Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Efforts to reduce crime in D.C. have paid off.
“The good news is we had significant reductions in 2017. We’re facing the lowest number of violent crimes that we’ve had in our city in a very long time,” said Police Chief Peter Newsham.
Violent crime in D.C. was down 23 percent in 2017 compared to 2016.
Homicides are down from 134 in 2016 to 113 in 2017, which is a 16 percent decrease. D.C. saw a spike in homicides in 2015 with 162, the most since 2008. The police chief at the time Cathy Lanier was quick to point out that while the increased number of homicides was reason for concern, the number was far less than past years. The highest number of homicides in the last decade happened in 1997 when 301 people were killed. The lowest number of homicides were committed in 2012 when there were 88.
Newsham attributed the drop in violent crime in working treating substance abuse and mental health issues and dealing appropriately with violent offenders.
Despite this good news, Newsham said the new year is just around the corner.
“We’ll continue to roll up our sleeves and make sure we keep moving in the right direction as we roll into 2018,” said Newsham.
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO Heather Curtis/WMAL)
