Violent crime persisted in the city over the weekend despite the “All Hands on Deck” order that had every police officer working, leaving some on the force grumbling that the anti-crime initiatives are little more than stunts.
Police officials said the crime totals were not available yet, but the District suffered two homicides, numerous shootings and dozens of robberies.
Police were still hunting for one of two suspects who abducted a woman in Southeast D.C. and sexually assaulted her at her home in Prince George’s County. And they were looking for a man who set an employee on fire at a Georgetown strip club.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier called in all 3,800 officers over the weekend to walk foot beats, serve arrest warrants on violent criminals, provide traffic enforcement and listen to residents’ concerns.
But a number of officers, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, complained that the initiative was a publicity stunt that does nothing to stop crime.
Officers were forced to take a day off during the week to make up for the weekend duty, leaving midweek patrols short, including during the horrific Halloween night, when 10 people were shot, one fatally, in six incidents.
“All Hands doesn’t stop anything,” one sergeant said. “It’s a waste of time.”
One officer in the 4th District said there were so many uniformed officers walking the beat Saturday night that robbery victims were running to the foot patrols instead of calling 911.
“You had all these police, and people were still getting robbed around the corner,” the officer said.
Calls to Lanier and her spokeswoman for comment were not returned Monday.
In the 6th District main station, in the eastern corner of the city, one veteran officer complained that though additional personnel came in to work the foot beats, there were still only five officers left to answer radio calls.
The power-shift officers who normally supplement patrols during peak hours were instead used for prostitution stings, according to a 6th District officer.
“Chief Lanier has had some good ideas and is a breath of fresh air,” one detective said. “[But] honestly, this takes many of us away from our daily duties, personally for me it takes me away from working my open cases.”
