4.20.2003

District Homicide Rate Again On the Rise

Here's my new slogan for D.C.:

Washington, D.C.: Now with 24 percent more homicides!

Hmmm? Don't think Mayor Bowtie will go for that one?

"The homicide surge has caught the attention of Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), who last week backed off his long-standing claim that crime in the city was declining. He favors the hiring of 175 more police officers and warned that rising lawlessness could undermine his push to attract 100,000 new residents."

It's no wonder that murder is so popular in D.C., seeing as how the police only "close" (i.e. "solve") 44 percent of their murder cases. If you plan your murder intelligently and carefully, and make a quick enough getaway, you have better than a 50-50 shot of getting away with it.

Even if there are witnesses nearby, chances are they won't come forward, as evidenced by this homicide in Northeast D.C. a few weeks ago. Not because they're frightened, but because they just don't care.

You could even cap someone right outside a Metro police cruiser, and apparently not garner any immediate attention (the victim's cousin "said the officer exited the car more than a minute [after the shooting], and seemed to walk unhurriedly to the corner while talking on a cellular phone").

Somebody please get me out of this hate-filled hellhole.

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