The number of crimes committed so far in what police call their summer season is down 7 percent over this time last year, according to D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier. She has made confronting the seasonal spike in violence a major portion of her policing plan.
Lanier, in her first year at the helm, has been experimenting with ways to keep a lid on crime without resorting to the costly crime emergency called by her predecessor, Charles Ramsey.
She has sought to find summer activities for summer youth and held two “All Hands on Deck” initiatives that placed all police on the streets over key weekends. She has ordered her commanders to come up with ways to increase the visibility of the patrols and become more involved with the community.
The number of crimes reported since May 1 is down compared with last year all across the city — except in the 4th District, the site of a string of thefts, shootings and robberies and the dismantling of an drug trafficking organization. Lanier said district leadership has come up with new ways to attack the problem, but the violence has persisted.
“Baby steps, baby steps,” Lanier said.
Lanier heads into the dog days of August, when Ramsey last year used the crime emergency to reverse the crime spike by forcing all sworn officers to work six-day weeks. Last year’s emergency, which lasted well into the fall, helped lower the overall crime rate. But the overtime hours cost the city more than $14 million and placed an enormous strain on the force, Lanier said.
