The rate of violent crime in Washington, D.C., has hit a 30-year low, according to data from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Violent crime in the district has declined 35% year-over-year, Mathew M. Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said Friday. There were 3,388 incidents so far in 2024, compared to 5,215 incidents in 2023.
Crimes that saw significant drops this year included homicide down 30%, sexual abuse down 22%, assault with a dangerous weapon down 27%, robbery down 8% and burglary down 8%.
"There’s no doubt from my perspective, the most impactful thing we do when it comes to violent crime is really targeting drivers of gun violence," Graves said, according to Fox 5 DC. "More importantly, figuring out in our community…who’s really driving violence and holding them accountable to some crimes, so you can take them off the street before they commit the next crime."
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Graves said data shows the drivers of violent crime include "several hundred individuals across the city."
"Many of them, affiliated with … what we in the District call ‘crews;’ organizations of individuals usually based in the neighborhood or block where they grow up engaged in a bunch of different crimes," he said.
"Their activities, in some ways, are directly engaged in violence. In other instances, the activities they’re engaging in, fueling open-air drug markets, are magnets for violence," he added. "So, going after those individuals who really account for an outside portion of crimes of violence is an incredibly effective strategy for bringing the numbers down."
Graves said prosecution is not the only way to reduce crime.
"These are often deeply embedded issues that have drivers based in poverty, lack of services, health issues, education issues," he said. "We can influence these numbers. We can take violence off the street. We can try to deter other people from being drivers of gun violence. But if there are unresolved things, mental health issues, lack of economic opportunities, there are going to be more drivers."
Graves attributed the decline in violent crime to his office working with the Metropolitan Police Department to target the small number of people driving violent crime in the district.
"It’s a relatively few people who are driving violence in our community," he told WTOP. "And what we’ve been doing for the last two years plus is really targeting those individuals — those crews of individuals — that are driving violence."
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Local leaders also cite the Secure DC Omnibus Act and other factors, such as more officer visibility, technology upgrades and ensuring students are attending class.
Graves still says there is more work to be done to address the number of illegal firearms in the district.
"We have way more illegal firearms in our community now than we did 15 years ago," he said. "You have to think of it a lot like a virus. The more viruses in the community, the more people are going to be sick."
