August 6, 2008
Morning Roundup: County Fair Edition
Good morning, Washington. Many of this morning's headlines paint a grim picture of the state of police work in Prince George's County. As we mentioned at the end of the day yesterday, the Washington Post has reported that the marijuana raid that resulted in the death of two family dogs at the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo was not conducted with a proper warrant. The county's swat team lacked the kind of "no-knock" warrant needed to burst in to the home with guns blazing, which will surely lead to problems should the Calvos ever be prosecuted on drug charges -- not that they necessarily will, since one angle authorities are now investigating is whether the package may have been intended to be intercepted by another suspect. The Examiner piles on with a story pointing out that PG County has the worst record in the metro area for solving robbery cases -- a mere 3.8 percent success rate. The District solves 15 percent of its robberies. All of this comes on the heels of the retirement of PG County's police chief and a federal investigation into the death of accused PG County cop killer Ronnie White while he was in custody in a PG County jail. We certainly hope whoever becomes the new permanent county police chief has some experience improving morale as well as crime fighting.
Robberies Way Up on Metro: WMATA released its mid-year crime statistics, and the Examiner dives in to show that robberies on the Metro system are way up this year over last year, a jump of almost 40 percent. There were 272 robberies reported to Metro Transit Police in the first six months of 2008, while 197 were reported during the same period in 2007. Keep an eye on those iPhones, everyone.
'All Hands On Deck' Targeted Drivers: WJLA went out to hang with the police officers who were stationed on upper Wisconsin Ave. on Tuesday as part of this week's latest 'All Hands on Deck' initiative, which ended last night. They found that the MPD focused on nabbing drivers on the busy street who were talking on their cell phones, not wearing seat belts, and speeding through crosswalks. The location of the ticketing effort was not far from where a police cruiser struck a pedestrian in a crosswalk last year.
Briefly Noted: Pedestrian struck on Capitol Hill ... PG County boy, 6, accidentally shoots his brother, 9, in hip ... Overnight barricade situation in Southeast ... D.C. settles in St. Elizabeth's Medicare case.
This Day in DCist: Last year we learned that Marines without dates are often refused entry to some Capitol Hill bars and worried that Metro was considering getting rid of late night service on the weekends.
Photo by ebreidy
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You want to increase the rate for "solving" robberies? Concealed carry permits. You're taking idiots out of the gene pool and dealing with the problem of overcrowded prisons. Granted, your involuntary homicide and manslaughter rates will go through the roof, but you can't make an omlette...
Thank god upper Wisconsin Avenue is safe from jaywalkers, cellphoning drivers, and people not wearing seatbelts. Overtime money well spent, there. Now if only they would deal with the Shaw Yellow Peril. Because Bruce Wayne, Britt Reid, and Kato have been refusing to take my calls. A$$holes.
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"Granted, your involuntary homicide and manslaughter rates will go through the roof, but you can't make an omlette..."
Yes, but those will be easily solved involuntary homicide and manslaughter cases. Thus the closure rate will skyrocket. It's a win-win.
Oh, except for the dead people. So make that win-win-lose. Still. That's batting .667, which ain't too shabby.
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What exactly did WJLA expect to find officers doing on upper Wisconsin? It's not exactly an open air drug market. Did the reporters just prefer hanging out near Whole Foods instead of a corner liquor store in Trinidad?
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Did the reporters just prefer hanging out near Whole Foods instead of a corner liquor store in Trinidad?
The police were acting on a hot tip that people were getting their wallets raped at Whole Foods.
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Well they must have taken care of all the murderers and thieves if they were going after drivers on Wisconsin. I can now feel safe.
I saw them out on Wisconsin and laughed, because I thought it would be funny if it was an all hands on deck day. Sad to see that it really was.
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What a depressing Morning Roundup...
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The Calvo situation just really makes me sick to my stomach. The incompetence and gross, lethal negligence is just chilling. This is something straight out of some corrupt, lawless state in backwater Mexico, not something that happens to the frigging mayor of a small town near the capital of the self-declared "world's greatest democracy." That these asshole cops are apparently banding together in a giant cover-up of lies is just even more disgusting.
And, to Shawn, yeah, I thought that was really odd, too. Maybe the Chevy Chase Cost Plus is a crime hotspot...
