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Major crime declines 12% citywide
(Published July 12, 2004)

Serious crime has declined nearly 12 percent citywide during the first half of 2004, with only the Second Police District in Upper Northwest Washington recording an increase in major crime, according to new data from the Metropolitan Police Department.

A 30 percent increase in auto theft and a 14 percent rise in thefts, a category that includes shoplifting and street muggings, are largely responsible for an overall 1.6 percent rise in crime in the Second District during the first half of the year.

Overall, every major category of serious crime in the District has declined compared to the first six months of 2003. The largest decreases are in homicides and sexual assaults, which both dropped 26 percent. The District recorded 90 homicides through June 30 of this year, compared with 122 at the same time in 2003. Sixty fewer sexual assaults, a total of 172, were reported through the first six months of this year.

The city's Sixth Police District, comprising the northern section of Washington located east of the Anacostia River, recorded the largest overall decrease in crime with an almost 24 percent decline. All categories of crime were down, although the Sixth District continued to lead the city in auto theft with 1,080 – a category in which it accounted for nearly a quarter of all vehicles stolen citywide so far in 2004.

Half of the city's 90 homicides recorded through June 30 have occurred in the Fifth Police District, which largely shares boundaries with Ward 5 in Northeast Washington, or the Seventh Police District, which primarily covers Ward 8 in Far Southeast and Far Southwest Washington. Although both police districts have shown significant drops in their homicide rates from 2003, 24 murders were recorded in the Seventh District and 21 were recorded in the Fifth District.

Six-month preliminary crime statistics for all seven police districts may be viewed online at http://mpdc.dc.gov/info/districts/crstats_readthis.shtm.