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.

First off, an urban survival tip: Don't try driving around Columbia Heights this afternoon---14th Street is blocked off and so is Irving Street.

The occasion for the extreme traffic measures is a crime scene at the Columbia Heights Metro stop. This afternoon, two people were shot in the lower extremities just outside the entrance to the station's entrance on the west side of 14th Street. WJLA is reporting that the fight might be related to an incident at the summer jobs program orientation held today. The meeting turned ugly and police confiscated a revolver and brass knuckles.

According to officials on the scene, the trouble started on the Metro train: Two passengers allegedly got into a heated argument en route to the station, and things got even more animated as they departed for 14th Street. The shots were fired around five to ten feet from the station's entrance, hitting one of the people involved in the argument plus a bystander. Both were rushed to the hospital.

At least 15 police officers are now on the scene, along with Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham and citywide patrol czar Diane Groomes. Graham, always helpful at these scenes, said that the crime happened in a spot ideal for law enforcement---right in the vicinity of security cameras and amid tons of witnesses. The police arrived quickly, too, said Graham.

Graham called the actions of the perp "insane."

In the hour or so after the shooting, a significant crowd gathers at the corner of 14th and Irving NW. More than few brandish cellphone cameras. A teen walks by the crime scene and shouts: "Who got shot? Tupac?"

At 4:15 uniform and plain clothes police are still scanning the pavement in front of the metro. They are looking for bullet fragments and shell casings.

"We got two frags sergeant," one cop says.

"There's another casing right here," says a plain clothes cop.

"The casings are so dull they're hard to see," complains another.

The cops think they found three. Makeshift yellow markers are replaced with real ones, the ones with numbers.

Update: More on Columbia Heights Shootings

2nd Update: Photos from the Scene

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.

On March 21, Erika Peters and her two young boys were found murdered in their Carver Terrace home at 2000 Maryland Avenue NE Apt. 104. Within hours, her live-in boyfriend Joseph Randolph Mays was charged with the fatal stabbings. This week I wrote a cover story about the tragedy and the several questions left unresolved. One of the big questions: What exact time was the 911 call made?

Peters' neighbors say the police arrived a lot earlier than 1 p.m. (the time listed on the police department's press release). Two government sources suggested the neighbors are correct. If this is true, it would mean the police took at least two hours to get inside the Peters' home.

I asked repeatedly for the exact time from various government officials. They all stonewalled me on this most basic fact. Attorney General Peter Nickles gave the reason most often used---the Peters case was an on-going case so that fact could not be made public.

I am still unsure why the exact time of the first 911 call would have any bearing on the case against Mays. The stonewalling was just unnecessary and unusually obnoxious even for government officials in the age of Fenty. I know people have a low tolerance for whiny journalists. But this is different. This issue goes to public safety and accountability.

So here's a list of the officials who stonewalled me:

1) Fifth District Commander Lamar Greene. He was one of the first people to inform the community about the triple homicide. He tapped out an entry on 5D's listserve that day. But when it came to offering details about the timeline, Greene didn't return multiple calls to his office.

2) D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier: She failed to respond to my e-mail asking her for the exact time of the 911 call or whether the police had ever come to the Peters' home prior to March 21. Lanier had no problem appearing at a press conference on the day of the murders or on News Channel 8 soon after to say that police had done all that they could.

3) Assistant Chief Diane Groomes: She is in charge of patrol services. In the first few hours after the murders were discovered, Groomes told me the department was going through its records to see what interaction the police had with the Peters' family prior to March 21. Yet when asked about prior 911 calls or the exact time of the first 911 call, she turned me away. She forwarded my e-mails to the department's public information office.

4) Gwendolyn Crump: Ms. Crump works in the public information office. When asked about the 911 call or any other 911 calls, she told me I had to submit a FOIA. This is the department's way of saying you aren't going to get the information you want. Ever.

5) Traci Hughes: Before this D.C. Police Department talking head went on maternity leave, she also refused to give the exact time of the 911 calls.

6) The Fifth District secretary: There is one document that the police produces that is public. It is the initial incident report. All you have to do is go down to the district to pick it up. When I arrived at 5D and explained what I wanted---providing the date of the incident and the report's number---I was told that the case was "too fresh" and that I could not get a copy of the public report. "Too fresh" is not a valid reason. I was then told I had to go to the public information office and ask for permission. I called PIO and was told I could get the report. The person at PIO told me they'd call 5D and smooth everything over. As far as I know they never called. I stood there at 5D for a half hour before an officer finally gave me the report.

7) Janice Quintana, the director of the Office of Unified Communications: Ms. Quintana is the worst stonewaller of the bunch. It is her office that handles 911 calls. During a hearing five days after the murders, Councilmember Phil Mendelson asked her repeatedly for a timeline. She refused to give it to him. She also refused to take my calls to her office and home. Quintana's performance at the hearing was one of the main motivators for doing the cover story. Her behavior at the hearing was too obnoxious to ignore.

