Hooray! Some Crime Down!

It's rare to hear such words at this time of year, but WJLA is reporting that homicides in the District have decreased 28.8 percent as compared to the same time last year. Good news, right? Yes and no. As a general metric of public safety, the rate of homicides is worth more in perception than it is in reality. After all, fewer people may be getting killed, but more people may just as well be getting robbed and assaulted. Generally, though, folks hear of fewer murders and feel safer. Of course, such statistics are a knife that cuts both ways -- a mid-summer spike in killings will suddenly make us all feel panicked about crime in the District. The Metropolitan Police Department keeps updated homicide counts on their website, for residents interested in making such snap judgements about generalized crime in the city. While it's good to hear that there are fewer victims of murder in D.C. this year, it's not a full enough picture to judge where crime is and where it will go in the coming months.