Crime is down in the District so far this year, and D.C. police say that it’s a result of their public safety initiatives.
Robberies are down 24%; homicides are down 17%; and assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 14%, compared to the same time last year, according to D.C. police.
D.C. crime data shows a 22% drop in all violent crime so far, and a 2% dip in property crime, which is far more common. All told, crime is down 5% to start 2025, compared to this point last year.
“We hear the community’s concerns. A gun should never be introduced into a personal dispute, and we remain committed to removing illegal firearms from our streets. MPD will continue to hold violent offenders accountable and work to ensure the District is a safe place for all who live, work, and visit,” D.C. police said in a statement released Monday.
As far as homicides go, the drop continues the trend from last year, when homicides dropped 32% from 2023 — a year that saw the most homicides in the city in at least 20 years. During 2024, there were 187 homicides in D.C., the lowest since 2019, but still on the higher end compared to numbers over the last 20 years.
D.C. police said they’ve made recent progress in tackling crime. Over the weekend, “Operation ATLAS” led to 34 arrests and D.C. police’s robbery suppression unit made nine arrests and recovered four guns Saturday.
Lowering crime in D.C. has also been a point of concern for President Donald Trump’s administration, which announced the Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful executive order in late March.
The order established the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which includes representatives from several federal law enforcement agencies and aims to facilitate coordination between those agencies with the goal of making the city safer.
Around the same time as Trump’s executive order, D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto announced her Peace D.C. plan. The plan includes several pieces of legislation under the council’s consideration that Pinto believes will drive down crime, including laws that would focus on empowering young people, supporting public safety workers and reducing recidivism.
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