Has anyone noticed that dead bodies are piling up in the D.C. morgue, and not by natural causes? It’s the homicide season in the nation’s capital, once again. So why is Mayor Vincent Gray squeezing the police budget and dropping the number of cops to an historic low?
The first week of April was particularly drenched in blood. Six men were shot and killed in the District from Tuesday, April 6, to Sunday, April 10. Thanks to Homicide Watch D.C., a website that puts flesh on the statistics, we can get to know a bit about the deceased:
» Shonell Corriea, a 22-year-old father, was shot and killed near his home in the 700 block of Quincy Street NW.
» Reginald “Buster” Williams, also 22, took a fatal round in a double shooting in Southeast. Joshua Ruffin, aka “Rocket,” was the second to die in the gunfire.
» Raheem “Gunna” Jackson, 16, played basketball for H.D. Woodson High. He was gunned down on his stoop in Congress Heights that Thursday night.
» William Parker, a 45-year-old Capitol Heights man, was shot on Elvans Road Southeast on Friday night.
» Kevin Andre “Junior” Washington, 20, was shot and killed after midnight Sunday on Irving Street Northwest, not far from Washington Hospital Center.
Robberies are up. Burglaries are on the rise. Car theft is in vogue. Summer in Washington brings heat and humidity that makes everyone a bit more crazy. Crime will spike. Trust me.
Meanwhile, the number of sworn police officers has been dropping steadily, at a rate of 15 to 20 per month. Veteran cops are retiring, competent officers are getting hired away by other departments, and some quit out of frustration over the department’s harsh disciplinary system — where street cops are wrong until proven right.
» Police Chief Cathy Lanier has finally started to acknowledge that the number of sworn officers is headed south of 3,800. At that number, she admits, we could be in trouble.
» In 1970, President Nixon called for 5,200 police officers. The number has gradually fallen. Marion Barry starved the force as mayor for 16 years. Adrian Fenty cut the budget, too. A few years ago, the city council mandated a force of 4,200 officers. Councilman Jack Evans introduced a bill to maintain the number at 4,000. He has scant support.
Here’s the problem: Crime could kill the city’s current well-being. Murders spike; tourists flee. Robberies and burglaries continue to make neighborhoods feel sketchy; homebuyers decline to move here. Muggings in Georgetown or Adams Morgan or Capitol Hill will snuff out the restaurant and club business.
Yet Mayor Gray’s budget starves the cops. He says the cops will have to suck it up and bear the pain. Here’s how I measure the pain to come: Firearm recoveries are down from 336 in February and March 2010 to 270 this year.
It’s not that there are fewer guns, just fewer cops to find and recover the ones on the street — which might have been used to kill the six victims gunned down last week.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
