police coverage, officers were paid overtime wages. Many officers worked six days a week, according to MPD Officer Israel James.
Extra officers come at a cost, however. The original emergency bill, passed by D.C. in July, allocated $8 million to pay officers overtime. On Oct. 19, the D.C. Council renewed the bill, setting aside $4.2 million for police overtime.
The Oct. 19 legislation also renewed MPD’s use of closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance with 48 cameras throughout the city.
But while the July bill called for a 10 p.m. curfew for youth aged sixteen and under, the youth curfew was returned to non-emergency mode: 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on weeknights and 12:01 to 6:00 a.m. on weekend nights. The Council denied a request by Mayor Anthony Williams to give the mayor authority to adjust the curfew in crisis situations.
Skelsey and James both said that fighting crime is a long-term project and that D.C. residents are the most important part of fighting crime.
People should lock their doors and not leave their laptops in the back seat of their cars, Skelsey said.
“It’s something that takes time,” James said. “The main thing is cooperation from citizens. There’s a lot of things that officers don’t know.”
