Summer Crime
There is no doubt that the crimes which have taken place in the District over the past few days are distressing. They are upsetting in the details of their commission, for the circumstances of the assailants and their victims, and because the conditions of life in communities across the country make such crimes a probabilistic inevitability. We should all be shocked by homicide, no matter where or how it occurs.
It is a sign of our very good fortune, however, that these tragedies have been greeted by such an uproar over the state of our public safety. No one could recall the ugly years of the early 90s, when men and women lost their lives at rates twice and three times those today, and consider our city's decline imminent. Our expectations have changed, and that is a good thing. Tens of thousands of people enter the city not only to work by day, but to walk the streets and enjoy our entertainment at night.
While it is an indisputable fact that crime rates in the District remain significantly below the levels experienced in the 1990s, it nonetheless seems that many people in the city feel less secure than they used to. There is likely a very good explanation for this. We have noted in our monthly crime reports how Police districts one and three--where new construction and development, increasing property values, population growth, and growth in income disparity have been particularly intense--have seen increases in criminal activity this year compared with last year (and compared with much of the rest of Washington, which has seen declines in most crime numbers this year). In today's Post, Courtland Milloy talks to Chief Ramsey about how new arrivals often play into criminals' hands:
"We've got a lot of new people who are not accustomed to living in an urban environment," Ramsey said. "They'll park blocks away from a restaurant or a nightclub, then come out in the early morning hours, cut through side streets and become easy prey."Ramsey goes on to discuss how lax juvenile sentencing and frequent recidivism provide a steady stream of assailants on the streets.
Still, after acknowledging the District's difficulties and successes, it is clear that summer has not been a good time for the city. Through May, violent crimes had dropped citywide, and the eastern half of the city, including the districts east of the Anacostia, were experiencing near miraculous reductions in crime. Despite an uptick in the numbers of robberies and assaults in the month of June, homicides through that month continued to trail the total for the first half of 2005 (which was itself a two-decade low for that statistic); only with the events of the past two weeks has the annual homicide total drawn even with 2005's.
The increased activity of the past six weeks is cause for concern and attention. Chief Ramsey acknowledged as much by declaring a "crime emergency" yesterday and increasing police visibility around the city. But as much as it's worth remaining vigilant about the safety of oneself and one's neighbors, it's also important to note that overreacting to particular crimes and overindulging in unfounded suspicions does little to contribute to the well-being of the community as a whole. The police are not immune to such overreach; Chief Ramsey yesterday reassigned an inspector who, in speaking to Georgetown residents about the need for vigilance--and in urging them to report anything suspicious--was quoted as saying, "This is not a racial thing to say that black people are unusual in Georgetown." Similarly, it has been shocking for many of us to see the absurd response to the news of these crimes across the blogosphere, including our own comment sections. Recognizing the facts of these cases and addressing the problems that lead to such crimes is necessary, but if we find ourselves dwelling on racial stereotypes and sowing mistrust around the city, then we have a much more to worry about than a crime wave.