District police are going into targeted neighborhoods to arrest the city’s most violent criminals in a plan called Operation MVP.
Mayor Adrian Fenty and acting Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced the new operation at a time when the District has had a string of murders, including four killed in five hours this weekend.
Under Operation MVP, which stands for Most Violent Persons, detectives will identify the most dangerous predators in certain areas of the city. Each week, special operations officers and U.S. Marshals will capture the criminals and hand them to investigators before sending them to jail. The investigators will interrogate the offenders to see if they have any information about related crimes.
The mayor and Lanier, both less than a month into their new jobs, passed out fliers and knocked on doors earlier this week to demonstrate that they’re serious about not letting the killings remain “the status quo.” Fenty and Lanier have asked law-abiding residents to report information to police to help them prevent crime and capture the criminals.
“We will do all inour power to clear the streets of offenders,” Lanier said in a statement Thursday.
A man was fatally shot Thursday morning at 9th and H streets in Northeast Washington, making him the 16th murder victim this year. Last year at this time there were 15 homicides.
Fenty and Lanier have vowed to reduce violent crime without resorting to the costly crime emergencies called by their predecessors. The emergency allowed former Police Chief Charles Ramsey to order mandatory six-day workweeks for all 3,800 of his officers, which cost the District at least $14 million.
Anyone with information can call the Crime Solvers hotline at 800-673-2777. The Metropolitan Police Department offers rewards of up to $10,000 for information that leads to a conviction.
