14th St.: Violent, Property Crimes Decline in 2010

The year is three-quarters gone–Sept. 30 marked the end of the third quarter. We usually look at crime stats for the previous month and compare to the same month one year and two years ago. But, this month we’ll look at the numbers for the first three quarters of 2010 for the 14th Street area.

Unlike the U Street area–where violent crime is up this year–the 14th Street area shows decline crime across the board, including robberies and assaults. A look at the MPD’s crime statistics for the first 9 months of 2010 show that total crime is down 26% compared to the same period last year and down 6% from two years ago. The decreases are in virtually every category of both violent and property crime.

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.

• After a surge in 2009, the number of total crimes in the 14th Street area in the first 9 months of 2010 totaled 207. This compares to 208 crimes in the same period of 2009 and 221 in the same period of 2008.
• There were 29 violent crimes in the Jan. 1-Sept. 30 period this year, down from 38 in the same period of 2009 and 33 in 2008. Violent crime is down 24% from last year’s surge, and down 12% from two years ago.
• Property crime continues to decline in the 14th Street area (a trend seen in the U Street and 17th Street areas as well). There were 178 property crimes during the first 9 months of 2009, a 26% decline from the 242 property crimes in the same period of 2009 and a 5% decrease from the 188 property crimes in the first 9 months of 2008.

Robberies, Assaults, Gun Crimes

• The number of robberies in the first 9 months of 2010 in the 14th Street area totaled 25–7 were committed with a gun and 18 without a gun. This compares to 33 robberies in the first 9 months of 2009 (12 with a gun) and 25 robberies in the first 9 months of 2008 (3 with a gun).
• The number of assaults in the first 9 months of this year declined slightly: there have been 4 this year compared to 5 in the same period last year and 7 in the January through September period of 2008.
• Total gun crimes are homicides, robberies and assaults committed with a gun. There have been 8 gun crimes in the 14th Street area this year, compared to 14 in the first 9 months of 2009 and 4 in the same period of 2008. While down dramatically from last year, the number of gun crimes is still double this year compared to 2008.

Total crime stats by category are below the fold.

14th Street¹ Crime Stats for Jan. 1-Sept. 30 Period of 2008, 2009, 2010

Crime Type	Jan. 1-Sept. 30 2008	Jan. 1-Sept. 30 2009	Jan. 1-Sept. 30 2010
Homicide	0	0	0
Sex Abuse	1	0	0
Robbery Excluding Gun	22	21	18
Robbery With Gun	3	12	7
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (ADW) Excluding Gun	6	3	3
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (ADW) With Gun	1	2	1
Total Violent Crime	33	38	29
Burglary	23	23	23
Theft	62	82	87
Theft From Auto	76	111	52
Stolen Auto	27	26	16
Arson	0	0	0
Total Property Crime	188	242	178
Total Crime	221	280	207

Source: MPD Crime Database

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.