Photo by jtowns

Via Homicide Watch D.C., The Daily Beast reports that the District has become something of an international model on how to combat high murder rates.

While in town yesterday, Honduran President Porfirio Lobo met with Attorney General Eric Holder, during which the topic of murders came up:

“We addressed something in particular, our interest in order to follow the Washington, D.C., experience in order to be able to reduce the crime rate from 500 murders a year all the way to 100 murders a year,” Lobo said in an exclusive interview.

So impressed was Lobo with Holder’s presentation on Washington crime prevention that he told his national security cabinet, which was traveling with him, to stay on an extra day in Washington to meet with top D.C. law-enforcement officials.

Homicides in the District have fallen dramatically over the years, dropping nine percent to 131 in 2010, the lowest rate since 1963. As of October 5, the tally stands at 83, representing 17 percent fewer killings than the same time in 2010. Police officials are hoping to come in under 100 for the year. (Rape, sadly, increased by 25 percent in 2010.)

Honduras, on the other hand, suffered from a murder rate of 77.5 per 100,000 residents in 2010. That same year, it stood at 21.9 in the District.

The Honduran officials who stayed behind may not get much time with D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier, though – she’s on jury duty today.