I just stopped by Woodrow Wilson High School in Northwest, hoping to talk to kids about the breaking news that at least one of their own is suspected in connection with a mostly-suburban drug ring with “plans” to sell marijuana to high school students. After finding more than $6,000 in cash and more than three pounds of marijuana in one student’s home (which leads me to believe the “plans” had already been realized), Montgomery County police arrested two students, from Winston Churchill High School in Potomac and Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, and two adults. More arrests were promised–potentially at Wilson. Police said they were proud they caught the little buggers before they had a chance to sell any drugs. Um, right.

Anyway, I figured this news would be the talk of the town at Wilson. Even though the campus was relatively busy this afternoon, I found only one student who’d heard anything. The gossip, she said, was something about “a white, 17-year-old girl” involved with selling drugs with kids from Maryland. The rest of the students I talked to were more concerned about another police action on campus today: the closure of Fort Reno park due to high arsenic levels in the soil. According to a group of students sitting on some steps at a business across from the school, at about 1:30 p.m., the park was their favorite place to ditch class. Now where will they go???

I understand their frustration. When I was in high school, we would sneak away to a place called Hamburger Mary’s in Portland. We would order home fries, douse them with Tabasco, nurse coffees and smoke Marlboro Reds. I was really not that much of a rebel, so we only skipped during assemblies or when we’d done something to make showing up in class riskier than getting caught skipping. When Hamburger Mary’s closed, we were distraught. We tried going to the fancier brew pub down the street, but the waiters quickly caught onto our game and gave us a time limit. The next year, our school started locking the doors during assemblies. That meant we actually had to go. And they were really, really bad. Wilson students, I feel your pain.

…you’re havin’ a bad week:

NY congressman admits affair, out-of-wedlock child
USA Today - 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) - Rep. Vito Fossella of New York acknowledged on Thursday that he fathered a child from an extramarital affair, answering questions that arose from his arrest on drunken driving charges last week.

Let’s play a little word association game here. I say “Summer in D.C.,” you say…

humidity…

outside…

tourists…

hot…

school’s out…

hooligans…

crime.

Ahhh yes, summer crime, a D.C. classic. I was thinking about this last night while walking towards the Adams Morgan/Columbia Heights area. Now, I know many a person, who lives north of U Street and often walks home several hours after dark. Some of us are more cautious than others. And this has caused a bit of debate. Late at night, do you take the Metro through the “sketchy” zones between commercial strips, or do you just go full steam ahead up those hills? Read the rest of this entry »

The Post’s headline on the latest of many recent stories on this supposed rise in crime reads: “D.C. Slayings, Nerves Spike.” Wrong! Sloppy! Slayings are actually lower so far this year than last year. The “spike,” as the story itself points out, has been in violent crime — things like assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery. Those stats are easily manipulated and hard to pin down. (The numbers can rise if there are more arrests or more calls from citizens, which can hinge on efforts like Chief Lanier’s to increase patrols or on demographic shifts like the ones happening in the 5th and 1st districts.)

Today, the D.C. Police Department unveiled its new crime tip line. It’s yet another number residents can call to alert the fuzz on various crimes.

This number is not to be confused with 311 or 411 or, hell, the phone number of your police district or the cellphone number of your neighborhood officer. It’s way more special.

Here’s what the press release says:

The Metropolitan Police Department now has a toll free crime tip line — 1-888-919-CRIME. The tip line will be staffed by detectives 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Anyone who has information concerning a homicide, gangs, guns, or other violent offenses can call the anonymous tip line, and a detective will report all information. The toll-free number will also be displayed on L.E.D. boards in patrol cars throughout the District.

So feel sorry for the detectives stuck with crime telethon duty. Press release actually uses the word “innovative” to describe this latest gambit. Maybe this is where the innovative part comes in: You can also text-snitch!

“Give 5-0 the 4-1-1 with the new Text Tip Line: 50411,” explains the press release. Wow. Are the police really using “5-0″ to describe themselves?

Awesome.

Here was little Debbie in happier times, from the alumni listserv of Charleroi High (Class of ‘74) in North Charleroi, Pa., an exurb of Pittsburgh off the I-70 corridor:

PALFREY, Deborah J.(Jeane)
803 Capitol Street
Vallejo, CA 94590

PHONE: 707-648-1000
FAX: 707-648-1000
EMAIL: JeanePalfrey@sprynet.com

Have lived in California, for the past 20 years. Self-employed, design/import(furniture/interiors). MBA in international business. Always threatening to go back to law school. Have supported the National Innocence Project (New York), California Innocence and now, LAEP/Life After Exoneration Program (Berkeley based grass root’s organization), since the late 90’s. Never could stomache injustice- social or otherwise. At current pace, most likely will be slugging it out in the California prisons/courts in my 60’s and 70’s. A good way though to take my final curtain call. Hobbies include travel(international, whenever possible), non-fiction, cooking (had to quit “Cookbook of the Month” Club when I ran out of shelf space), all of PBS and the Amazing Race (looking for a partner willing to jump out of planes). (Updated 8/6/05)

The Post reports today that the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that investigators have found no wrongdoing by D.C. police officers in the DeOnte Rawlings case. Rawlings was shot to death on September 17. The two officers–James Haskel and Anthony Clay–went out looking for a stolen minibike and allegedly came upon Rawlings and the bike along the 600 block of Atlantic Street SE. The officers were fired upon and a chase ensued. Rawlings, 14, was shot to death.

Federal prosecutors still have not yet answered a number of questions stemming from the case.

*How did Rawlings come to be shot in the back of the head?

*What about the bruises found on Rawlings body?

*Why did the officers not identify themselves right away? The two claim there wasn’t enough time.

*Did Rawlings in fact shoot at the two officers?

