Local
Homicide rate for black D.C. teens surged since ’01, mirrors U.S. trend
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
December 30, 2008
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| Stuffed animals with the words “RIP Tony, RIPJohn” written on them are taped to a lamp post on the 1100 Block of Holbrook Street, NE, where 3 men were shot to death this past weekend, which was one of the most violent weekends for the District in recent memory. In Washington, DC on Monday June 2, 2008. (Andrew Harnik/Examiner) |
That study, by Boston’s Northeastern University, found that the number of slain black teenagers rose 39 percent across the United States, twice the rate of white youth.
The numbers show a “divergent tale of two communities — one prosperous and safe, the other poor and crime-ridden,” said James Alan Fox, the study’s co-author. Although FBI crime statistics show that homicides have stabilized across the country, the picture for black juveniles is radically different from the rest of the population, Fox said.
That was also true in the District, where no white juveniles have been slain in seven years, even as the rate among blacks rose roughly 45 percent between 2001 and 2006-2007.
Fox’s study compared 2000 and 2001 with 2006 and 2007, the last two years for which the statistics were available. The study compared two-year periods to limit statistical skewing.
The study did not include D.C. because the Metropolitan Police Department wasn’t able to supply the FBI with its 2007 crime numbers this summer.
But, according to figures provide by the D.C. police department to The Examiner on Monday, there were 10 juvenile homicides of African-Americans in 2001. Numbers for 2000 were not available, according to a department statistician. In 2006 and 2007, a total of 29 black children were slain in D.C., an average of 14.5 for the two years.
And in 2008, the number of black youth homicides has continued to climb. Nineteen children have been killed as of Dec. 16, all but two African-American.
Maryland saw the rate of young African-American homicides rise more slowly — up 20 percent since 2001. In Virginia, the number of young black homicides went up 25 percent.
In D.C., youth violence will likely increase as the economy continues its free fall and more law enforcement services are cut, said Karen Bune, a law enforcement expert at George Mason University.
Youth violence among African-Americans is the worst Bune’s seen in 30 years, and she blames in part a lack of family structure, an increase in both parents having to work.
“There are a lot of good youth out there, but they aren’t getting the help they need,” Bune said. “The gang is an outlet. It’s their way to have unity with a group.”
Fox could not attribute the increase to a single cause. The study said one factor was Bush administration cuts to youth crime prevention programs and to funding that allowed local police departments to hire more officers. The report also found fault with Congress passing laws that limited law enforcement’s ability to interrupt the illegal gun market.
Fox was hopeful that the president-elect would provide more funding for crime prevention. “You have to pay for programs now or pray for victims later,” he said. “Crime marches on, it doesn’t wait for the economy to improve.”
