Two years after the creation of “Project Safe Neighborhoods,” an attempt to crack down on gun-related crimes in D.C., authorities say they’ve sent 127 firearms cases to federal court.
“Targets of these cases have an average of six prior felony arrests. More than half of them were previously arrested for robbery,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves said during a news conference Wednesday.
He said more than half those arrested were also suspects in past shootings.
“Project Safe Neighborhoods” has been carried out with the cooperation of the DEA, the FBI, D.C. police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The updated, year-to-date statistics from D.C. police show violent crime is down 22% over the same time last year.
“Let me be clear, we aren’t done. There are still a lot of people out there that think that it’s OK to violate federal firearms laws to include possessing machine gun conversion switches and privately manufactured firearms such as ghost guns,” ATF special agent in charge Craig Kailimai said.
D.C. Executive Assistant Chief of Police Jeff Carroll said that under the coordinated law enforcement actions, police are taking more guns off city streets.
“The Metropolitan Police Department has recovered over 930 guns this year alone. That represents a 19% increase compared to this time last year,” he said.
Graves said the collaboration between police and federal agencies includes deciding where cases should be tried in D.C. Superior Court or in U.S. District Court. Graves said that federal penalties are not always stiffer than those in D.C. Superior Court. He also explained that standards for proving a crime vary between D.C. Superior Court and U.S. District Court, giving prosecutors additional options.
Graves said, for example, when someone has a weapon with a “conversion switch,” which can turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons, federal law requires that prosecutors must prove the defendant knew the firearm had that switch. But under D.C.’s newly passed Secure D.C. Act, “we don’t need to show that the person knows that it’s a conversion device in order to convict them.”
Do you feel safer?
According to data posted on the Metropolitan Police Department’s website, there’s a drop in crime in D.C. The number of homicides, assaults with a dangerous weapon, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts are down when compared to last year at the same time.
“The city’s experiencing a 22% decrease in violent crime. … Overall, crime is down 14%,” Carroll said.
“I think, what I’m seeing from the community, they’re starting to feel better about the trends,” D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith told WTOP.
Still, Smith said, when a crime happens in someone’s neighborhood, it can cause residents to feel uneasy.
When asked about public perception on crime and crime trends, associate professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University Michael Bader said, “There’s always a lag between the crime numbers and the perceptions” that people have about crime.
“Perceptions take time to change. We expect today to be like yesterday, and tomorrow to be like today, and perception will always lag,” he said.
Bader also said public perception is often tied to personal, anecdotal evidence and media consumption.
“There’s been a big trend in, not just on local media, but national media, focusing on crime, and so I think that trickles down to people’s everyday perceptions of what’s going on,” he said.
Smith said D.C. police understand the importance of the public’s need to feel safe in their communities.
“Our job is to continue to address the concerns of our citizens,” she said, adding that part of that is “making sure we have the resources in the right place to address the crime.”
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