14th Street: Snowstorms Make for Safe Streets

As noted in earlier posts this week on the U Street and 17th Street corridors, we are doing something new here at Borderstan with crime stats. In the past we reported monthly crime numbers for an area around the 1600 block of 15th Street NW and occasionally for Police Service Areas 208 (Dupont) and 307 (Logan). Starting this month we are running posts with crime stats for areas that are the centers of three main business and commercial corridors in the Dupont–Logan–U Street area: 12th and U NW; 14th and Q NW; and 17th and Q NW. These are approximately the centers of the U Street, 14th Street and 17th Street commercial corridors.

Why the switch? The area’s commercial strips are centers for neighborhood life–and as a result they can also be crime magnets. All three of the reporting areas listed above will encompass surrounding residential areas as well, as shown in the map above for the U Street corridor. Moreover, all three streets have substantial numbers of residential buildings, too.

Today’s posting is for 14th Street, centered at 14th and Q Streets NW, is near the center of the commercial strip on 14th Street. The 14th Street Corridor crime reporting area (see map above) covers a circular area that radiates 1,000 feet from 14th and Q NW–an area that roughly runs  from 15th Street on the west to Vermont Avenue/Logan Circle on the east and from S Street on the north to Rhode Island Avenue on the south. The crime reporting is in Police Service Area (PSA) 307, part of MPD’s Third District.

Summary of February Crime Stats for 17th Street Corridor

• Total Crime. Due to the major snowstorms and severe weather, crime was down throughout DC (See “DC Crime Plummets During Snowpocalypse.”) As with the U Street and 17th Street numbers, this trend was seen on 14th Street. There were 9 total crimes last month compared to 31 in February 2009 and 21 in February 2008. This represents a 71 percent drop from February 2009 to February 2010.
• Violent Crime. There were 2 violent crimes in February of this year in the 14th Street area; both were robberies and neither involved a gun. This compares to 4 violent crimes in February 2009–3 robberies (2 with guns) and 1 assault involving a gun. There were 2 violent crimes in February 2008, both robberies (without guns).
• Property Crime. The number of property crimes in the 14th Street area in February 2010 was 74% lower than in February 2009–only 7 property crimes last month compared to 27 in February of last year. This compares to 19 3 property in February 2008.
• Thefts and Thefts from Autos. The twin snowstorms in the first half of February did a good job of keeping the thieves at home as thefts and thefts from autos (“smash and grabs”) hit unbelievably low levels. Thefts dropped to 1 last month from 11 the previous February while thefts from autos declined to 3 in February 2010 from 12 the previous February.

14th Street Corridor¹ Crime Stats for February

Crime Type	2008	2009	2010
Homicide	0	0	0
Sex Abuse	0	0	0
Robbery Excluding Gun	2	1	2
Robbery With Gun	0	2	0
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (ADW) Excluding Gun	0	0	0
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (ADW) With Gun	0	1	0
Total Violent Crime	2	4	2
Burglary	1	1	1
Theft	6	11	1
Theft From Auto	8	12	3
Stolen Auto	4	3	2
Arson	0	0	0
Total Property Crime	19	27	7
Total Crime	21	31	9

¹ The 14th Street Corridor crime reporting area (see map above) covers a circular area that radiates 1,000 feet from 14th and Q Streets NW–an area that roughly runs  from 15th Street on the west to Vermont Avenue/Logan Circle on the east and from S Street on the north to Rhode Island Avenue on the south. The crime reporting is in Police Service Area (PSA) 307, part of MPD’s Third District.