Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier took office in January 2007 pledging to stem the District’s notoriously high crime rate. Unfortunately, 2007 brought just the opposite—increased crime and ineffective policing gimmicks.
In 2007, 181 people were murdered, a 7 percent increase from 169 in 2006, according to statistics on the MPD website. The police data also showed a rise in robberies and thefts through November 2007 by 10 and 11 percents, respectively.
The recent upsurge in crime is not limited to Washington. After years of decreasing crime rates, murders once again increased in similar-sized cities, including Baltimore and Atlanta. New York City and Chicago, though, are experiencing their lowest murder counts in over 40 years. Washington should look to these cities for new ideas.
Lanier implemented new initiatives this year like “All Hands on Deck,” a weekend-policing blitz requiring all officers to work 12 hour shifts on certain weekends. However, this initiative came under scrutiny after the program mangled regular police shifts. By concentrating police efforts on certain weekends and not letting police work overtime, “All Hands on Deck” left the city more vulnerable at other times.
MPD also had personnel problems, losing around 20 officers a month, according to the Washington Examiner. The District must increase the size of its police force to maintain a constant number of officers on duty at all times, and do away with inefficient programs like “All Hands on Deck”. Instead of putting efforts into relatively low-crime areas, such as the zero-homicide Second Police District, which includes Georgetown, MPD should focus on areas east of the Anacostia River, such as Districts six and seven, which contained over half of the city’s murders.
Lieutenant Roland Hoyle, the head of Georgetown’s Police Service Area, said that increased foot patrols are gradually being implemented throughout the city. More police on the streets will hopefully lead to better communication and more trust between the city and its residents.
In the meantime, the District needs to stop with ineffective but attention-grabbing tactics like “All Hands on Deck” and start getting real about keeping its citizens safe with a large force and better allocation of resources. If New York can lower its crime rates, then Washington can too.
