An intriguing update from this morning’s Examiner: the MPD has taken action in the story of local blogger Amber over at Prettier than Napoleon we brought to you last week. If you’ll recall, Amber blogged about the experience of her friend, who called the police after an attempted burglary at her home. Despite the responding officers having then found the suspects and the victim being able to identify them, the officers refused to arrest the two men, claiming that “D.C. doesn’t have an attempted burglary statute.”

As we explained last week, those officers were quite wrong in their explanation of the law, and several other local blogs picked up on the story in outrage. Today, we learn the MPD is now investigating the incident, and that the two suspects in question have since been arrested. Assistant Third District commander Capt. Gerry O. Scott also addressed angry residents on the district’s listserve, apologizing for the “less than acceptable” actions of his officers.

It’s a relief to hear that MPD is looking in to the matter, and interesting for us to see how large a role the internet played in holding the police accountable. There’s nothing like publicly humiliating city officials to make them get in gear to solve a serious problem, and blogs and listserves truly do seem to be one of the most efficient ways to achieve that kind of outcome.

Photo by AlbinoFlea