The Washington, D.C., community is speaking up and out about gun violence amid the city’s worsening crime rate.
202 For Peace, under Mayor Muriel Bowser’s (D) Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, organized a peace walk on Wednesday with the motto “Put the guns down! Lift the kids up!”
Organizer Isaiah Cromer said the goal of the walks, which began in June, is to promote peace within the district and highlight that gun violence affects everyone — youth, men, and women. Cromer told the Washington Examiner he believes crime in the district is going down, “but he doesn’t feel like it.” He added, “People don’t feel as safe as they used to.”
Reports of crime in the nation’s capital are in fact piling up, particularly among juveniles. There has been an uptick over the last two years, with 1,399 juvenile arrests reported in 2021 and 1,532 in 2020, according to data from the Metropolitan Police Department. A 14-year-old girl was arrested in the unarmed kidnapping of a baby and auto theft after carjacking a vehicle in the 3200 block of Dubois Place SE. A recent video also captured several juveniles and some adults pushing an older woman off a DC Metrobus after she asked them to stop cursing around her family.
Gun violence was on the rise during the first half of 2022, with police reporting 221 more violent gun-related crimes committed compared to the same period last year. And the district has reported 3,103 incidents of violent crime so far this year, according to data from the MPD. The city reported the highest increases in homicide, which saw a 14% jump compared to last year, and carjackings, which saw an 8% increase, the data show. The city has reported a 3% increase in overall crime.
Even with the city’s violence intervention initiatives, including violence interrupters and peacemakers, the community is continuing to see violence up and down neighborhoods, Cromer told the Washington Examiner.
“We’re trying to do what we can because it isn’t an issue that’s going to go away,” he said. “It takes a community — the whole community and the whole city — to get behind it, and if you don’t have that, then all we can do is keep trying.”
Lawmakers are seeking to address this rise in crime by overhauling the city’s criminal code, as it hasn’t been fully updated since 1902. However, that process could take months, as lawmakers would need to vote on each proposed change before sending it to the mayor for approval.
After that, the updated criminal code would be gradually implemented over the next three years, meaning it wouldn’t take full effect until late 2025 at the earliest.
“Children playing in the streets of D.C. is technically a criminal offense,” Councilmember Charles Allen said. “That’s crazy. Our current criminal code is a mess.”
Crime rates have also taken center stage in the city’s local midterm elections, with candidates running for D.C. Council offering proposals they believe would stem the rise in violent crime. Bowser, who is up for reelection in November, has dedicated much of her campaign to addressing rising crime, which has become a top priority for district voters.
Bowser has proposed plans to retain and recruit more officers over the next year, aiming to have 4,000 uniformed police officers sworn in over the next 10 years. The mayor unveiled a plan earlier this summer offering a $20,000 hiring bonus as an incentive to grow the city’s police department.
Under the program, cadets who join the force receive the bonus in two installments, earning $10,000 upon joining and receiving the second half after they graduate from the police academy, according to the mayor’s office.
Bowser’s office did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
Antonio Mingo, a survivor of gun violence and a member of 202 For Peace, was shot two years ago on Benning Road in Washington. He said at Wednesday’s peace walk that it was a “life-changing experience” from which he is still working to recover, both physically and mentally. However, he no longer looks at the situation as a bad thing.
Even though he might not support everything the city is doing to address the issue, Mingo said it is important for him to speak out about gun violence and make sure the organization is making resources available to everyone, regardless of whether they are receptive to them or not.
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“I know I don’t agree with everything,” Mingo said. “But at the end of the day, I’m here for the movement, which is about ending gun violence. So to me, it doesn’t matter who is in office as long as whoever is in office, they are helping to change the narrative of stopping gun violence.”
