Washington, D.C.’s violent crime rate is at its lowest in 30 years, according to data from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Matthew M. Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said Friday that violent crime in the District is down 35% from a year ago. In 2024, there have been 3,388 incidents so far, while in 2023 there have been 5,215 incidents.
Crimes that saw significant decreases this year included a 30 percent decrease in homicides, a 22 percent decrease in sexual assault, a 27 percent decrease in assault with a dangerous weapon, an 8 percent decrease in robberies, and an 8 percent decrease in robberies.
“From my perspective, there’s no question that the most impactful thing we’re doing when it comes to violent crime is actually targeting the drivers of gun violence,” Graves said, according to Fox 5 DC. There’s no room for that,” he said. “What’s more important is to understand who is actually causing the violence in our communities and holding them accountable for some crimes, so we can help them before they commit the next crime. We can get them off the street.”
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Washington, D.C.’s violent crime rate is at its lowest in 30 years, according to data from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Graves said data shows the promoters of violent crime include “hundreds of people across the city.”
“Many of them are part of what we call ‘crews’ in the district. “It’s usually an organization of individuals based in the area or neighborhood they grew up in and involved in a variety of crimes,” he said.
“Their activities are, in some ways, directly related to violence, and in some cases their activities that fuel open drug markets can lead to violence,” he added. “So tracking the people who actually make up the outer part of violent crime is a very effective strategy to reduce that number.”
Graves said prosecution is not the only way to reduce crime.
Violent crime in the area was down 35% from the previous year. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
“These are often deep-rooted problems caused by poverty, lack of services, health problems and education problems,” he said. “We can influence these numbers. We can take violence off our streets. We can stop others from causing gun violence. But there are unresolved issues. , mental health issues, lack of economic opportunity, etc., get more drivers.”
Graves attributed the drop in violent crime to the Metropolitan Police Department’s efforts to target a small number of people who are causing violent crimes in the area.
“It’s a relatively small number of people who are causing the violence in our communities,” he told WTOP. “And what we’ve been doing over the last couple of years is targeting individuals, groups of individuals, who are actually causing the violence.”
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There have been 3,388 violent crime incidents so far in 2024, compared to 5,215 in 2023. (WTTG)
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Local leaders also cited the Secure DC Omnibus Act and other factors such as increased police visibility, technology upgrades and ensuring student attendance in class.
Graves said there is still work to be done to address the number of illegal firearms in the district.
“There are far more illegal firearms in our communities than there were 15 years ago,” he said. “We have to think of this like a virus. The more virus we have in the community, the more people are going to get sick.”
