The curfew is one of several strategies that Mayor Bowser’s administration is taking to curb the city’s violent crime, which is up 38% compared to last year.

According to researchers, a relatively small group of people — likely as few as 200 people at any one point in time — are driving a majority of homicides and shootings in the city.

Domestic violence accounts for part of the surge, though Black men still make up the vast majority of homicide victims in the city.

This year’s homicides are up 12% from last year, which saw a 15-year high in homicides.

Bowser’s criticisms prompted a rare response from D.C. Superior Court Chief Justice Anita Josey-Herring, who defended the court’s operations. 

Affluent residents see their pain validated in national media, while lower-income and Black communities are left to quietly grieve their losses.

The unit will initially deploy officers to Columbia Heights, and will eventually expand the program to include Parkwood, Washington Highlands, and Bloomingdale, with more neighborhoods to follow.

“Our Black and Brown boys and girls are going far too quick in our community,” White said.

Community activists say the pandemic added fuel to the volatile mix of longstanding conditions that can turn petty neighborhood beefs into deadly violence.

In 2020, the city has recorded its most homicides in more than a decade.