D.C. residents not sold on crime crackdown despite police numbers that say otherwise

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Metropolitan Police Department are celebrating a decrease in homicides and carjackings, but the news has not impressed Washingtonians who are jaded from years of increased violence.

Police data shows a 35% decrease in severe crimes from last year. Citing the high rates of deadly shootings and muggings, Congress threatened to revoke the District of Columbia’s semiautonomous governing structure.

Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith said robberies and weapons assaults have fallen below 2019 levels, a common baseline for law enforcement agencies nationwide. George Floyd’s 2020 police-involved death in Minneapolis brought crime waves in major cities.

The decline in statistics does not resound among those who walk past crime scene tape or encounter signs of disorder.

“When you start so high, can you really be certain that crime is changing for the better?” said Emma, a 32-year-old lawyer in the District who asked to use only her first name.

She said she was moving from the Shaw neighborhood to Capitol Hill to escape repeated burglaries.

Emma said she has experienced five break-ins at different homes in the Northwest neighborhood since 2016. Thieves have taken four laptops, two iPads and three new bicycles, including one she had never ridden.

One afternoon in 2023, her boyfriend at the time came home to walk her dog when a man pretending to do lawn work pulled a gun on him, she said. The thief then went inside and raided her house.

Emma said her boyfriend “actually moved to London over his own issues with local crime.”

She said she believes the random crimes that terrorized tourists and bystanders last year have decreased but is not convinced about a drop in targeted shootings.

MPD data shared during a public safety briefing last week showed that every major crime is below the level of 2023. Crimes that remain above 2019 levels are homicides (up 15%), carjackings (up 200%) and car thefts (up 135%).

Chief Smith highlighted initiatives to drive down homicides, robberies and illegal guns and touted the Real-Time Crime Center, a large surveillance hub at MPD headquarters that uses surveillance cameras around the District to help track criminals.

Ms. Bowser highlighted the Secure D.C. law enacted to curb unlawful firearm possession. It gives judges greater discretion to hold criminals without bail and classifies victimless shootings as felonies.

Lindsey Appiah, deputy mayor for public safety, said a sense of safety is as much of a priority as lowering the crime numbers updated daily on a police dashboard.

One focus was restoring order in Chinatown, but visitors to the holiday market a block from Capital One Arena struggled to see a difference.

A Logan Circle resident who asked not to be identified said he had not noticed any change in crime from last year.

He said his crime-watcher friends may be shading his perception but his daily experiences don’t reflect the statistics.

During the safety briefing, the mayor expressed frustration with this challenge. She said her administration was in a lose-lose situation.

“When crime goes up, blame the mayor. When crime goes down, certainly the things that we put in place couldn’t have anything to do with that,” Ms. Bowser said sarcastically at the Dec. 9 press event.

Some residents said they have noticed a change in the city.

Kate, 23, who moved to the District from Philadelphia this spring, said two shootings erupted near her Petworth home after her arrival.

She said she has barely noticed any crime in her neighborhood in the months since.

Still, shocking crimes have not disappeared. A homeless man was arrested last week in Northwest on charges of kidnapping and battering a Maryland man, police said.

The Maryland man told police that Davon Patterson, 33, was trying to extort money from him. Eleven others were arrested on trespassing charges at the home on the 4000 block of Kansas Avenue Northwest.

After struggling to crack down on shoplifting, Petco will close its Columbia Heights location next month. In February, a CVS pharmacy across the street closed after thieves ransacked the store so often that its shelves were barren.

Still, police are encouraged to build on this year’s improvements and make last year’s crime spike seem like a distant memory.

“We will continue to fight crime without stopping, we will continue to fight crime without giving up, and in this city, we will continue to fight crime without losing motivation,” Chief Smith said.