Assistant Chief Dianne Groomes was at the center of the allegations that Metropolitan Police Department officers cheated on mandatory exams last year. And now she's got something to say about it: She did it.

Groomes says she tried to help some police brass pass a 50-question test whose deadline was imminent.

That seems to contradict a statement Police Chief Cathy Lanier made to The Washington Post while clearing the popular Groomes of any wrongdoing in December: "Lanier said her decision came after an internal investigation concluded that Groomes did not 'compromise' the test. Rather, the internal probe found that the exam was an open-book test. 'No official obtained or shared the answer key,' Lanier said."

But Groomes says she certainly did compromise the test; she compromised the heck out of it. "I printed out the answers, and I sent them out," she says. "I sent it to them and said, 'Handle it.'"

Groomes says the answer sheet she used was available to her because she'd already taken the online exam. Even after City Desk gave Groomes an out by repeating the open-book test defense, the cop wouldn't take it: "Like I said, I did what I did."

She shouldn't have, she realizes, but Groomes sometimes doesn't think: "I react sometimes. I'm impulsive. I just react."

Groomes, who's ready to move on, says she was disciplined for her wrongdoing. "I know a lot of people think, 'You didn't get a reprimand in your jacket,'" she says. "I received an 'adverse action.'" An "adverse action" can be a demotion, a suspension, or a cut in pay.

Groomes says Commander Matthew Klein, who left his command post in the Second District around the time Groomes returned to her position as his superior, turned her in. "I guess he's very, very ethical," Groomes says of Klein.

Klein hasn't returned calls for comment.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

The Metropolitan Police Department brass has to take a tough exam all over again, and it's due on Friday. MPD spokesperson Gwendolyn Crump says that's the deadline for the intelligence-led policing test police leaders are required to complete online.

The test was first issued this fall, but has been reformulated and re-administered because of cheating allegations levied against Assistant Chief Diane Groomes. MPD has now cleared Groomes of any wrongdoing. Some have found that development curious. Groomes seemed to be apologizing for cheating in an earlier statement: "I'm sorry… for my actions and bad judgement," she wrote in an e-mail. The chairman of the D.C. Council's Public Safety and Judiciary Committee, At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson, sounded as though he'd learned she'd given out a cheat sheet to help other officers. "She supposedly said: 'Hey, you have to get this done, you are overdue. Here, here's the answers. Just get this in,' "  Mendelson told The Washington Post.

According to Crump, 100 percent of those required to take the test that first go-around passed.

That might seem suspicious, but at the end of an investigation conducted by Internal Affairs, Chief Cathy Lanier announced that a briefly suspended Groomes could go back to her job, citing the fact that the exam was open-book. Police sources have repeated rumors that Groomes divided the test into sections and asked different officers to research each one. Supposedly, when they completed the task, she compiled their work and sent it out via e-mail.

That might or might not be okay, depending on how you interpret "open-book." But then again, the exam was meant to familiarize officers with intelligence gathering techniques, and also, with how to strike the all-important balance between using those techniques and respecting civil rights. That information can't be mastered with an answer sheet.

The FBI found itself in a somewhat similar situation in 2009, points out  Kris Baumann, the D.C. police union chief, and heads rolled."What are we saying? That we're less ethical than the FBI?"

Law enforcement culture might have once taken collective test-taking in stride, but that's definitely out for MPD. Crump claims test scores haven't suffered as a result.  "91 percent have completed the second comprehensive assessment of the material," Crump says of the second intelligence-led policing exam. She claims all have passed.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Cheaters never win. But the Metropolitan Police Department has declared that Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes isn't a cheater, so... she's won!

The police official once accused of cheating on an intelligence-led policing exam that took many cops hours to drudge through will not only remain on the force, she'll keep her previous rank and post. City Desk earlier reported that the investigation into whether Groomes passed answers to the 50-question test on to officers under her charge had concluded, and that a decision would be made soon. Some cops predicted that after being scrutinized by Internal Affairs Groomes would, at the very least, be demoted. Instead, she's been exonerated. The Washington Post reports:

[Chief Cathy] Lanier said her decision came after an internal investigation concluded that Groomes did not 'compromise' the test. Rather, the internal probe found that the exam was an open-book test. 'No official obtained or shared the answer key,' Lanier said.

That sounds like iffy reasoning. None of the police sources City Desk talked to suggested that Groomes gave out an official "answer key," just answers, and an "open-book test" implies, well, opening a book. That means slogging through an academic text for the answers buried there, instead of, say, clicking through an e-mail where they're all laid out.

Another thing to consider? Groomes is an asset to the District. But is putting her right back in her old position the appropriate thing to do? The whistleblower who turned her in for cheating was likely under her command. Groomes might not seem like the type to hold a grudge— in an e-mail, she writes, "Thank you to all those on my staff  . . community groups ... [police department] members (both sworn and civilian) for all of their support and prayers. I look forward to continuing the job that I love doing." But among D.C. cops, the word—rightly or wrongly— most often used to describe department politics is "vindictive."

