The District of Columbia inspector general found that the police department closes murders at the same rate as the national average but concluded that its homicide department needed more training, basic supplies and a computer system connected to evidence and witnesses records.
In a review of the way the Metropolitan Police Department solves the city’s murders, the 77-page report by Inspector General Charles Willoughby also found that the cold-case room was left unsecured, reducing the likelihood of solving the District’s 3,800 homicide cases that have gone unsolved for more than three years.
The review was requested by former D.C. Council Member Kathy Patterson who wanted to know whether residents killed in the poor part of town were receiving the same kind of police attention as victims killed in the well-to-do neighborhoods.
While the report found that homicides were more likely to be solved in the wealthier neighborhoods, it did not draw any conclusions about the disparity.
The Office of the Inspector General recommended that the District could close more cases by keeping better records. It found that more than 200 documents such as autopsy reports or 911-call printouts were missing from a sample of 156 open cases. It also recommended that detectives have basic tools such as cell phones, cars and working copy machines.
The review examined the 1,287 D.C. homicides from 2001 to 2006 and found that the city’s closure rate of 61 percent was virtually identical to the national average of 62 percent.
The 6th and 7th Police Districts, on the south side of the Anacostia River, had the most murders in each of the last five years.
The 7th District saw 345 murders over six years while the 2nd District, home to Georgetown and the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods, had 11. The 2nd District also had the highest average of closed cases at 73 percent. The 5th and 6th Districts had the lowest average, with 38 percent.
Police officials told the OIG that homicide cases are more likely to be solved when credible witnesses are willing to provide statements. Police also blamed the city’s lack of its own forensic lab to examine physical evidence.
The OIG found those explanations credible, but recommended that the District monitor the disparity “because our analysis may heighten concerns.”
