14th Street Area: Property Crime Down, Violent Crime Up

As noted last month, we are doing something new here at Borderstan with crime stats–monthly postings with crime stats for areas that are hubs of three of the main 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. As centers for neighborhood life, they can also be crime magnets. But, all three of the reporting areas listed above will encompass surrounding residential areas as well, as shown in the map above for the 14th Street corridor.

The 14th Street 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. This area of Logan Circle is in Police Service Area (PSA) 307 in MPD’s Third District.

Summary of March Crime Stats for 14th Street Corridor

• A return to normal. After an abnormally low number of crimes in February due to the snowstorms, the number of crimes in the 14th Street area returned to more predictable level. (Due to the major snowstorms and severe weather, crime was down throughout DC; see “DC Crime Plummets During Snowpocalypse.”)
• The good news: property crimes. The number of property crimes in March 2010 dropped substantially from March 2009. (This is a trend we have seen for a number of months in this area and in other areas of Dupont-Logan-U Street area, which is driving the overall crime rate downward.) There were 17 property crimes in the 14th Street area last Month, which compares to 25 in March 2009 and 15 in March 2008. There were decreases in burglaries and thefts.
• The bad news: violent crime. After no violent crimes in the area in March 2008 and one in March 2009, there were five last month:  4 robberies and 1 assault. One of the robberies and the lone assault were committed with a gun. There were 2 violent crimes in the 14th and Q area in February during Snowpocalypse.
• Overall: Total crime down, but higher than 2008. As a result of the 33% drop in property crime in March 2010 compared to March 2009, total crime decreased from 26 in March 2009 to 22 crimes in March 2010. However, this is still 50% higher than the 15 total crimes in March 2008.

Detailed crime stats for the 14th Street Corridor in March 2008, 2009 and 2010 are below the fold.

14th Street Corridor¹ Crime Stats for March

Crime Type	2008	2009	2010
Homicide	0	0	0
Sex Abuse	0	0	0
Robbery Excluding Gun	0	1	3
Robbery With Gun	0	0	1
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (ADW) Excluding Gun	0	0	0
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (ADW) With Gun	0	0	1
Total Violent Crime	0	1	5
Burglary	1	5	1
Theft	3	7	4
Theft From Auto	9	10	10
Stolen Auto	2	3	2
Arson	0	0	0
Total Property Crime	15	25	17
Total Crime	15	26	22

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.