In any event, MPD's new no-peeking-at-other-people's-answers-policy should head off any future scandals.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

In the wake of the Metropolitan Police Department's test cheating scandal, MPD has a new "Integrity Policy." The policy went out via e-mail today to police brass, so they could inform cops under their authority. It appears officers will encounter the policy each time they take an exam. The new rules make explicit that anyone taking an MPD test is supposed to come up with the answers on their own. (Meanwhile, there's no word yet on what will become of Assistant Chief Diane Groomes, who's accused of passing answers to an exam to commanders she supervised.)

The new policy is after the jump:

If this module consists of or contains a test, completion of that test is to be an individual effort. You are to complete the test yourself and you shall not direct nor allow any other person to take the test on your behalf. You shall not provide draft or actual test questions or answers to any other person. You shall not take the test on behalf of any other person, nor shall you solicit nor accept draft or actual test questions or answers from any other person.

Any allegation that a testing rule has been violated will be investigated. Persons who violate any testing rule shall be subject to discipline, up to and including termination. Persons who become aware of an alleged testing rule violation shall follow Departmental procedures for reporting alleged misconduct.

By taking this test you hereby certify and affirm that the completion of this test was an individual effort by you, and that you have followed all applicable testing rules.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Those who didn't find the material riveting might have found it hard to score the 76% or above score they needed to pass the exam. But Carter says his guide isn't hard to absorb.

"I wouldn't say it was difficult at all," Carter says in an email, "It's a different way of managing resources and approaching crime control. Cops are use to dealing with crime: A crime occurs, they respond, investigate and hopefully catch the criminal.  Intelligence is all about identifying threats and stopping the threats from reaching fruition. The material is not difficult, but it is a different mindset."

Sources have told City Desk that the test MPD developed using Carter's guide is the test Assistant Chief Diane Groomes is accused of giving out answers to. The 44-year-old has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the allegation. But MPD has yet to confirm that, and there's a counter narrative floating around that it was actually  one of many National Incident Management System tests MPD takes.

One thing that could tie into the storyline is that sources say Groomes is very sharp and has a photographic memory. If  that's the case, she could have burned through the test, which was administered over several months, and then recounted the questions and answers from memory to some of those who hadn't taken it yet. But that's just a theory.

At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson told the Washington Post that Groomes gave answers to fellow command staffers who hadn't yet completed their exam and were up against a deadline.  That makes sense, as the test doesn't seem like something you could wing.

Accused of helping other police commanders cheat on a 50-question Intelligence Led Policing (ILP) exam, Groomes could end up facing harsh punishment. "If she's lucky," she'll get demoted, one high-ranking police MPD official tells City Desk on condition of anonymity. There's a chance Chief Cathy Lanier could fire Groomes, instead. (City Desk has an e-mail out to Groomes, but hasn't been able to reach her for comment yet.)

As both an assistant chief and, before that, a district commander, Groomes fostered a culture of accountability among her subordinates. One police source who worked under Groomes draws an interesting and contradictory picture of her. On the one hand—on a personal level—she'd do anything to aid a fellow officer: "She's a good hearted person," he says. "You could walk up to her and ask to borrow $200, and she'd give it to you." On the other, she reamed officers for even minor infractions, the source claims. "The discipline was just off the hook." He says Groomes has always been quick to "write-up" cops who strayed from high standards of conduct. Other MPD sources agree that Groomes is known as a task-master with little patience for disciplinary lapses.

Groomes then, may find herself on the working end of a culture she (understandably and justifiably) helped engender. In a department where disciplinary matters have come to be taken so seriously that a lost ID card means a 10-day suspension, lower-ranking officers are apt to cry foul if a higher-up gets off easy. That probably means if she turns out to have enabled cheating on the exam, Groomes' supporters should take aim at the demotion scenario—which would allow Groomes to stick around while, arguably, preserving morale.

That test, a police source tells City Desk, is called the "intelligence-led policing exam." It takes between six and eight hours to complete. It's based on the book Law Enforcement Intelligence by David Carter. The test is part of the department's professional development training and is about 50 questions long. Police were required to get at least 38 of them correct. The source says word around the department is that Groomes somehow got answers to the test before it was administered, and sent them out to a few commanders via e-mail.

