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Assaults, thefts, burglaries rise in Upper NW
(Published April 19, 2004)

Assaults, street thefts and burglaries continued their rise in some of the District’s wealthiest areas during March, according to new data released by the Metropolitan Police Department.

The increase in those crime categories in the Second Police District, which includes much of Upper Northwest Washington, comes at the same time when overall crime in the District is declining.

Crime citywide was down 15.6 percent last month, compared to March 2003. During the first three months of 2004, citywide crime dropped 7.7 percent. Crime has gone up slightly – less than 1 percent overall – since Jan. 1 in only the Second and Fifth Police Districts.

In the Second District, aggravated assaults increased 55.6 percent in March and auto thefts went up 42.9 percent. Burglaries were up 37.8 percent and thefts, not including auto-related thefts, increased 11 percent.

The largest decrease in crime during March was recorded in the Sixth Police District, which comprises the northern half of the portion of the District that is located east of the Anacostia River. Overall crime declined 33 percent last month in the Sixth District, compared to March 2003. The reduction included a marked reversal in a longstanding monthly increase in auto thefts, which went down 15 percent last month.

The largest reduction in crime during the past three months was recorded in the Fourth Police District, where Ward 4 Councilman Adrian Fenty has convening well-attended monthly town hall meetings at which citizens have brought their crime complaints directly to police commanders and other top city officials. Compared to the same periods in 2003, overall crime has dropped 19 percent in the Fourth District from January through March, and 20.7 percent in March.

Six of the 16 homicides that occurred citywide during March happened in the Fifth Police District. The Fifth and Seventh Districts have each recorded 12 homicides since Jan. 1, accounting for just over half of the 46 murders citywide through March 31.