D.C. police are preparing for the seasonal summer crime surge by finding activities to keep youths busy and out of trouble.
Police Chief Cathy Lanier is expanding the east-of-the-river program “Forty Days of Increased Peace” citywide and increasing it to include all 73 days of the summer.
The initiative, “The Summer of Safety,” comes as the new administration is trying to become proactive rather than reactive to the summer crime wave. Last summer, the previous administration called for a costly crime emergency after the city witnessed a spike in homicides and juvenile crime and after a group of D.C. teenagers terrorized the National Mall in a series of brutal attacks.
Heading into the summer, homicides in D.C. are up 16 percent from this time last year, while violent crime is down 7 percent. The police department did not have ready figures for juvenile crime.
To fight the crime, the police department hopes to partner with more nonprofits and District agencies.
“The chief is a strong believer in supervision and not letting children get bored,” said Yvonne Smith, acting director of the office of community outreach.
Every police beat in the city will hold at least one event a week, partnering with a local programs like the D.C. Parks and Recreation Skate Mobile.
Each police district will hold a summer camp. School Resource Officers will be trained to help with the camps, which will offer free meals to children, Smith said.
Police are seeking and collecting a list of supervised activities scheduled for the summer and will distribute a calendar of events to students before the school year ends in June.
MPD will also host Web sites on MySpace.com and YouTube.com and provide pre-recorded information on the free events of the day, 202-Im-Bored.
Police are also registering and raising money to send children to Camp Brown, a weeklong getaway of canoeing and camping about 80 miles south of D.C. near Point Lookout in St. Mary’s County.