Now the test results will be invalidated, and the entire command staff will have to take a new exam.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: "Travis Childers For D.C. Council? Stick To Mississippi, Activists Say," "D.C.'s Guardian Angels Are Broke," "Jaffe Tried To Kill Police Complaints Office With Errors," "Defense: Here's How You Scale An 'Impossible' Fence," "With NCPC Ruling, Gray Takes Aim At Fenty's Jock Base," "Roberto Donna Pleads Guilty To Felony Embezzlement"

Howdy. WaPo flooded the zone yesterday with thinky takeaways from Wednesday's mayoral forum in which Mayor Adrian Fenty tapped away at his BlackBerry, answered his critics who say he doesn't do enough on affordable housing, and vigorously fought Vincent Gray over the proposed elected AG position. Tim Craig, reporting in D.C. Wire, noted that Fenty came out against the D.C. Council-endorsed elected AG position: "Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said Wednesday night that he has concerns about creating an elected attorney general position because, he said, it would force the city to hire two sets of attorneys – one for the mayor and the government and another for the public– at a significant cost to taxpayers. On Wednesday, the D.C. Council authorized a referendum for the November ballot asking voters if they want the attorney general to be elected. Some council members are pushing for the change because they fear appointed attorney generals in general – and Attorney General Peter Nickles specifically – have been too cozy with the mayors that appoint them. Key Quote: "You are essentially creating two different sets of attorney generals," Fenty said. "Ones that are elected and then we will have to have a whole separate budget for ones that are appointed." LL thought the attorney general represented the city's interests—not the mayor's interests. Hmmm.

Gray then cornered Fenty after the debate. Craig has the awesome details:

"Gray noted that the office of the Chief Financial Officer stated an elected attorney general would not result in more costs for taxpayers. In Virginia, for example, the attorney general's office represents the governor during lawsuits.

After Fenty gave his statement on the issue, the mayoral candidates forum ended. Gray immediately walked up to Fenty and appeared whisper off-mic, 'It's not true.' Fenty responded with a grin, 'Alright, have a good a night.' In an interview later, Gray said he didn't tell Fenty that he wasn't truthful. 'My statement to him was why don't you go research that Mr. Mayor and check the fiscal impact statement,' Gray said."

Check the fiscal impact statement. Is this the campaign zinger we'll remember?

AFTER THE JUMP: A review of last night's mayoral debate, Metro checks its vital signs, a tragedy in Northeast, the Potomac River is a draw for immigrant communities, Barry stars in another controversy, and much, much more!

THURSDAY'S MAYORAL DEBATE: WaPo's Tim Craig dissects last night's debate. Fenty outlined what will surely be his talking points throughout the campaign. The mayor attacked Gray on two fronts: 1) He emphasized Gray's connection to the Sharon Pratt administration, and 2) suggested that a vote for Gray is a vote for Michelle Rhee's resignation. Craig reports: "In a side of the mayor that few have seen before in public, Fenty warned Gray cannot be trusted to oversee schools, crime or the budget because the council chairman was part of former mayor Sharon Pratt's administration in the early 1990s. 'I don't know what city you are looking at, but to me, this is a city where management is getting things done,' Fenty said at a candidates forum in Northwest. 'It certainly is not the city of the early 1990s when the homicide rate was at 500 people or the schools were plummeting down, and we were the worst in everything and no one in the executive branch or the legislative branch did anything about it...This is a city that is getting things done and I think its time we continue it for another four years.'.... Gray, who was hampered by a moderator who kept to a strict two-minute time limit for candidate responses to questions, appeared unprepared for Fenty's attack on his record as the director of human services during the Pratt administration. Gray instead spoke extensively about his record as council chairman while warning that overspending by the Fenty administration risks the city's financial future. Gray also accused Fenty of engaging in "one of the worst examples of cronyism" when he awarded city contracts to several of his fraternity brothers. 'The first thing I would do (as mayor) is bring fiscal discipline back to the District of Columbia,' said Gray, noting the mayor has relied heavily on the city's reserve funds to balance recent budgets. 'Unless we restore fiscal order back to the District of Columbia, we are not going to be able to do anything.'" More coverage via DCist.

LANIER ON IMMIGRATION: On WTOP's Ask the Chief program, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier says she supported the Secure Communities program: "The new immigration law in Arizona is having a ripple effect across the country, and the debate over how authorities report the immigration status of suspects has now come to the D.C. area. Police departments across the country are joining a program called 'Secure Communities,' where the fingerprints of everyone arrested are shared with immigration officials. Speaking on WTOP's Ask the Chief program on Thursday, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier says Secure Communities is a good program. 'Secure Communities is so very different than what happened in Arizona,' Lanier says. 'This is not civil immigration enforcement.' Under the program, when a suspect is arrested – whether they are convicted or not – police will take their fingerprints and put them into the FBI database. Secure Communities allows Immigration and Custom Enforcement's database to link with the FBI database in order to identify level one criminals – those involved in homicides, sexual assaults and more serious felony offenses." More coverage via AP.

METRO'S VITAL SIGNS: The Examiner's Kytja Weir reviews the first report or "vital signs" issued by interim General Manager Richard Sarles: "The 23-page report outlines key areas such as on-time performance, customer and employee injury rates, elevator system reliability and the system's crime rate. The agency has tracked such data in the past but it has been buried in sporadic reports to board of directors' committees instead of as a single monthly report. The report shows that on-time performance for Metrobus hit 73.8 percent in April, meaning one of four buses showed up "late:" More than two minutes earlier than scheduled or seven minutes later. Metrorail was on time 90.3 percent of the time, below the 95 percent target. The Blue Line had the worst record with 88.9 percent on-time service."

