The number of crimes committed so far in what police call their summer season is down 7 percent over this time last year, according to D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier. She has made confronting the seasonal spike in violence a major portion of her policing plan.

Lanier, in her first year at the helm, has been experimenting with ways to keep a lid on crime without resorting to the costly crime emergency called by her predecessor, Charles Ramsey.