As the Washington Post pointed out in an interesting profile of Acting Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier this morning, the D.C. Council is set to vote on her confirmation in two weeks. While the choice of Lanier as Chief by Mayor Adrian Fenty was by no means without controversy -- she is after all young, white and female, in a force that's mostly black and male -- there's little to suggest the Council won't support Fenty's choice for the job. That said, the Post's portrait of Lanier as hardworking to the point of over-extending herself made us think to take a quick, informal poll of our staff to see what our impressions are of the first 60 days or so of Lanier's work as D.C. Police Chief.

Much has been said about her initiative to put more beat cops, including many more on foot, out on D.C.'s streets to prevent crime. Not to mention that early data is showing crime was down in every category for the month of February. But when it comes to public safety in a city like ours, the proof can often be more in how people feel about their safety, instead of in the numbers. In other words, if the stats have gone down for a month or two but no one sees a difference, is that really a victory?

So check out some of the responses I got from the DCist staff, and add your own to the comments. We'll create an informal report card to help the Council to assess Lanier's work so far. Yes, we realize it's early to really judge her performance fairly, and that this is totally unscientific, but we're all interested to find out whether things might have actually changed, even if just a little, already. Also, unfortunately the only DCist folks who responded all seem to live in NW (though we have writers in many parts of the city), so anyone living in neighborhoods not mentioned at all here are especially encouraged to add their impressions.

• Personally, I have noticed that for the last 2-3 weeks, there has almost always been a cop outside the Shaw metro station, which is a pretty amazing change -- it means I can actually use that stop late a night. I don't know how long it will last, but I love it.
• There's a foot chase between drug dealers and cops at least every other week between the back of Nehmiah and up through the alleys to Euclid before the BP at 14th. The cops usually win.
• Up my way, I've noticed more cops in areas beyond 17th and Euclid, where they used to stick close to. I've also had cops stop me to ask where I lived and if I had any problems in the area. Still a lot of cops sitting in cars though. And still no traffic enforcement!
• 13th and Otis has a number of dealers, and I rarely -- if ever -- see cops around.
• I have noticed alot more cop cars patrolling the Mt. Pleasant area. Just about everytime I take my dog out I'll walk by a cop car just cruising slowly through the neighborhoods.
• I did notice a pair of cops on foot patrol coming down from Clifton on 13th last week and thought, wow, I've been at this house for four months, and those are the first cops I've ever seen within a five block radius. Does that qualify as increased patrols?
• In Dupont I see lots of cop cars parked (none more than usual), but I can't remember the last time I saw an officer in person.
• Dupont has seen an increase of patrols of the drive-around-with-the-lights-flashing variety. The only cops I ever see on foot in my neighborhood are headed to 7/11 from their double-parked car on 17th.
• I haven't noticed a big difference in Shaw/Mt. Vernon, but then we already had a pretty decent presence of cops sitting in cars, patrolling the alleys. I have noticed what seems like a few more traffic citations being issued than normal, but that may have just been during the snow emergency.
• I haven't noticed any change in police presence in the U street neighborhood in 2007. It does seem to me that they now more frequently have cops in/around the parking lot by the Waterfront-SEU Metro.