STREETCARS: So what are the political consequences of Gray's apparent flip-flop on streetcars? WaPo's Mike DeBonis reports out the timeline of events—from Gray cutting funding at 2 a.m. to restoring funding for the project some 12 hours later—and gets react from the Council Chairman and streetcar activists. The surprise: Gray comes out of this looking not-so-terrible: "The good news: Gray actually came out of this pretty well. Leaders on both sides of the issue say the mayoral wannabe managed not to completely squander their goodwill. Meg Maguire, a leader on streetcar issues for the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, which has opposed overhead wires in certain historic areas, says she's pleased that Gray's compromise included a requirement for more comprehensive planning. 'It seems to be moving in a direction that is going to end up with a reasonable set of policies," she said.'" This substitute LL thinks that he was way too harsh on Gray over this issue.

But WBJ Michael Neibauer points out in his own streetcar piece: "The last-minute restoration of $47 million in streetcar funding that D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray had slashed from next year’s budget will end up depleting by one-third the debt service capacity available for other, yet-to-be-financed projects in the city. The District is limited by a statutory 12 percent debt cap, meaning its annual debt service payments must not exceed 12 percent of its general fund expenses. Having borrowed billions of dollars for all manner of projects, the government is right up against the cap today and will come even closer in each of the next five years. Before it adopted the budget, the city was expected to be about $14.5 million under the debt cap in 2014 — the last year of the five-year budget plan. Then came the May 26 legislative session, during which the council agreed to borrow $47 million for streetcars to replace the money Gray had removed hours earlier. That decision depleted the available below-cap money by $4 million a year, leaving virtually no wiggle room for other projects going forward."

BARRY NONSENSE: Marion Barry + accusation of political favors= LL's bread and butter. D.C. Wire reports on the latest Barry-related controversy this time coming from the Council Chairman race: Former council member Vincent Orange this week accused his rival, council member Kwame Brown (D-At Large), of trading a prominent committee chairmanship for an endorsement. Orange said late Thursday that he'd heard rumors for weeks that Brown had promised Barry the Economic Development Committee post in exchange for his endorsement, an assertion Brown called 'absolutely ludicrous.' Orange approached Barry Tuesday night at an event in Ward 5, and the two have different accounts of what happened next. Orange said he 'put it to him point blank,' asking Barry about the committee chairman's spot and expressing disappointment that Barry was supporting Brown. In response, he says Barry told him, 'it's about self-preservation.' A Barry confidant told the Wire that the former mayor had personally shared word of the alleged deal and that it was common knowledge around the Wilson building. But Barry had a different account of his encounter with Orange. He said the topic never came up. 'I'm pissed at Vincent Orange for mischaracterizing the conversation,' Barry said."

DVORAK POETRY CORNER: WaPo columnist Petula Dvorak wades into the apparent mother-daughter drowning in the Potomac during Memorial Day weekend to wax poetic about the summer: "When it gets hot and dog's-breath humid, we are drawn to the water's edge. For some, that means the cold, chlorine water and soundtrack of screams, splashes and the lifeguard's frantic whistle at the pool. Or it's the salty air of the ocean beach, gulls caw-cawing, the skin on your back and shoulders tight from the sunburn after a day of building sand castles and chasing crabs. But when you're broke and you've worked all week and you get just one day to cool off, summer usually means the muddy, grassy riverside. Swimming holes. Foam coolers. Bug repellent." Key graph: "And for about 15 years, the National Park Service and Maryland rescuers saw a trend that sent them plunging into the lethal waters again and again on rescue missions. It was consistently a recent immigrant, usually Latino or Vietnamese. In 2005, the National Park Service put up signs in Vietnamese and Spanish all over the Potomac Gorge area, on the Maryland and Virginia sides of the river. They warned of the current, the undertow, the rocky bottom. And for five years, the deaths stopped. Until last year, when six people drowned." WaPo reports that two as-yet identified bodies have been pulled from the Potomac.

TRAGEDY IN NORTHEAST: WUSA9 reports: "A four-year-old boy chased his basketball onto the the 1600 block of Montello Avenue,NE Thursday evening, was struck by a car, and killed. Police have not publicly identified the child. Neighbors say the incident happened at about seven o'clock near the intersection of Raum Street. 'We do have the driver at this time and indications do not reveal any foul play, or any charges against the driver,' said Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes of the Metropolitan Police Department. 'I saw that car cruising up the street but he want going fast,' said neighbor Joe Robinson. 'He was nice, he was a nice little, boy you know. Whatever his mother tell him to do he would do...He always was happy when i saw him. He would run up to me and hug me, you know, and say "Hi" all the time,' said neighbor Arnetta Moses."

SPELLING BEE CONTROVERSY: Wow, even the Spelling Bee draws a protest (NC8)

NEW YORK AVENUE: The water main break has been repaired.

