A violent weekend in neighborhoods north of Capitol Hill has raised the homicide toll in the 5th Police District to nearly triple what it was a year ago, and has led to calls for help from local lawmakers.
D.C. Councilman Harry Thomas, D-Ward 5, said he wants to see more resources aimed at fixing social ills, like unemployment and drug use, issues that he says are at the root of the violence.
Thomas said he has been satisfied with the law enforcement response since calling for additional police presence after a spike in killings and shootings in April.
He concurred with D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier’s statement over the weekend that there was only so much that the police can do. Police were within blocks of every attack this weekend, he said.
“Publicly there’s some things she can do,” Thomas said. “But she can’t change the violent nature of the people.”
In the first five months last year, Ward 5 recorded eight homicides. As of Sunday, there were 22 homicides in those same neighborhoods. Five killings took place over the weekend.
The victims in the latest outburst were all men older than 21 years old, Thomas said. He said he is disturbed that men in their 30s and 40s are turning to violence, which he said suggests a lack of opportunities for jobs or training.
“My focus is on that group that we lost in the ’80s when they did away with vocational training,” he said. “We need to reach those that may not be going to college and to connect them to the economic resurgence.”
The violence, concentrated mostly in a two-mile area, has contributed to a citywide homicide rate that this weekend surpassed the killings over the same time last year. There were 72 slayings this year, compared with 68 last year.
In the last two months, Lanier doubled the amount of patrols, and deployed drug- and gun-recovery units in the neighborhoods most affected by the crime.
Staff writer Bill Myers contributed to this story.
