If you click your way to the Metropolitan Police Department’s website, you’ll find a sidebar on the right side of the page labelled MPDC News. It is there that the police proudly proclaim that agressive speeding dipped below three percent in January, thanks to extensive investment in photo radar enforcement technology. One click in a different direction, however, takes you to the crime statistics page, where the rosy lows the police have achieved for moving violations aren’t reflected in the numbers for violent crime.

With the death of an Arlington man after a U Street shooting early yesterday morning, the number of homicides in the District has risen to 27 for the year, an increase of 35 percent over last year’s total to this point. Were the city to maintain this unfortunate pace for the rest of 2006, we would accumulate 263 homicides for the year, the highest total for Washington since 1997.

The Department’s story on speed cameras declares that the entire ticketing process is conducted without taking officers from their normal beats. This may be true, but it still seems clear that time, attention, and resources are being spent on activities that largely serve to increase city revenue. It would be nice to see the MPD placing its full attention on violent crime before concerning itself with traffic issues.