In anticipation of a seasonal spike in violent crime, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier ordered her entire force to work an extra eight hours of overtime this weekend, the second citywide surge this summer.
Lanier has vowed to make the police force proactive, rather than wait for crimes to happen. Putting more cops on the street is a part of that strategy, she said.
“Increased police visibility has helped our communities feel safe,” Lanier said in a statement. The operation, dubbed “All Hands on Deck,” marks a change in strategy from Lanier’s predecessor and mentor.
Former Chief Charles Ramsey was criticized last year for being slow to react to a murder spree in which 13 people were killed in 11 days, including the throat slashing of a British political activist outside D.C. developer Herb Miller’s Georgetown mansion.
The department’s 3,800 officers will patrol by car, foot or Segway, serve arrest warrants on the District’s most violent offenders, work sobriety checks and employ strategies targeting theft, robbery and prostitution. Addition law enforcement members will be added to the District’s eastern neighborhoods in response to a rash of shootings last week.
The first time Lanier used the tactic of beefing up police on the streets in June, the department made more than 650 arrests, including the closure of four homicide cases, doubling the arrest rate compared with the same period in 2006.
Lanier plans at least one more surge before the summer ends. The first All Hands on Deck cost about $1.2 million in overtime.
Last year’s crime emergency, which forced all officers to work six-day weeks, cost more than $14 million in overtime and put a strain on the rank and file. Lanier has promised to tackle the summertime violence as part of the overall crime fight.
Violent crime has fallen slightly during the first half of the year, but homicides are up by more than 5 percent. Last year, there were 99 homicides at this time compared with 104 this year. The District last year finished with the fewest homicides in more than two decades.