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Not necessarily agreeing that posting officers on upper Wisconsin Ave. is time and money well spent, but I will say this: I can't begin to relate the number of times I have been nearly clipped, cut off, or forced to slam on my brakes because some dipsh!t fellow motorist was yapping merrily away on a cell phone and momentarily forgetting that s/he was driving along a major thoroughfare.
Upper Wisconsin a crime hotspot? Nope. Checked-out asshole hotspot? You betcha.
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Looks like Ward 9 is turning into Ward 8.
Which means that Ward 7 fills the vacuum left by Ward 8, and Ward 6 moves across the river to Ward 7... Sweet, I live in Capitol Hill!
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I'm OK with the cops roping in the entitled jerks of upper Wisconsin.
As for the out of control gunslingers of PG County...not OK.
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Great that they were busting those evil drivers in Upper Northwest. Now how about trying to bust those guys doing the break-ins in the same neighborhoods?
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We'll get you Maryland devils!!!
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I wonder if in the 22nd century "Keystone Kops" will be replaced by "PG Cops"?
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Spidey had captured a bad guy and hung him upside down on a lightpost last night. By the time the cops got to the bad guy, he was dead. All the blood had rushed to his head and he died from an apparent heart attack.
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All hands are always on deck by the Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo, Tiffany's, etc. in Friendship Heights. I always felt very safe walking in front of the permanent police car there on my way home...until I realized that they were much more concerned with the polo shirts and stilletos in the stores than the pedestrians outside.
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I applaud actually enforcing some traffic laws around here. But I think it was a bad PR move to use an "All Hands On Deck" procedure to do it. Aren't they supposed to be for "crime emergencies"?
Maybe this is this like grade inflation where we're now going to use "All Hands on Deck" for routine stuff (traffic enforcement) and checkpoint barricade sieges (Trinidad) for more violent crimes?
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But it was a crime emergency! Evidence gathered during the upper Wisconsin jaywalker crackdown will be critical in prosecuting the monocle, mattress tag, and manhole cover traffiking ring that's dogged the police since 1908. Their bulldog tenacity will help crack this case wide open, and on its hundreth anniversary no less! And they didn't even have to contact Buckaroo Banzai or the Blue Blazer Irregulars for help. That's some aggressive policing! With upper northwest now free of crime, they can divert attention to where it really belongs: capturing the evil Hanoi Xan, leader of the World Crime League.
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PG County has the worst record in the metro area for solving robbery cases -- a mere 3.8 percent success rate. The District solves 15 percent of its robberies.
Am I the only one who had to chuckle that DC's Robbery case solving percentage was used as some high level mark for PG police to strive for?
And in other news can someone remind me again why I have my day job rather than become a burglar?
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And in other news can someone remind me again why I have my day job rather than become a burglar?
Burglary often involves heavy lifting?
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But you get that cool mask with the eyeholes cut in it and the black sack with dollar signs on the side!
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Did anyone else notice the Greenbelt Police Chief is named Jim Craze... Craze. That's awesome, I'm changing my name to be related to him.
That's the problem with the All Hands on Deck. ALL the HANDS are on their own assigned DECKS. Not bunches more re-enforcements for hotspots, just a general, city wide increase. A "surge" if you will. I think they should move from AHoD to more cops where needed, even if it means a bit of temp duty out of cushy Wisconsin Ave.
That being said... I must recant, if at least long enough to enjoy some schadenfreude at the idea of a LaCoste pop-collared douche getting frisked... Oops.
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Umm rather than using actually police officers in the criminal hot spots of upper northwest, they could use the ever present meter maids to issue tickets for the red light running, stop sign ignoring, cell phone yapping, cross walk blocking drivers fleeing back to the mean streets of Bethesda.
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And they didn't even have to contact Buckaroo Banzai or the Blue Blazer Irregulars for help.
Okay. Monkey wins whatever award I'm giving out this week, just for the Buckaroo Banzai reference.
Where are we going?
Planet 10!
When?
Real soon!
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Umm rather than using actually police officers in the criminal hot spots of upper northwest, they could use the ever present meter maids to issue tickets for the red light running, stop sign ignoring, cell phone yapping, cross walk blocking drivers fleeing back to the mean streets of Bethesda.
I believe that sworn officers are the only ones allowed to hand out tickets for moving violations.