D.C. Police Aim to Reduce Recent Surge in Crime

The nation’s capital experienced a dramatic deadly crime increase over the Memorial Day weekend – 9 individuals were shot with 3 resulting fatalities. In just one case, a woman was hit with gunfire twice while attempting to protect her baby who did not incur any injuries. The other situations were equally devastating.

In evaluating the recent crime surge, Police Chief Newsham and Mayor Bowser redistributed a considerable portion (25%) of the existing police force department to the troubled neighborhoods where the violence has been taking place.

After the horrific instances, Mayor Bowser shared her condolences and has asked for community partnership in crime reporting. She made it clear that the city officials and police departments will not tolerate violence. In her recent campaign for re-election, she had been publicizing the reduction in violent crime prior to these incidents.

Newsham announced that though crime rates have been dropping, the police and community will not tolerate increases to be a regular occurrence.

According to Newsham, the crime rates have declined significantly since 2009, including a 22% reduction in violent crime in 2016. Unfortunately, the homicide rates have not declined, and these numbers are what the media typically concentrates on.

Mayor Bowser wants to eliminate illegal weapons from the city. She also wants to solidify new partnerships with the community members who truly care for the city. Older residents, young families, business owners and all other members of the community have all been impacted to some degree by the violence, which of course takes a heavy toll.

Police Chief Newsham suggested that the D.C. area could be making it too simple for people to obtain illegal weapons; many of the recent altercations have resulted from domestic quarrels that have gone too far.

Bowser pledged that all government resources will be utilized to provide aid to the community, and has expressed interest in providing additional mental health opportunities for all.

“Gun accidents have penalties that are far beneath the legal implications. The consequences can be devastating, causing catastrophic physical harm as well as long-term psychological trauma,” remarked John F. Cordisco, attorney and founder of Cordisco Saile LLC.

A new solution is desperately needed as mass incarceration and law enforcement have been shown to be insufficient in long-term crime reduction.

The social and financial expenses of incarceration and policing are major and are only getting worse. Public safety should be urgently addressed through confronting the underlying causes of the issue.

Since it can be complicated to support the emotional, physical, and social well-being of the community, a new approach that D.C. has begun implementing is to deal with gun violence as if it were a community health crisis.

This approach is becoming more popular because it has already demonstrated positive results in other areas that have begun to treat gun violence as a health crisis. Regardless of the approach implemented, it is imperative for D.C. to urgently decrease the number of innocent people exposed to gun violence.