Crime in Washington, D.C.
Crime in Washington, D.C., is directly related to the city's demographics, geography, and unique criminal justice system.
Despite being the headquarters of multiple federal law enforcement agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the nationwide crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s greatly affected the city and led to large increases in crime.
[4] The crime rate started to fall in the mid-1990s as the crack cocaine epidemic gave way to economic revitalization projects.
Jim Graham, a DC City Council member, stated that year that robbery was "always been a major problem.
The crack was brought into Washington, D.C. by Colombian cartels and sold in drug markets such as "The Strip" (the largest in the city) located a few blocks north of the United States Capitol.
Crime in neighboring Prince George's County, Maryland, initially experienced an increase, but has recently witnessed steep declines as poorer residents moved out of the city into the nearby suburbs.
[23] Many D.C. residents began to pressure the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia for not prosecuting nearly 70% of arrested offenders in 2022.
The primary agency responsible for law enforcement in the District of Columbia is the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
However, given the unique status of Washington as the United States capital, the MPD is adept at providing crowd control and security at large events.
Several special initiatives undertaken by the Metropolitan Police Department to combat violent crime have gained particular public attention.
The program operated by stopping cars entering a police-designated area; officers then turned away those individuals who did not live or have business in the neighborhood.
The police had no plans to continue to use the practice—with declining crime rates—but D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles said that officers would work to find a "more creative way to deal with very unusual circumstances that is consistent with the Fourth Amendment.
The Attorney General of the District of Columbia only has jurisdiction in civil proceedings and prosecuting minor offenses such as low-level misdemeanors and traffic violations.
Attorneys in the District of Columbia are neither elected nor appointed by city officials leads to criticism that the prosecutors are not responsive to the needs of residents.
In contrast, the number of misdemeanor and civil cases prosecuted and resolved by the D.C. Attorney General's office has remained constant over the same period.
The D.C. district attorney would be elected and have jurisdiction over all local criminal cases, thereby streamlining prosecution and making the justice system more accountable to residents.
[52] As of 2010, felons sentenced under D.C. law altogether made up almost 8,000 prisoners or about 6% of the total BOP population, and they resided in 90 facilities.
The Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 prohibited residents from owning handguns, excluding those registered before February 5, 1977; however, this law was subsequently overturned in March 2007 by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Parker v. District of Columbia.
[61] The ruling was upheld in June 2008 by the Supreme Court of the United States in District of Columbia v. Heller.
Both courts held that the city's handgun ban violated the right to keep and bear arms as protected under the Second Amendment.
[62] The ruling did not strike down existing district laws requiring firearm registration and an assault weapon ban.
