Question: If the young man whose throat was slit in Georgetown had been a D.C. taxi driver rather than a white Brit, and if the people who have been mugged in the mall had been D.C. residents rather than tourists, would Virginia Congressman Frank Wolf have asked President Bush to call a summit on safety in D.C.?
Perhaps. But I doubt it.
Another question: When was the last time Frank Wolf bothered to drive into neighborhoods within view of his Capitol Hill office that have been in need of a “crime summit” for decades?
No one could say with a straight face that Police Chief Charles Ramsey, Mayor Anthony Williams, the D.C. Council and the federal law enforcement chiefs would be falling all over themselves to propose new crime-fighting plans if the victims had been black and the crimes east of Rock Creek Park.
Like many defining moments in our town, this latest drama can be painted in black and white.
Of the 15 homicides reported so far this month, all but two have occurred east of 16th Street. All but two of the victims were poor or middle class blacks in neighborhoods besieged by crime, drugs and broken families.
According to the Justice Policy Institute, major crime actually dropped last year, compared to 2004. And by far, the majority of perpetrators are adults rather than teenagers. Robberies are up; otherwise, it’s business as usual in the poor parts of town.
So why the rush to declare emergencies and throw more dollars at crime fighting?
The mayor is guilty of being MIA during the summer of crime headlines. He’s been gallivanting around the world as blood flowed on city streets. The simplest way to show leadership is to declare war.
Ward 2 council member Jack Evans, who proposed the hiring of 300 more cops, was reacting to his neighbors in Georgetown who fear they might get whacked walking their Pekinese. We won’t see those new cops for years.
Frank Wolf wants to make his suburban constituents believe he’s trying to keep the streets safe as they commute in and out of town. He cares not a whit about D.C. residents getting gunned down.
The fact is summers here have always been dangerous and dicey. It’s hot, jobs are scarce, tempers flare, thugs rule.
Chief Ramsey was right in declaring an emergency. It allows him to redeploy his troops and relax overtime rules. That’s a start.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton was smart to call on the 30 law enforcement agencies with police powers in the capital city to cooperate, communicate and police beyond their buildings. She also had a simple and sensible solution to the muggings in the mall: Fix the lights where muggers hide, especially along the new paths around theWashington Monument. Assign a few more cops to the mall after dark.
Zen Masters ask: What’s the sound of one hand clapping?
I ask: What’s the sound in the halls of power of one black teenager falling?
Same answer.
Harry Jaffe has been covering the Washington area since 1985. E-mail him at [email protected].
