We couldn’t help but notice these odd signs popping up on the windows of businesses all along the U Street Corridor in the last month. “This Business is Being Monitored by the U Street Sheriff’s Department” sounds a bit like a smart-alecky joke. Obviously the District has no sheriff’s department at all, let alone one that only serves U Street. So what exactly are these signs? We could imagine a business version of “Beware of Dog,” some attempt to deter more meek criminals from breaking into the place.

But the posted names, telephone numbers and email addresses of two Third District MPD officers, Sgt. Anthony Washington and Officer Travia Kyle, suggest otherwise. We called Sgt. Washington to ask him — what on earth is the “U Street Sheriff’s Department”?

According to Washington, when new D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier took office, she mandated all her district commanders to come up with a crime strategy for their districts during the first 100 days of the new administration. Many of those commanders chose some version of an “adopt-a-block” program, but Sgt. Washington, a self-described “easy going, silly guy,” whose responsibilities include all of U Street, took the idea a bit further and created the signs as an attempt to build a feeling of solidarity among business owners in the corridor. The name “U Street Sheriff’s Department” was something he first joked about, but quickly, it caught on within the department.

Photo by Sommer Mathis