On Saturday, Jan 31, 24-year-old Corey Harrison pulled off a pretty incredible stunt. It was 5:30 p.m. He had been arrested by D.C. Police as a fugitive from P.G. County. There has been a bench warrant issued for him in a child support case. But after being arrested, Mr. Harrison promptly escaped from custody at the United Medical Center at 1310 Southern Avenue SE.

On February 2, D.C. Police finally released a press release asking for help. They provided the details of his escape:

"He escaped from a men’s room by climbing through the ceiling of the restroom and then making his way to another room.  When he escaped, he was wearing a white T-shirt, boxer shorts and a handcuff on one wrist."

So, officers: Why the handcuff on just the one wrist? In the middle of winter, you couldn't find a guy running around wearing a t-shirt and boxers?

Harrison is still on the loose.

People got tired of trying to leave the city:

Cops could have used these:

"Three Million People Trapped On The Mall." This was the headline my travelling companion had given the moment. She was sure it would be the headline of the day. Not Obama's historic presidency. Not Obama's speech. Not Michelle Obama's dress. But the hell that was the mass exodus off the Mall.

If you wanted chaos, cops offering either lousy directives or attitude, and mobs of people pushing in all directions then you had a good time. For everyone else, it just sucked.

If you thought memorizing the inauguration map made you safe---you were wrong. When we arrived at our first idea of an out--the 3rd Street tunnel, cops said it was closed. It may have opened at some point. But not for us and thousands of others. If you bothered to ask the cops for an explanation, the cops weren't interested.

There was one case where I can't blame the cops for giving the cold shoulder. One guy at 3rd and Independence asked: "Where's the parade at?" Some people should have studied up before this morning!

So we decided to head west on Independence. Any spot near a metro was a total standstill. Gridlock. Hell. Whatever you want to call it. The cop to people ratio was like 1 to 5,000. All cops we talked to either didn't know where anything was or could not explain why a street was closed. If you thought the cops would do some kind of traffic control, forget it. Old ladies w/ canes---they were on their own. Etc.

Read More "Leaving the Mall: Hopeless" »

While the Obama Inauguration promises to be filled with hope, optimism, and Pepsi, there is still a chance that you could be messed with by the gazillion cops filling up the protected security zone. You could get patted down for no reason, arrested on some dumb charge (failure to obey, loitering, whatever).

Anyone remember Pershing Park? Lanier had her hands in that fiasco which resulted in hundreds of people being rounded up, arrested and hogtied. It also resulted in a lot of lawsuits that cost the city tons of dough. And proved to be a huge blemish on the career of then-Chief Charles H. Ramsey.

I can't imagine anyone getting hogtied by some thumper cops. But just in case, you should know who to call if you feel your rights are being violated. You should call on the Partnership for Civil Justice. The organization's team of lawyers did brilliant, tough work on the Pershing Park cases and have taken strong positions regarding the inauguration and making sure it is as civilian friendly as possible.

Read More "Inauguration Watch: Protect Your Civil Rights" »

On the home page of the D.C. Police Department's website, there is a big space devoted to "MPDC News." Below that little banner are headlines and links usually devoted to murders, and arrests for murders. I noticed that the arrests kind of stick around. The news of crimes, well, not so much or not at all.

If you wanted to find out about last night's brazen murder in Adams Morgan, don't bother hearing about from the D.C. Police web team. It's not on the department's site at all. If you wanted to get the latest on that Kenyon Street shooting this morning that left one dead and one five-year old seriously injured? Forget the D.C. Police web people. That shooting took place at 8:15 a.m. But you wouldn't know it if you relied on the D.C. Police site.

I know this is a small point. News outlets wouldn't be able to write about these shootings if they didn't get word from the police. But for the average citizen who wants to check out the latest crime news, the D.C. Police's own site just isn't fast enough or diligent enough. And sometimes, it feels like they ignore the bad stuff. Or at least sit on it.

I know there are individual officers who do a good job on the listservs. But there are less than a handful of web-first officers out there.

Seriously, the last news item they have is three days old.

Update 2:23 p.m.: D.C. Police just sent out the press release on the Adams Morgan shooting. Here are the details:

"Detectives assigned to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide and Sexual Offenses Branch are currently investigating a homicide that occurred on Champlain Street, NW.

Shortly after 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 10, 2008, police were called to the 2200 block of Champlain Street, NW, to investigate the sounds of gunshots. Upon arrival, officers located an adult male in the rear of that location suffering from apparent multiple gunshot wounds. That victim was subsequently transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead at 8:56 p.m.

A second victim, an adult male, was also located at 18th Street and Kalorama Road, NW, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. That victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment of injuries that appeared to be non-life threatening. His identity is being withheld due to the fact that he is a potential witness in this case.

The decedent in this case has been identified as 21-year-old Derrell Goins of the 600 block of Edgewood Street, NE."