Investigators in the case still do not have the gun used against the officers. Maybe more of the facts will come out in the Rawlings’ family lawsuit.

A press release went out yesterday to announce that police chief Cathy Lanier would attend roll call at the 5th police district to thank officers for their hard work. These are the same officers who filed a grievance over the weekend complaining about the long hours imposed by Lanier’s resent doubling of patrols. Union leaders have complained that the increased patrols do little to combat crime, and take away resources from targeted missions. They saw yesterday’s roll call event as a “dog and pony show.”

I was curious what went into the event. According to an officer from the 5th District, who asked to remain anonymous, the typically quick roll call took two hours from prep to finish and required upward of 75 police to drop what they were doing to sit around and wait to serve as a backdrop for the chief. The crowd included two squads from the SWAT team who had to abandon preparations for a big sweep of warrants, officers pulled of regular patrols in the 1st and 5th districts, members of the strike force and the bomb team with their dogs.

One funny contradiction I’ve noticed in this whole thing: police say we need these increased patrols to combat a spike in crime. But when I asked whether the patrols were working, the police spokeswoman Traci Hughes told me violent crime had dropped by 3 percent. Also, when I asked where the money for the increased patrols came from, she said the overtime required “no additional resources.”

Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier have been busy this week defending a new initiative aimed at the recent spike in crime. Perhaps that’s because the crime wave and the plan to fight it are neither real nor new.

With 50 homicides as of April 28, this year has been no more deadly than 2007—even after the four homicides last weekend. And Lanier has been combating crime with mass deployments—like this week’s doubling of patrols—since she came into office last year.

Where does the money for increased patrols come from? “That’s one of the big questions,” says D.C. police union president Kristopher Baumann. Most likely, he says, from overtime pots usually spent at the discretion of individual district commanders, money that’s supposed to be set aside to crack down on specific problems like prostitution or auto theft.

And why the big push when past chiefs have been criticized for relying solely on beefed-up patrols? Baumann thinks the chief is just too lazy to come up with a better solution. “It’s like Groundhog Day,” he says. Baumann’s just waiting for someone to utter the magic words: “Wait a second, this is the exact same thing we’ve done every year for 10 years, and it’s never done anything.”

Police spokeswoman Traci Hughes defended the program, saying violent crime has dropped by 3 percent and MPD has had “non-quantitative success” like “feedback from residents.” She did not respond to questions about resources for the extra deployments.

(photo by dbking) 

Two Shot at NE Vocational School: Injuries to students at the post-secondary Excel Institute, near Bladensburg Road and New York Avenue NE, are not life-threatening, reports WJLA-TV. Ward 5’s bad month is not getting any better.

Our Morning Roundup Update: Guilty. That was the plea today of Silver Spring resident and former Metro supervisor Marcia Anderson who, as part of her plea, agrees to pay restitution for stealing $560,000 from her employer. Sentencing will be in August. The scheme, according to Metro, involved Metrocheks, which have proven problematic in more ways than Marcia. Fed employees were caught last year trying to sell their unused vouchers on eBay. One IRS employee made about $930,000 that way while still claiming a free parking space at work. Metro, master of the obvious, is phasing out the use of Metrocheks this year. —Jule Banville 

“Holy Shit!” Story of the Day: CP alum Ryan Grim reports in the Politico: Reporter is working in North Cleveland Park home yesterday when intruder ties him up, steals his computer, phone, etc., and threatens to come back with muscle. Reporter realizes wife’s computer is still there. Reporter e-mails Tennesee senator’s press secretary, who calls 911 for him. Press secretary calls cops. Everyone is happy. Holy shit! —Mike DeBonis

Deborah Jeane Palfrey was found guilty today in U.S. District Court of racketeering charges. It took the jury about eight hours to deliver the verdict to one of the most annoying characters in recent District history.

Palfrey will not be missed. Nor will we mourn the loss of her stand-ins on cable news promising salacious details, really big names from her black book, etc. As this story brilliantly points out–Palfrey’s business was a dirty business involving mostly dull suburban clients, some with hygiene problems or worse. The Spitzer case was just so much more interesting!

Palfrey was all hype! At best she was blog filler. Much like this post!

Summer’s coming. The days are lengthening. The weather’s warming up. And police are reminding us that bad kids are going to be everywhere. Hey, that’s our language–not theirs, according to Yvonne Smith, MPD Community Services and Youth Outreach organizer.

This message is circulating around the MPD listservs:

“Some of you believe that you have bad kids in your neighborhood. Particularly during the summer months, we get phone calls from people saying, ‘I wish you can drive a van around here and pick up these bad kids.’ I read email messages from people who want “bad kids” to stop throwing rocks, stop hanging outside, stop terrorizing the community, stop playing in the streets, stop bringing firecrackers into the neighborhood, etc…To avoid feeling like you have uncontrollable “bad kids” in your neighborhoods, show them love by directing their families to the information below.”

What follows Smith’s introduction is a list of suggestions, resources, and programs for youth. But, the best part of this message is the way Smith just puts it out there–and I’m being completely serious about this–that residents should stop just whining and calling the police and be more proactive in their neighborhoods.

Not complete nonsense, though it’s not always easy to show people “love” by telling them what to do. Still, I’m wondering how the neighborhood folks are going to react. The tone of Smith’s message is reminiscent of a brief e-mail former Third District Lt. Ralph Neal sent back in January. He urged community members to come to his monthly meetings only to receive a barrage of angry responses from people saying:

-”The fact is PSA 308 leadership is a failure no matter how many times the enablers come to the rescue.” Read the rest of this entry »

Crazy about those Caps? Or just plain crazy? Free Ride’s Christopher Porter got robbed of his promotional burrito at last night’s game. It spilled rice all over his cranberry-colored T-shirt! Cranberry?