Governing magazine this months profiles MPD Chief Cathy Lanier, including her history in MPD and theories in policing.
The glowing report begins with Lanier cruising through Barry Farm one Saturday night, windows down, and chatting with local residents.
As Lanier waves from her cruiser, she isn’t just being friendly — though she is unfailingly that. She’s modeling how she wants her force to interact with the citizenry. It’s an approach that has made her the most popular public official in Washington and endeared her to residents across the city.
Lanier’s theory of crime-fighting, the report says, is a counter-point to zero-tolerance and hinges on participating in community life.
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The Washington Examiner reports that Prince George’s County, which borders the District, has seen half the number of homicides in the first six months of 2012 as were reported in the first half of 2011.
Homicides have dropped nearly 50 percent in Prince George’s County so far this year from the first six months of 2011, marking a drastic reduction that county police and public safety officials hope to maintain for the next six months.
County police are investigating 28 homicide cases, 26 of which occurred in 2012. Compared with a year ago, when the department was handling 54 homicide cases, the homicide rate has been reduced by 48 percent.
The drop in killings is steep for a county that has seen a steady number of homicides for the last three years, when more than 90 people were killed annually. And 117 people were killed in 2008.
The story notes that January 2011 was especially grisly, but the murder rate slowed later in the year. Read the full story here.
Only three of the 45 DC homicides that occurred in the first six months of 2012 have been classified as domestic violence related homicides. That number represents less than six percent of all homicides to date.
This percentage shows a drop in domestic violence related homicides from last year when 12 percent of homicides were classified as domestic violence related; seven of last year’s domestic violence homicides occurred in the first half of the year.
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DC has recorded a 19 percent drop in homicides in the first half of 2012, compared to the first half of 2011, according to data collected and analyzed by Homicide Watch DC.
The homicide data also shows a significant decrease in gun violence and domestic violence, compared to last year. Meanwhile, a greater proportion of homicides have resulted from fatal stabbings.
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Christian Taylor was found guilty this week of fatally shooting two Northeast DC men, a father and son, in a June 2010 robbery attempt on their store.
The verdict came just days short of the two-year anniversary of the crime.
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Ronnell James was sentenced today to 32 years in prison for the stabbing death of Robert Beidleman Jr. Prosecutors said Beidleman, 56, was killed in a robbery in 2007 in Northeast DC.
A press release from the US Attorney’s Office is after the jump.
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This Guest Column comes from J.L.M, who’s child’s father, Troy Monroe was killed May 18 in Mount Vernon.
As I woke up for another day of work on Thursday morning I noticed that I had forgotten to turn my phone off silent and just so happens that I missed about 10 phones calls starting at 5am. I immediately called back to be informed that my daughters father Troy Monroe was shot multiple times in his car, a black 1996 Honda Accord four-door, on Wednesday night in the Mount Vernon area of Fairfax, VA at the intersection of San Leandro Place and Mendocino Place and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
My heart sank in and I just fell to the ground crying.
See, he was expecting his first daughter in July, and now that privilege has been taken away from him because someone shot him and left him to die. His family is devastated as no one should ever have to bury a son/brother/uncle/and father this early. Troy was a good man and very free spirited and didn’t deserve to leave the world like this.
For the sake of his daughter and family I ask anyone with any information to please step forward. If you know anything even if it seems small we ask you to contact Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477, e-mail, by texting “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES/274637 or call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.”
MPD has released a statement regarding a New York man arrested for assault on a police officer. MPD says the assault occurred in the course of a homicide investigation by the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Taskforce.
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MPD has identified a man killed in an exchange of gunfire with police Monday as 41-year-old Dominique Campbell of Southeast, DC.
A press release from MPD is after the jump.
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Reports from NBC Washington, WJLA, WUSA and other news organizations say a man walking his dogs was killed Monday night in Southeast DC after he allegedly shot at MPD officers who stopped him.
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