Dear Community Members,

My intention in this posting is to apprise you of the cases we are making and the overall direction of the Department to address crime in our city. 

Due to the work of our Homicide Detectives, we have arrested 14 people on murder charges in the last thirty days; we have closed three of the 18 homicides that have occurred in the Fifth District; and on April 3, we arrested three armed individuals that had just shot someone in the Saratoga area of the Fifth District.  This high number of closed cases is a true testament to the theory that community involvement truly is the backbone to closing cases. 

With the efforts of the patrol officers and the gun recovery unit, we have confiscated over 312 guns in the last forty days.  This is 100 guns more compared to the same period last year.  Year-to-date, we have confiscated over 825 firearms from the hands of potential violent felons. 

Since March 18, 2008, we have made 72 narcotic distribution arrests in the Fifth District.  This number is up from 10 for the same period last year. 

We have also instituted a way for our citizens to report information about crimes anonymously by instituting an anonymous tip line, 1-888-919-CRIME, including a text messaging feature, which you will learn more about in the coming days.

I truly believe that out efforts to remove guns from the street and to identify crime patterns, and follow violent offenders are paying off.  Year-to-date, we are experiencing decreases in homicide, assaults with a deadly weapon, sexual assaults, and robbery while armed with guns.  These statistics over the last thirty days show that overall crime is down 10% compared to the same time period last year. 

We have also prepared for the summer months and partnered with local organizations, including Parks and Recreation to provide an array of supervised options for our city’s youth.

While we are actively addressing guns and violent crime, at the same time, we are moving to place more foot beats on the street.  Currently, we have 252 officers walking the beat and interacting with our citizens and known nuisance elements.  These officers have recently made over 47,000 citizen contacts and have made approximately 500 arrests.  The number of officers will continue to increase as we recruit new officers.

We are working to make great strides in fighting crime and realize that more progress is to come in order to restore our city.  Our partnership with our citizens remains an ever important facet in fighting crime and I ask you to continue to work with your District Commanders so that we can continue to drive down crime in the District and make the quality of life better everyday.

I cannot stress enough how important it is that we continue to get the cooperation of the public in closing these cases.

Thank you for your vigilance and your partnership with us as we work to reduce and eliminate crime and the fear of crime in our city.

Please visit our website to learn more about what we are doing to aggressively address public safety concerns around the city.

FBI/MPD Safe Streets Task Force: http://newsroom.dc.gov/show.aspx/agency/mpdc/section/2/release/13526/year/2008

Summer of Safety: www.mpdc.dc.gov/sos

Public Safety Book Discussion: www.mpdc.dc.gov/book

Watch Your Car Program: www.mpdc.dc.gov/wyc

Anonymous Crime Tip Line & Anonymous Text Messaging Feature: www.mpdc.dc.gov/tipline

Ongoing MPD News & Homicide Closure Updates: www.mpdc.dc.gov

Thank you,

Cathy L. Lanier

Chief of Police