Crime levels in the District improved, for the most part, in 2005, continuing a 15-year trend of improved public safety in Washington. While the capital’s surrounding municipalities all experienced an increase in homicides from 2004 (with Prince George’s County posting its highest toll ever at 168), the District saw a drop for the year to 195 homicides, down from 198 in 2004. It was the lowest number killed in the city since 1986.

The Metropolitan Police Department has not yet released its full crime numbers for 2005, but a look at the totals available through November provides a good picture of what went right and wrong across the city and throughout the year. Citywide, crime dropped in every major category except robbery, which rose 5.8 percent from 2004, with 3,672 reported during the year. Particularly notable drops occurred for arson, which fell 39 percent, burglary and car theft, which each dropped almost 15%, and for sexual assault, which decreased 12.4 percent across the city as a whole.