After 15 slayings in D.C. in as many days, Metropolitan Police Chief Charles Ramsey declared the city’s fourth “crime emergency” of his eight-year tenure. The City Council’s hastily endorsed $8 million package of crime-fighting measures — including the hiring of 450 additional officers — was a transparent reaction to a few headline-grabbing crimes in affluent parts of town, hardly a panacea.

As residents of less prominent neighborhoods know all too well, crime in D.C. is not an emergency, it’s a chronic condition. However, those who argue that the city must first tackle its longstanding social problems have it backward: Without safe streets, it’s impossible to create the stability necessary for long-term prosperity. The last exodus — driven almost entirely by crime — left the District 100,000 taxpayers short. It certainly could happen again.