WASHINGTON — The Metropolitan Police Department has announced a significant drop in violent crime during a weekend in which the department deployed its “All Hands on Deck” strategy.
From 3 p.m. Aug. 28 to 6 a.m. Aug. 30, police recorded a 39 percent drop in violent crime compared with the previous year, according to the department.
Police also recovered 34 illegal guns, up from seven one year earlier.
The extra patrols came as Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Cathy Lanier face criticism over a spike in murders and gun crimes this summer.
Through August, more people have been killed this year than in all of 2014. The number of homicides is 44 percent higher than the same time last year.
Last week, Bowser announced additional police officers were part of her strategy to improve safety in the District.
Some vocal protesters, most of whom were from the “Black Lives Matter” campaign, shouted “jobs not jails.”
