Burglaries Up Locally, Citywide in Past 60 Days

The number of burglaries in the weekly Crimes of Note have been noticeably on the rise in recent weeks. A check of MPD’s Crime Database confirms the trend for the past 60 days — not only are burglaries up in the three police service areas (PSAs) that cover the Dupont-Logan-U Street area, they are up in the corresponding police districts and citywide.

The weekly Crimes of Note report is below the fold… January meeting of PSA 208 is Tuesday, January 18, at 1620 V Street NW, 7 pm.

Burglaries are up 42% in D.C. on a year-over-year basis for the past 60 days (November 17 to January 16). Burglaries are up 55% in MPD’s Second District and 62% in the Third District. In three local PSAs, burglaries are up 62% — there have been 73 burglaries in PSAs 208, 305 and 307 in the past 60 days compared to 39 a year before.

Assistant Chief of Police Diane Groomes told Boderstan that the spike is not gang-related activity. “In the Second District 208 area, we have the burglar that is a career-type criminal (usually drug user). In the upper end of 2D and other parts of the city, we do see groups of juveniles banding together, committing series of burglaries to get immediate cash/property. It’s opportunity crime for them, versus drug dealing,” Groomes said.

Second District Commander Michael Reese told Borderstan, “The Second District has implemented a specific response to burglary calls and shifted internal resources, facilitating awareness through property identification by residents as well as encouraging citizens to be more active in calling in suspicious activity. A significant arrest was made in December from a citizen calling in suspicious activity. MPD is also encouraging residents to make targets harder by locking doors, windows, garages, and securing items of value left on porches, etc. This strategy will be monitored and adjusted as needed until the problem is abated. After the problem is abated we will adjust to prevent this problem in the future.”

In the Third District, Commander Jacob Kisher said, “The Third District has allocated additional resources to combat the increase in recent burglaries, which are mainly business burglaries.”

Burglaries in Selected Areas

• PSA 208 (Dupont-Kalorama): This police service area has shown the most noticeable rise in burglaries in the area. There have been 47 burglaries in the past 60 days (November 17 to January 16) compared to 27 in the same period one year ago.
• PSA 307 (Logan): There have been 13 burglaries in the past 60 days compared to six a year before.
• PSA 305 (U Street-Howard University-LeDroit Park): There have been 13 burglaries in the past 60 days compared to six a year before in this PSA.
• MPD 2nd District: There has been a 55% increase in burglaries in the past 60 days in 2D, which includes PSA 208 and NW neighborhoods such as Georgetown, Glover Park, Cleveland Park, Palisades and American University. A total of 115 burglaries were reported, up from 74 in the same period a year before.
• MPD 3rd District: There has been a 62% increase in the number of burglaries in 3D, which includes PSAs 305 and 307 as well as the Shaw, Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights neighborhoods. There were 86 burglaries in the past 60 days compared to 53 in the same period a year before.
• Citywide: Burglaries are up 42% in the past 60 days compared to the previous year. There were 770 burglaries in D.C. in the November 17 to January 16 period — compared to 541 in the same period a year before.

The following is a list of robberies, assaults, stolen autos and burglaries in the Dupont-Logan-U Street area over the past week. Crimes are from police reports for Police Service Areas 208, 307 and 305.

Robberies

• Monday, January 10, 1300 block of Connecticut Avenue NW (pocketbook snatch).
• Wednesday, January 12, 2:39 pm, 1900 block of 14th Street NW (attempt): “There was an attempted robbery of an armored car at 14th & U Streets, N.W. Two male individuals approached the armored car guards and demanded money. The subjects fled when challenged by one of the guards. Third District units responded to the scene. During the course of their investigation, MPD officers observed the suspects and they were apprehended without incident.”
• Saturday, January 15, 12:30 am, Dupont Circle NW: “The victims reported that while retrieving money from the ATM they were approached by a subject who punched both of them in the face. The MPD responded and arrested the suspect on the scene. This is a closed case.”

Assault with a Deadly Weapon

• Monday, January 10, 7:47 pm, 14th and V Streets NW (with a knife).

Burglary

• Monday, January 10, 1600 block of 16th Street NW (attempt).
• Monday, January 10, 9:45 am to 7:30 pm, 1100 block of Massachusetts Avenue NW.
• Monday, January 10, 9 am to 6:15 pm, 1400 block of Corcoran Street NW.
• Monday, January 10, 9:05 am to 6 pm, 1200 block of Q Street NW.