The final All Hands on Deck initiative this year yielded 419 arrests, D.C. police announced Monday, a 40 percent increase over the same two dates last year when there was no such initiative.
During the 48-hour blitz this weekend, homicide detectives closed two murder cases and officers seized more than $94,000 in cash and $52,000 worth of drugs, police said. Officers doubled to 70 the number of narcotics arrests, as compared to last year, and rounded up twice as many fugitives. A prostitution sting this weekend also netted 19 offenders.
For the year, the five All Hands efforts arrested more than 2,400 people. There were 1,655 arrests during 2006.
D.C. Chief of Police Cathy Lanier launched the All Hands effort as part of a larger strategy to increase the visibility of her police force and improve community relations. All 3,900 officers fanned out into the community to serve arrest warrants, conduct stings, write tickets, provide traffic enforcement and listen to residents’ concerns. This was the fifth All Hands operation since June.
Critics said the All Hands initiatives were little more than a publicity stunts that did nothing to prevent crime. The weekend campaigns left midweek patrols short, they asserted, including the Wednesday night of Halloween when 10 people were shot, one fatally, in six separate incidents.
Lanier made an exception for her homicide detectives who worked their cases this weekend instead of walking beats far from their murder scenes. Detectives on Friday closed the October homicide of Nigel Kitt with the arrest of Timothy Flack, 24, of Temple Hills. Investigators on Saturday also arrested J.P. Battle, 40, of Capital Heights, for the murder of Vincent Simpson, who as stabbed to death Dec. 4.
