Search

DC auditor on Deon Kay killing: Deadly force justified by police, but mistakes made 05/25/2021 10:38am • The use of deadly force was justified in the 2020 D.C. police shooting of 18-year-old Deon Kay, but a D.C. auditor's report finds officers "acted recklessly and without a plan." D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson's use-of-force review said that officers "squandered any opportunity to de-escalate the si Director of embattled DC crime lab stepping down 05/19/2021 10:02pm • DFS Director Jenifer Smith testifies before the D.C. Council Feb 6, 2020. The director of the embattled D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences is stepping down. Dr. Jenifer Smith, who was appointed to run the lab by Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2015, submitted her resignation to the mayor Wednesday, Victim, filmmakers reflect on DC Sniper attacks in true-crime TV series 'I, Sniper' 05/17/2021 01:18pm • Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the D.C. sniper attacks of 2002. The harrowing days are chronicled in the new documentary TV series "I, Sniper." "No one's ever tried to do something this ambitious," Creative Director John Smithson told WTOP. "There were three prongs to this: the f Maryland state senator announces bid for Frederick County executive 05/17/2021 12:05pm • Sen. Michael Hough (R-Frederick). (Courtesy Maryland Matters/Danielle E. Gaines) Maryland Senate Minority Whip Michael J. Hough (R) announced Monday that he will forego a re-election bid and instead run for Frederick County executive in 2022. “Voters in Frederick County will face a crucial The bench has grown, so why aren’t more women running for high office in Md.? 05/13/2021 09:37am • Brooke E. Lierman, a Democratic delegate from the city of Baltimore, is running for state comptroller, a position that’s never been held by a woman in Maryland history. There’s never been a female governor or state attorney general, either. (Maryland Matters/Danielle E. Gaines) This content Virginia Democrats running for governor support restoring parole for inmates 05/12/2021 07:20am • Several Virginia Democratic candidates for governor took part in a town hall meeting Tuesday night focused on criminal justice reform, and all called for parole to be restored for prison inmates. Virginia abolished discretionary parole in 1995 and required offenders to serve at least 85% of their DC lawmaker calls for new leader at embattled District crime lab 05/11/2021 03:28pm • A D.C. lawmaker is calling for new leadership at the District's embattled Department of Forensic Sciences, which had its accreditation to perform forensic testing withdrawn and remains the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. In an exclusive interview with WTOP Tuesday morning, Ward 6 D. Maryland man sentenced in scheme to defraud the elderly 05/07/2021 12:08am • A Maryland man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison following a scheme that defrauded more than 100 elderly people. A federal jury convicted Keno Romario Brown, 26, of Hyattsville, in March 2020 of mail and wire fraud over a lottery scheme. The judge ordered Brown to pay $775,225 i Loudoun Co. drops charges after victim of ID theft spends time in jail 05/06/2021 11:43am • An innocent U.S. Department of Defense employee spent four days in jail recently as Northern Virginia prosecutors pieced together evidence the man had been a victim of identity theft. "We had a case recently in Loudoun County, where someone was accused of writing bad checks and cashing them, from Celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month 05/05/2021 02:25pm • This content is sponsored by Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP. May is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, and the timing is helpful with Asian-American discrimination continuing to rise.  According to a report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California Spike in street crime, including street racing, ticks off acting DC police chief as summer anti-crime effort launches 05/04/2021 01:49pm • D.C. is recovering from a deadly weekend, during which 11 people were shot, including a 7-year-old girl, just as it's about to kick off its yearly effort to curb summer crime. A day before the council is expected to vote him in as police chief, Robert Contee expressed his frustration with the ong DC leaders have mixed outlook after crime lab loses accreditation 05/03/2021 07:19pm • D.C. leaders are reacting to word that the District's crime lab is now fully unaccredited. While Mayor Muriel Bowser affirms the lab has appealed the decision, the future of lab operations is in question. After learning the Department of Forensic Sciences had its accreditation completely withdraw Arlington lawyer charged with sex trafficking minors, producing child porn 04/30/2021 09:01am • A Northern Virginia man is facing charges tied to the sex trafficking of minors, production of child pornography and other commercial sexual exploitation offenses involving young women. Matthew Erausquin, 46, of Arlington, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday. He is charged with six Probe of DC crime lab could 'blow up' criminal justice system 04/30/2021 02:07am • Prosecutors say they are prepared to reexamine hundreds of open cases and convictions, if necessary, following a series of probes into the District's crime lab, including an ongoing criminal investigation that centers on allegations that senior leaders concealed conflicting findings and pressured ex Long before latest DC crime lab troubles, some employees raised concerns 04/29/2021 06:40am • The Firearms Examination Unit of the D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences analyzes ballistics evidence. (WTOP/Megan Cloherty) Over the past several weeks, senior leaders at the D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences have come under intense scrutiny. The crime lab is under criminal investigation o