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Good morning, Washington. Over the last few weeks, there’s been a nasty fight brewing over the number of police officers the District has. This much folks can agree on: because of retirement and rates of attrition, the city’s police force is quickly falling towards 3,800 sworn officers. What no one seems to agree on is whether going below 3,800 is a big deal or not. The Examiner’s Harry Jaffe sure does, penning yet another column about the dangers of going below that threshold. (He does finally admit that the issue has become something of an “obsession” for him.) During the course of the whole debate, though, which has included legislation proposed by Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) to mandate a police force of at least 4,000, no one has managed to explain where the 3,800 mark comes from. Is it based on a scientific assessment, or just a nice round number that someone picked out of the blue? The Post’s Mike DeBonis does us all a service today and picks apart where the number came from, concluding that it’s more art than science knowing how many police officers a city needs. One thing is clear, though — the 3,800 number one of the few things that Police Chief Cathy Lanier and D.C. FOP Director Kristopher Baumann agree on, so regardless of whether or not we really need that many cops, that’s likely the number of cops the city will have.

More Than Two-Dozen Schools Got Suspicious Letters: All told, 29 D.C. schools received letters containing a suspicious white powder yesterday, which led to a citywide scramble to shutdown the schools and make sure teachers, students and administrators were safe. In a statement, Mayor Vince Gray called the letters, which were sent from Dallas and eventually found to have cornstarch in them, a “dastardly and incredibly disruptive act.” Schools are set to open on time today.

Breathalyzers Coming Back: After the city’s breathalyzers were found to be badly calibrated and taken out of use in February, D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan has said that the program will return in the coming months, reports the Examiner. According to Nathan, the city has applied for a federal grant to fund a position in the Medical Examiner’s office that would be responsible for maintaining the breathalyzers. The discovery that the machines weren’t reading properly led to the dismissal of dozens of DUI cases.

Georgetown Waterfront Re-Opens for Business: If sipping drinks at the Georgetown Waterfront was your thing, be happy — WTOP reports that the patio areas of Tony and Joe’s, Nick’s Riverside Grille and Sequoia re-opened yesterday after being closed since they flooded in mid-April. The owner of Tony and Joe’s and the Riverside Grille says that the city gave him a special permit to cook outside, facilitating the re-opening.

Briefly Noted: Prince William County wants out of federal oversight of its elections … More Frankenfish in local waters … Mt. Pleasant remembers 1991 riots … It’s all coming down on May 21 … Eight D.C. voting rights protesters headed to trial.

This Day in DCist: On this day 2010, we wondered if the District should join forces with the territories in the fight for voting rights and MTV fought back against a Real World-related lawsuit. In 2009, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said same-sex marriage in D.C. wasn’t Congress’ business and there was a massive water main break on Florida Avenue.