MOCO SCHOOLS: Students get to learn about substantial layoffs.

ROBERT WONE: A review of Day 12 at the conspiracy trial.

WEEKEND MUST-READ: Vanity Fair's profile of Sally Quinn.

KOJO: His guests: Metro board chairman Peter Benjamin and Congressman Gerry Connolly.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE: Fenty has no public events today.

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE:

10:30 a.m.
Committee on Finance and Revenue (Hearing)
B18-749, the "King Towers Residential Housing Real Property Tax Exemption Act of 2010"
Location: John A. Wilson Building, Room 500

11:30 a.m.
Committee on Finance and Revenue and Economic Development (Hearing)
B 18-806, the "Center Leg Freeway (Interstate 395) PILOT and Air Rights Disposition Act of 2010"
Location: John A. Wilson Building, Room 500

Noon:
Committee on Economic Development (Hearing)
B 18-0800; PR 18-0888; PR 18-0889
Location: John A. Wilson Building, Room 500

UPDATE: Though it ended hours ago, D.C. police spokesperson Lieutenant Nicholas Breul tells City Desk it's still not quite clear what this morning's barricade situation was all about:

"As far as the barricade goes," he emails, "ERT [Emergency Response Team] made contact with four individuals in the house two women and two men, all adults and has begun an investigation into what happened.  Thus far no injuries reported and no charges.  One witness reported seeing a woman dragged into the house, while someone else reported hearing 'What they thought was a gunshot' no evidence of a weapon."

Bus-ted: Last week, in two unrelated cases, two Metro bus drivers found themselves in trouble with police. On April 2, driver Dwayne Adamson allegedly flashed a knife after getting into a traffic dispute with a motorist. He was arrested.

And on March 4, while operating the D12 bus, driver Shawn Todd allegedly stopped to solicit a prostitute. Todd waved over someone he believed to be a sex worker and offered her money for sexual favors, it's alleged. But what appeared to be a prostitute was really an undercover police officer, and he was arrested.

Hey You, Why Are You Jingling?: In Bethesda and Silver Spring, Montgomery County cops say, 69 parking meters have been plundered. The thefts took place between March 28 and April 1. Police say thieves are using a heavy object to smash the outer casing of the meters and get at the coins. Police are asking citizens to look out for suspicious activity near parking meters and anyone "with unexplained large amounts of coins."

Mugging Marathon: On April 1, multiple masked men went on a robbing spree in parts of D.C.'s 3rd and 4th police districts. Police say the muggers committed nine robberies within several hours. According to WTOP, some of their victims were Howard University students, and the muggers pounced on the unsuspecting students while they were inside Howard's engineering building.

Cops say the suspects used "a variety of weapons" to carry out the robberies and that some of the victims were beaten—while others were threatened with being shot. Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes says that during one robbery the suspects were armed with a crowbar.

Red Berets: Due to so some violent happenings in the Gallery Place area, D.C. Guardian Angel John Ayala says his crime-stopping group is patrolling there. "There have been a lot of fights in china town/Gallery Place and on the train Saturday nights," Ayala writes in an email. "So now we are meeting every Saturday at 7th and H street, NW to patrol China town and Metro."

On one such patrol on March 31, riding the Metro from "Gallery Place Green line to L’Enfant Plaza to Congress Height back to Gallery Place," the Guardian Angels assisted a young woman in distress, but missed out on getting the bad guy. The DC Guardian Angels Web site says: "At the L’Enfant Plaza train station platform a young female gets the attention of the Guardian Angels and informs us that she was hit by a man while riding on the metro and quickly ran out of the train. We searched the area with assistance from the victim but were unable to find him."

Source: MPD District listservs and public releases, Montgomery County Police Department public releases

The Washington Post says three victims died at the scene. Fire Department spokesperson Pete Piringer told the Post most of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, but that one was a teenager.

Police cordoned off the area, so it was difficult to see exactly where the shooting occurred. An onlooker named Nate—who didn't want to give his last name—seemed to think the shooting took place near Eddie's Carryout at 4019 South Capitol St. SW.

Via email, Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes says that three suspects were stopped and will be interviewed and charged in connection with the drive-by. She says MPD recovered a gun from the suspects, and that police don't yet know what motivated the shooting.

Update

The Post is reporting another death. "Initially, three people were reported killed in the shooting. D.C. police said early Wednesday that a fourth victim had died." There's also a chance the shooting incident produced more than nine victims: "A 10th person was found shot several blocks away, but police said they were unsure whether he was a victim of the same flurry of gunfire, which one witness likened to a war zone."

Update

News Channel 8 reports that the names of two of the shooting suspects are Nathaniel Carter, 20, and Orlando Simms, 26.  They will be arraigned today at 4 p.m. D.C. police spokesperson Gwendolyn Crump says the third suspect is a juvenile.

