Police Chief Can Tell the Future

DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced the fourth installment of her All Hands on Deck offensive at a press conference on Tuesday. She said the special deployment, putting every patrol officer on street duty for the weekend, was a response to a recent spike in homicides. Lanier failed to mention, however, that the concentrated mission was actually announced back in September, more than a month before the recent rise in violent deaths. Kristopher Baumann from the Fraternal Order of Police doesn't think the chief had a vision of the future. "This is for public relations," he says. "When the homicides are not happening on the weekends, I don't see the justification for having every single officer work on Friday and Saturday." Baumann says that in the 5th, 6th and 7th police districts, more crime happens on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. And in the last 10 days, he says, only one of 13 homicides has occurred on a Friday or Saturday. A police spokeswoman said that although the deployment was planned in advance, it would still help with the current situation.