WASHINGTON — Crime is down as a whole across the District, according to recent statistics. D.C.’s police chief is convinced there are only a small group of criminals causing the majority of the violence, and he is targeting their guns.
Far too often, the presence of an illegal gun means the difference between a disagreement and a crime scene in the District, according to D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham.
“That’s why we have focused on getting these illegal firearms out of the community. We intend to continue to do the same thing in 2018,” he said.
The Department of Forensic Science tested 2,178 illegal guns that officers pulled off the streets last year.
“If you ask me, that’s way too many. But I’m absolutely convinced we haven’t gotten them all,” Newsham said.
Another of Newsham’s 2018 resolutions? Ramping up efforts to identify repeat offenders, who he feels are responsible for the majority of violence in the city.
He pointed to the recent case of 18-year-old James Mayfield, who is facing multiple charges after police said his gun was forensically linked to three homicides and three armed robberies.
“It is a very small group of people who are causing this violence, and so, I think that’s one of the things we’re going to try to step up our game this year, working with federal partners — our supervision agencies in particular — to see if we can’t identify the people who are most likely to be involved, this small group of people, and make sure they’re not involved in violence in our community,” he said.
This week, the chief announced a drop in every crime category over 2017, including a 22 percent reduction in reported violent crime and an 11 percent drop in overall crime, compared with 2016.
