D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier canceled plans to assign homicide detectives to foot patrols during the All Hands on Deck initiative this weekend, and at least one homicide was solved, sources have told The Examiner.
Police sources said that all homicide investigators who were originally assigned to put on their uniforms Friday and Saturday to distribute fliers in Northwest Washington were instead told to show up in plainclothes and work their cases, including two fatal shootings that occurred Monday night.
The extra work paid off, the sources said. Police are seeking a known suspect in one of the two Monday shootings, sources confirmed.
“Lanier always makes the right decision,” said one veteran officer, who agreed to talk only if not named.
Lanier could not be reached late Sunday.
The first-year police chief switched the assignments late last week after The Examiner reported that some in the depleted detective ranks were grumbling that homicide cases were growing cold while veteran detectives had to walk beats in various neighborhoods around the city. Lanier’s strategy was to flood the city with all 3,600 sworn officers to serve warrants, provide traffic enforcement and listen to residents’ concerns.
The six-member homicide unit that was assigned to work the separate shootings Monday night of Michol Brown, 24, and Michael Yeager, 21, had originally been told to take midweek off and return to work in their blue uniforms this weekend as part of the chief’s 48-hour crime blitz. The investigators were going to be assigned to robbery suppression details miles from the homicide scenes, according to police documents.
Police also made an arrest in the separate Tuesday night fatal stabbing of a 26-year-old Vincent Simpson of Clinton. Simpson was stabbed during an argument on the 4900 block of Quarles Street Northeast. The suspect has not been identified as of late Sunday.
