D.C. halts plans to expand police force

The Metropolitan Police Department was 4,017 officers strong as of Friday, Chief Cathy Lanier told a D.C. Council panel, and that’s roughly where it will remain. As long as the District’s economy continues to struggle, she said, promises to expand the force to 4,200 will not be met.

“We’re just hiring to meet attrition,” Lanier said during a hearing on the MPD’s performance. “The classes will continue. The hiring will continue. But it will be to meet attrition, not to expand the force any further.”

Lanier said she has “significantly downsized the size of the recruiting branch” and “reduced the academy staff almost by half and put them back on patrol.” Also, about 40 officers have applied for early retirement, which will allow the department to replace well-paid cops with lower-salaried recruits.

“We don’t have any lack of applicants, that’s for certain,” Lanier said.

Crime, meanwhile, continues to trend down, though the city was at a standstill for two weeks in February thanks to a pair of blizzards.

Violent and property crimes, through Sunday, were down virtually across the board compared with the same period last year, according to MPD statistics. The homicide count stood at 17, down 39 percent.

The District has the most police officers per capita of any major city, and the department is backed by the U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Park Police and the U.S. Secret Service, said Councilman Phil Mendelson, public safety committee chairman. The MPD has never studied how many officers are needed on the force, Mendelson said, and it ought to.

“At least in my area, folks would probably feel better having an additional contingent on the street,” said Kelvin Robinson, chairman of the H Street Northeast Advisory Neighborhood Commission. “There seem to be good strategies implemented to address specific problems, but overall folks are stretched rather thin.”

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