Crime in Washington, D.C.

Crime rates (2004)
Crime type	Rate ^[1]
Homicide	35.7
Forcible rape	46.8
Robbery	385.9
Aggravated assault	615.3
Violent crime	1325.3
Burglary	1825.2
Larceny-theft	4274.9
Motor vehicle theft	901.8
Property crime	7001.9
^ Crime rates per 100,000 population Source: FBI 2004 UCR data Compare with other cities?

Historic trends

Statistics for the year 2004 show that Washington DC ranked 22nd in its violent crime rate among cities with populations of over 100,000 (249 such cities of over 100,000 population were included). During that year Washington's violent crime rate was 1325 per 100,000 population. Washington's rate of homicide was 35.8 per 100,000, ranking number six behind New Orleans, Gary, Richmond, Baltimore, and Detroit. See http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/offenses_reported/offense_tabulations/table_08.html.

At the peak of the violent crime wave in the early 1990s, Washington, D.C., was known as the "murder capital" of the United States. Murders peaked in 1991 at 482. As the population of the city was just over 600,000 at that time, this meant that the District's homicide rate was 81 per 100,000 inhabitants. Despite the high rate of violent crime, violence was not evenly distributed across the city, but rather was concentrated in specific neighborhoods — Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan, Georgia Ave/Howard University, Logan Circle, Shaw, Le Droit Park, the East End of Downtown (Chinatown), Trinidad, Langston Lane, Florida Ave NE, Montana, and some of the neighborhoods located east of the Anacostia River.

Gentrification

Crime rates in Washington have been dropping consistently for over ten years, and as a result gentrification has swept eastward across the District and has transformed the neighborhoods of Adams Morgan, Logan Circle, Columbia Heights, and the East End of Downtown (Chinatown). In the past ten years, the number of homicides has been halved — from 399 in 1994 to 195 in 2005. It is believed by many that the gentrification of these neighborhoods was spurred in part by the extension of Metrorail's Green Line to the Shaw, U Street, Columbia Heights, and Petworth neighborhoods during the late 1990s. The revitalization efforts began first in the Adams Morgan and Logan Circle areas and more recently in Columbia Heights.

In 2005, gentrification began to reach Shaw, Le Droit Park, Petworth, Bloomingdale, Eckington, and Trinidad. The transformation of the East End of Downtown/Chinatown into clean, safe areas was aided by the construction of the MCI Center, now Verizon Center, which opened in 1997, and the new Washington Convention Center that opened in 2004 at Mount Vernon Square. As a result, hundreds of brand new condos and apartments have been constructed, and many new upscale restaurants, bars, shops, theaters, museums, galleries, and other attractions have been added. Prior to around 2000, this was an area of local small businesses, both upscale (including Woodward and Lothrop) and downscale (like the original Sunny Surplus). Local business in the neighborhood has been replaced by national chain retailers. As a result of gentrification, as well as broader economic forces, home and condo values in Washington, D.C. have skyrocketed.

Sursum Corda

Defying this gentrification, the Sursum Corda public housing project, located along North Capitol Street between K and M Streets and bordering the Downtown/Chinatown and Le Droit Park neighborhoods, has remained a magnet for drug dealers and crime. However, the D.C. government has begun to tackle this hotspot. The city plans to demolish the public housing and replace it with mixed-income housing. Helping to spur development in this area north of Union Station is the New York Avenue metrorail station that opened in November 2004 and related economic development.

Tourist areas

Most of the major tourist sections of the city, including the area around the National Mall, downtown, Chinatown, 7th Street/Penn Quarter, Georgetown, Adams-Morgan, and the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood, remain relatively safe parts of town. However, there are still many attractions in the eastern half of the city, such as the historic Eastern Market (the largest continually operated public market in the city), the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Brookland, Union Station, the National Arboretum on New York Avenue, Frederick Douglas house and museum and the Big Chair, both in Anacostia. There are many historic residential neighborhoods throughout the city.

Gun restriction laws

Like many other large cities, Washington, D.C., has enacted a number of strict gun restriction laws. Handguns have been outlawed (unless registered as of February 5, 1977), carrying guns (concealed or not) is prohibited, and all guns and ammunition must be registered [2]. Critics, citing numerous statistics, have questioned the efficacy of these restrictions, and many consider the ban a violation of the 2nd Amendment protections on bearing arms. The combination in Washington of strict gun restriction laws and high levels of gun violence is sometimes used to criticize gun restriction laws in general as ineffectual. Critics using this example fail to mention that it is relatively easy to obtain guns in neighboring states with laxer gun restiction laws, especially Virginia. The inflow of guns purchased outside the city in states where gun restriction laws are less stringent compromises the city's own strict regulations. Pro and anti-gun interests groups will continue to spiral on in endless debate about the efficacy of gun restrictions, and due to its prominence as the national capital, its strict gun restriction laws and its reputation as the former "murder capital" of the U.S., Washington is destined to continue to be a popular example in the wider debate on gun restrictions. [3]

"Crime Emergency" declaration

On July 11,2006, Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey declared a "crime emergency" in the city in response to a rising homicide rate (the city had logged 13 murders since July 1, most notably the killing of a prominent British political activist in Georgetown). While the declaration allows for more flexible and increased policing in high-crime neighborhoods, it is temporary and will be revisited following a 30-day trial period. [4]

External links

Metropolitan Police Department
Crimereports.com - Subscribe to receive Washington DC crime reports free via email
CrimeinDC.org - Unofficial Google map of DC crime
Wilber, Del Quentin, Jamie Stockwell (January 1, 2005) Killings in D.C. Fewest Since '86, The Washington Post, p. A01.

Violent Robberies Make It Hard to Ignore D.C.'s Vicious Side [5] July 12, 2006