Update

The Examiner offers that Tuesday night's slaughter could be connected to a previous crime. The paper says that according to a police source: "One of the suspected gunmen told detectives that he himself [had]been shot in the weeks ahead of Tuesday's rampage..."

City Desk provides weekly updates on crimes throughout the District.

D.C. Hack Shot: On Jan. 9, police came across a cab driver with an apparent gunshot wound to the jaw area. Officers believe the victim ferried a customer to the 1700 block of T Street NW at approximately 11:30 p.m. When the driver requested his fare, an argument ensued. Sometime during that conflict, a male on a bicycle showed up and he and the driver also got into an argument. The bicyclist then allegedly pulled a handgun and shot the driver in the face. The victim was transported to an area hospital and is in stable condition.

Homicide No. 2: A man was fatally shot in the 2600 block of Naylor Road SE. On Jan. 10 at around 5:30 p.m., police found Gordon Reaves, 47, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Reaves was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Reaves is the second D.C. homicide victim of 2010.

Your Laundry or Your Life: A man was laundry-jacked. A victim told police he was walking in the 1800 block of Ingleside Terrace NW at around 11 p.m. on Jan. 6 when two people demanded his bag of dirty laundry.  The victim said he forked over the bag; the alleged thieves went through the pockets of his laundry and found $200 in cash. They returned the man's wash before fleeing the scene in an unknown vehicle.

Burglary Spree: In a 60-day period from November through December, there were 45 break-ins in or near the 4300 block of 3rd Street SE. Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes says thieves raided first-floor units of area apartment buildings, entering through unlocked doors or windows or by pushing in doors or air-conditioning units. According to Captain David Taylor, properties affected were Friendship Courts, Worthington Woods, Atlantic Gardens, Southern Hills, and Atlantic Terrace. All the buildings are on 3rd Street SE except for Atlantic Gardens, which is on 4th Street SE.

Groomes says the burglars took items like flat-screen TVs, PlayStations, and Xboxes, leading MPD to theorize the home-invaders were "juvies."

One MPD listserv poster whose first-floor apartment was burgled in December emails The Blotter that she too suspects the person who climbed through her only unbarred window was young because it was small and the burglar didn't take anything besides an Xbox 360.

So is one person or crew responsible for all the thieving? Taylor says all the break-ins have had a similar MO. "It is unknown if it is same individuals but we do believe it to be several subjects working in tandem," he says. "Detectives are exhausting all available avenues of investigation in an effort to follow up."

Would-be Burglary Spree: 1st District Commander David Kamperin writes via listserv that officers saw "3 subjects in the 1400 block of C St SE acting suspicious" around 8 p.m. on Jan. 10. Circling around, the cops observed the trio cut into an alley. The officers followed and saw the suspects standing in a fenced backyard, wearing masks. The suspects ran, but the officers chased them down. Two adults and one juvenile were arrested for unlawfully entering the C Street backyard.

Suspicious Package Not So Suspicious: Police were called to a residence in the 1300 block of Rittenhouse around 7 p.m. on Jan. 4 to investigate a suspicious package—no one there had been expecting a delivery and became alarmed. Though MPD typically shuts down the block in that situation, calling in Explosive Ordinance and Disposal technicians, there was no need this time: The address on the package indicated it belonged to someone two doors away. Police delivered the package.

According to an eyewitness, a D.C. Police detective (pictured above w/ gun) went nuts after kids pelted his Hummer with snowballs at 14th and U Streets NW this afternoon. The veteran detective got out of his car and eventually grabbed for his gun, displaying it to the crowd. He did not immediately identify himself as a police officer. He calmed down once his fellow uniformed cop arrived. Apparently, someone called 911 to report a man with gun. The snowball fight had been well hyped on Twitter. The news of the incident first broke there. We caught up with an eyewitness moments ago.

Eyewitness Matthew Bradley tells City Desk:

"An hour ago, we showed up to see a snowball fight already in progress. Two factions along 14th Street along the intersection. It was pretty friendly, mostly OK. At one point, there was one interaction with the police that I saw. A cop got stuck in the snow. People stopped and helped him out. A couple moments later, at the intersection, heading west along U was this big maroon Hummer. A small faction of people decided to target it with snowballs. They're throwing snowballs at the Hummer. It turns out the driver of the Hummer is a detective. He gets out. He's waving a walkie talkie. It's not going well. Then he starts waving a gun. He hadn't identified himself at this point. There was a point where things cooled off a bit, more police showed up, and he identified himself at that point. The name was Det. Baylor. My guess was B-A-Y-L-O-R."

"There was a point where it got really tense. The experience for many people was snowball fight kind of fun...and then there's a guy with a gun."

Bradley says he heard that the police were responding to a 911 call for a man with a gun. The detective calmed down once his fellow cops arrived. Bradley says that he thinks the cop was a detective but is not 100 percent sure. D.C. Police later confirm that the gun-waving cop is a veteran detective.

Later in the incident, the detective goes into the crowd and grabs a man who he thinks threw a snowball at him:

Bradley has posted more photos of the entire incident.