This is what will happen to the Peters case: Many months from now the exact time of the 911 call and any other police interaction will be filed in court. By then, the city will have moved on to a newer tragedy. Few outside of her family will notice or care about the Peters case anymore.

*photo of Carver Terrace courtyard by Darrow Montgomery.

Penn Quarter Living reports on another inauguration-themed store opening downtown. Ugh. More inauguration crap!

Life In Mount Vernon Square has troubles with the new Safeway. The complaints concern the lack of circulars and the feeling that they've been overcharged:

"The store hasn't had circulars one time that I went in during the past 5-6 weeks.  Annoying yes, but it wouldn't be such a big issue if the store actually labeled the sale items correctly.  I've been caught at the register overcharged, but unable to reference the flyer.  This past week, they didn't even have circulars at the register and the one check out lady who had a flyer indicated that she had to buy the newspaper to get it (she kept it safely tucked in her back pocket).  When I've brought this up to Customer Service, they've given nothing but attitude or acted like they just ran out that morning.  That excuse doesn't work for weeks on end."

New Columbia Heights spots the craziest staircase at 13th and Otis NW.

And Now, Anacostia analyzes the situation at 1918 13th Street SE. The building's zoning has been changed to allow the residential property to be turned into office space. The blogger wonders whether this is a good idea considering the low-density neighborhood. It also sparks a more intense discussion of 13th Street.

The Georgetown Metropolitan notes that the D.C. Police Department has dropped its daily crime summaries from at least one listserv: "Members of the MPD2d listserv may have noticed that they haven’t received a daily summary of crimes for the last two weeks. For those not receiving this listserv, the daily update of crimes provides a listing and description of each crime that occurred in the Second District separated into each PSA (Georgetown’s is 206)." Actually it's for all listservs. The blog quotes a statement from Asst. Chief Diane Groomes as to why the summaries have stopped:

"In the past citizens did receive information via the listserv that was posted by a sworn member of the Department but we have found that the information was not uniform in nature and that some of the information revealed facts that were not for public information and jeopardized our investigatory process."

Maybe this new policy has something to do with a certain officer named Delgado and the incident involving the alleged teenage robber.

Upset the Setup has some brand new DJ Eurok exclusive jams. We really dig "Arizona Cream" for bringing back a classic Public Enemy hook.  And "Crooklyn Klemer" deserves heavy rotation in every U Street club!

*photo courtesy of 7194KK found in our Neighborhood Flickr Pool.

This morning, the Examiner's Bill Myers dropped a sweet story on the D.C. Police Department's in-fighting over the Trinidad checkpoints. What makes the story so great is that Myers actually got the police department to respond to a FOIA and give him internal e-mails. So instead of boilerplate, he's got the good stuff. It seems Assistant Chief Diane Groomes really had some issues with the checkpoints.

The problem I have is with his own newspaper. In presenting it on the web, they bolded three topic points at the beginning of his story: "Diane Groome, Chief Cathy Lanier, Barricades." Which name did they spell wrong?

It's Groomes not Groome!

Hey Examiner, you finally got a good story and you screw it up with a freshman mistake!

First, good news for the man left in critical condition after the shooting Friday night on Marlboro Place.  Groomes reports that the victim—who was shot in the head—is showing signs of improvement.

"He's making a little progress—thanks goodness he's pulling through," Groomes said.  "We're hoping for a recovery."

As of this evening, no one is in custody.  And as for suspects, here's all Groomes could tell us:

"It was several black males who opened fire.  Some witnesses say there were two, some say there were three...some say there were six.  Right now we've got a general lookout."

Groomes was reluctant to speculate on a precise relation between the Marlboro attacks, the shootout on Crittenden, and the homicide on the 4500 block of Georgia Avenue.

"We will do a link analysis of all bullets and casings, and I can't say right now if there's a connection."

We're wondering why that link analysis still hasn't been done.  9mm shells were found on both scenes.

Bottom line: we'll keep you updated.  Hopefully the "saturation of Fourth District patrols" will keep things quiet.  "We're going for a lot of jumpouts, a lot of visibility," Groomes said.

***

ALSO OF NOTE: On the MPD-4D message board, Keith Jarrell announces a neighborhood round-table to "discuss the need for stronger legislation and additional city resources."

Join us to discuss the spike in gun violence and a long sought after resolve with Councilmember Phil Mendelson, Chairmen of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary.  The meeting is to seek ideas from the community on what added measures need to be taken to assist the MPD in their ever-challenging endeavor to rid our streets of illegal guns and the crime associated with them.

Join us in the Community Room at the Metropolitan Police Department:

Fourth District Station
6001 Georgia Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20011
6:45PM Wednesday 12th November