Crime Report--Update

At the Mount Vernon Square NA meeting last night, Officer Tommy Barnes said crime was down 15% since the “emergency” went into effect. (Not sure if that was citywide or in the 3rd Police District.) There was, however, a shooting that morning in front of the Baptist church at 6th and N that had church members scurrying for cover, but apparently no one was actually hit.

He said the biggest problem right now is theft from parked cars. He cautioned everyone not to leave anything of possible value—even a little loose change—visible in the car. Even cell phone chargers left in view can encourage thieves to break in to look for a cell phone.

Barnes said that the 3rd District is not going to get any more officers, and PSA 308 now has the least crime in the district. He added that the 6-day weeks the cops are working means that everyone is accumulating a lot of leave, and once the emergency is lifted, many officers are going to take off.

The police were out again last night and again tonight at 5th and O doing "compliance checks" of passing cars—the first time in at least a couple of weeks we’ve seen that.