A video of the incident made by Chris Strohm shows the aftermath–where the officer admits he pulled his gun out:

Like so many others, Robin Bell heard about the snowball fight at 14th and U Streets NW and decided to go and check it out. He tells City Desk that prior to the incident, a cop car got stuck in the road and everybody stopped the snowball fight and helped the cop get his car out of the snow. "The crowd cheered and everybody was happy," Bell says.

Soon, though, he started hearing people shouting: "Don't bring a gun to a snowball fight!"

"Then I walked over and I saw a police officer brandishing a weapon," Bell says referring to the uniform cop. He says he didn't see the detective brandish his weapon–only the furious aftermath. He says the detective was yelling and "kind of out of control." "It was really strange to see a police officer so upset and angry over what seemed at best a misunderstanding," Bell explains. "At worst, it was some kids throwing a snowball at him."

At one point, Bell says, the detective ran into the crowd and grabbed man whom he thought might have thrown a snowball at him. Bell adds that the detective them put the individual next to his Hummer. Cops grabbed two others. All three were given warnings. "It was ridiculous because everyone was throwing snowballs," Bell says.

Via Twitter:

"Detective Baylor(sp?) hummer get hits by snowballs and he waves a gun around. Cops on radio say Det is being 'blackmailed'"

And later:

Chant from 14 & U snowball fight: "You don't bring a gun to a snowball fight." Banner: "No war but snowball war."

Prince of Petworth reports similar cop scene:

"A reader writes in about the snowball fight at 14th and U. Word on the street is that apparently it started in good fun but then someone hit a Hummer driving by belonging to a police officer and then the reader says multiple patrol cars responded."

D.C. Police Officer at the 3rd District does confirm to City Desk that the police did respond to 14th and U, refused further comment.

An officer tells me that 2D cops responded and that 3D cops assisted on the incident. An official at 2D says that officers did respond to an incident involving snowballs being thrown at a passing vehicle at 14th and U. He stated that he had not heard about an officer waving his gun around. WJLA just posted a story on the incident with video. It appears that the officer merely brandished his gun. Another uniformed officer took out his pistol.

Still not cool.

Assistant Chief Diane Groomes tells LL via e-mail:

"Hello..i am just learning of this alleged incident..we are trying to verify and get in contact with witnesses to interview...to confirm and investigate"

More video here.

Assistant Chief Peter Newsham tells LL: "There was no police pulling guns on snowball people."
Newsham described the detective as a veteran detective.

*All photos courtesy of Matthew Bradley.

In late August, the Examiner published a piece arguing that the District's low homicide rate might be due to the cooler-than-usual summer temps. The story was one of the dumbest crime stories we've ever read. Even D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier called the lower-temp theory "idiotic." But the story did at least provoke a little attention on the police department's stunning successes and the city's big drop in murders. When Lanier speculated that the city could see fewer than 100 homicides for the year, she wasn't laughed out of town. Of course, the District's perps did not cooperate.

As of today, there have been 106 homicides. At this point last year, there were 148 homicides. The plummeting homicide rate is still quite impressive. So why is the District experiencing such a huge drop?

In September, Lanier may have squandered some goodwill by stubbornly sticking by and fighting for her All Hands On Deck program. She would do well to let that program drop. It is certainly not worth the money and the on-going petty court fight. In talking with police brass about the drop in homicides, no one mentioned AHOD is a factor. Lanier has initiated a number of other crime-fighting strategies that have both paid off and netted support from the rank-and-file.

Assistant Chief Peter Newsham, who is in charge of the Investigative Services Bureau, attributes the homicide drop to a series of Lanier-endorsed initiatives from IT upgrades to personnel moves to a push to investigate not only fatal shootings but non-fatal shootings. "One thing [detectives] are trying to focus on is shootings that don't result in homicides," Newsham explains, "trying to ID [the perp] even when nobody is struck, what the cause of the shooting was, where the victims are from, what types of associations [they may have]."

Sounds of gunshots actually gets a serious response from police. "Even if they don't find anything, we still track that," says Lt. Wilfredo Manlapaz of the homicide branch. "We look at that—especially the chief and patrol commanders. They may deploy officers there to find out if it's true, call intelligence officers out there to find out if there is some type of crew beef. If there's a known crew out there, based on that, who do we know that's beefing and having a problem with this crew?"

This past Friday night's double shooting at 13th and W Streets NW backs up this claim. Two men were shot. Both would survive their injuries. Despite their relatively minor wounds, the police were out in force guarding the crime scene as well as trying to track down the three suspects. A police helicopter roared overhead. Near the crime scene, one man was cuffed and interrogated. Detectives could also be seen interviewing potential witnesses, fanning flash lights on the pavement looking for shell casings, and patrolling nearby alleys.

The police presence was overwhelming. At one point, a detective hollered at a dude for leaning on an unmarked police car. She even got in his face about it. Talk about zero tolerance.

