DC Crime Rate Takes a Big Hit

[zephyp]

The article attributes the drop to police programs. I wonder what impact the Heller decision had on this. Could it be that the scumbag population moved on to greener pastures?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/200 ... -since-64/

D.C. homicides hit lowest level since '64

By Ben Conery and David C. Lipscomb

The year is drawing to a close with homicides in the District at a 45-year low, reflecting a national trend that law enforcement officials are attributing to multipronged crime-prevention strategies that include advances in communication and coordination.

With just two days left in the year, according to preliminary numbers from the police department, the District has had 138 homicides compared with 184 at the same time last year, setting up the city to record the lowest number of homicides since 1964, when 132 were reported killed. Metropolitan Police Department officials attribute the decline to a "perfect storm" of crime-fighting strategies, including a new culture of communication within the police department.

"The level of involvement far surpasses anything I've ever seen," said Metropolitan Police Commander Daniel Hickson, a more than 30-year veteran of the department and former homicide detective. "To imagine we're at 138 is unbelievable."

Commander Hickson said the District - known two decades ago as the "murder capital" of the country - has made progress by targeting violent gun offenders and emphasizing community policing and communication among officers.

The result this year has been a drop in violent crime and property crime. The sharpest drop was in homicides, at 25 percent, followed by a 16 percent decline in sexual assaults and a 10 percent decrease in car thefts.

View a PDF of the crime statistics (PDF) -- http://media.washingtontimes.com/media/ ... _stats.pdf

The department has also reported a 75 percent homicide closure rate so far this year and put a lid on violence in the Trinidad neighborhood, ending a spasm of killing in the Northeast Washington neighborhood that grabbed national headlines last year.

Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier has said that success in closing homicide cases has been in part because of her signature All Hands on Deck initiative during which all officers, including recruits, work patrol shifts over three-day periods.

The District's numbers are part of a downward trend reflected in many other major cities and nationwide.

According to the FBI's uniform crime report, law enforcement agencies across the country experienced a decrease in violent crime for the first six months of 2009 from the same period the year earlier. Violent crime, which includes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, decreased by 4.4 percent.

[graybeard321]

The DC city council said that Dc would become a new dodge city when the Supreme court overruled their gun ban. Goes to prove when pro gunners have been saying for years , a population that can defend itself legally equals fewer crimes. Criminals love Gun Control it makes their job safer

[CCFan]

Metropolitan Police Department officials attribute the decline to a "perfect storm" of crime-fighting strategies, including a new culture of communication within the police department.

"The level of involvement far surpasses anything I've ever seen," said Metropolitan Police Commander Daniel Hickson, a more than 30-year veteran of the department and former homicide detective. "To imagine we're at 138 is unbelievable."

Maybe this awesome level and culture of communication within the DC police should spread to the DHS - given the Ft. Hood and Detroit incidents, I somehow doubt this is a top-down mantra that's actually working.

It's amazing how when the populace is returned their right to bear arms, crime rates have dipped but you never hear anyone saying "Give people credit for taking care of themselves and being self sufficient...."