The other big factor Newsham cited was Lanier's push to get homicide detectives and beat cops to share information. "The street officers know more than we do," explains Manlapaz. "They are out there every day. We aren't confined to specific beats. We aren't familiar with the people in the neighborhood."

Manlapaz says the detective-patrol-cop cooperation came into play in a December '08  stabbing death on 14th Street in Columbia Heights. The beat cops knew the victim, knew people who may have been involved and had pictures of the possible perps. Manlapaz says he put the beat cops with the intelligence unit and the detectives.

Manlapaz continues: "It involved gang members and this came into play.... We got the nicknames from the community and passed them on to the gang unit. The beat officers knew the names already and had information—I know that person, I know where they live, as a matter of fact I just saw them. The intelligence unit knew all of them. They went out and picked them up for us so we could interview them."

Manlapaz says the case soon was closed with two men arrested. "We were able to piece together what happened, why it happened, and locate the suspects quickly."

Lanier has heavily promoted and helped ease beat-cop-detective communications. How? Through roll calls, crime briefings and quarterly homicide meetings where detectives present cases to District Commanders, PSA supervisors, vice units, and selected patrol officers.  Lanier has also initiated an emergency session or two when there's been an uptick in violence.

In May, there had been three homicides within a few blocks, Manlapaz says. Lanier called a special meeting to discuss these cases. She brought "everybody together, anybody that could potentially assist with the cases."

Assistant Chief Diane Groomes confirms this new approach. "Anytime there is a spree of violence, pattern of violence not only to include homicides but carjackings/robberies—we gather the important segments together to listen to the cases and brainstorm on what is needed to close out the cases," she wrote in an e-mail to City Desk. "This includes again not just command officials but those from patrols directly—who work the streets and need this information, and we need their input."

Groomes writes that the mission for detectives has expanded: "There is a greater cooperation and the detectives have also been given the mission to also PREVENT crime instead of just investigating it after it occurs."

This greater cooperation between detectives and beat cops may be Lanier's legacy. It surely will not be her much-hyped gimmicks.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.

Trash fires are again becoming a trend in Capitol Hill. WJLA has a small story on the trend and notes that investigators are looking into it. Of course, the last time trash-can fires had worried Capitol Hill residents occurred around the time of the Eastern Market fire. The D.C. Fire Department quietly dispatched a team of investigators to try and apprehend the fire bug; investigators believed that there may have been a connection between the dumpster fires and the Easter Market blaze.

Fire Department investigator Greg Bowyer was part of that team looking into the previous dumpster fires. That investigation, he says, did not come to a proper resolution. "The investigation of the trash fires in 2007 were totally mishandled," he says. "This should be an indicator to the Fire Department that these mishandled fire investigations are not going to go away."

Bowyer says that the investigation was halted prematurely. One suspect had been arrested. But investigators were not able to definitively tie the suspect to the fires or definitively clear the suspect. The man never went to trial. He disappeared and was later found dead.

"Fire officials just assumed the person was caught. I was convinced that the investigation was not handled properly," Bowyer says.

Of course, there may be no connection between these fires and the ones that popped up around the time of the Eastern Market fire.

The 1D listserv has been spreading the word about the latest round of trash fires.

On Sunday one resident wrote:

"We live on 3rd St. SE between C and D and have had 3 dumpster/trash barrel fires in four weeks – the most recent one last Sunday (8.10) at @ 6am. I posted on this listserv just to warn folks in the area to keep lids closed (the fires seem to be in containers that are either open or have no lid, at least these three).

One of the several members of MPD that responded last week was a member of the arson investigation team, and they are aware of these fires.

I also received replies from Diane Groomes and Diane Durbin of MPD that they would pass the word along to Chief Faust."

Another resident was less than satisfied with law enforcement's response to the fires:

"Just noticed your original post and that there seems to be no follow-up by MPD-1D, though some follow-up was promised.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MPD-1D/message/10566

Our lid was on, having a lid on or off doesn't seem to matter much.
Again, according to me neighbor, there have been 24 such fires on the Hill, though I cannot confirm this.

Does not seem like arson is tracked on the various crimereports:

http://www.crimereports.com/

http://crimemap.dc.gov/presentation/intro.asp

Least there is no mention of these fires.

Word from MPD-1D would be reassuring.

Bob"

Late yesterday evening, Assistant Chief Diane Groomes responded on the listserv to "Bob":

"Sir- when we get the information from the Fire Department – ARson Task Force we will post .. they are the lead agency on such cases ... Dep Chief Faust has been contacted -t hey do not have access to this listserv at this time."

DC Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer tells City Desk that the fires have been set between the 200 and 400 blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue SE. "We don't have that many," he says. "In the last month, we've had maybe a dozen or so. We have some investigators working on it. We have some pretty good leads... I know we have some resources working on this one. We have some pretty good leads.”

*photo of Fire Chief Dennis Rubin by Darrow Montgomery.