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D.C. is closing out 2019 with 163 homicides. When will this violence end? D.C. is closing out 2019 with 163 homicides. When will this violence end?
(about 1 hour later)
At least 100 men, women and children who are alive on New Year’s Day 2020 will have been shot, stabbed or beaten to death in our nation’s capital by this time next year.At least 100 men, women and children who are alive on New Year’s Day 2020 will have been shot, stabbed or beaten to death in our nation’s capital by this time next year.
This isn’t a guess, hunch or sneaking suspicion.This isn’t a guess, hunch or sneaking suspicion.
Today’s morbid forecast is based upon homicide statistics compiled by the D.C. police department. The District is ending 2019 with 163 murders as of Friday — up 3 percent from last year. Over the past two decades, the city has suffered at least 100 murders a year every year except 2012, when the homicide total dipped to 88. The worst year was 262 homicides in 2002. Today’s morbid forecast is based upon homicide statistics compiled by the D.C. police department. The District is ending 2019 with 163 murders as of Friday — up 3 percent from last year. Over the past two decades, the city has suffered at least 100 murders a year every year except 2012, when the homicide total dipped to 88. The worst year was 262 homicides in 2002.
I must sound like a broken record. I closed out 2018 with a screed about the city’s more than 80 unsolved homicides for the year, the distressingly high proportion of homicides east of North Capitol Street and the huge number of firearms on the street, including one possessed by a 16-year-old. I must sound like a broken record. I closed out 2018 with a screed about the city’s more than 80 unsolved homicides for the year, the distressingly high proportion of homicides east of North Capitol Street and the huge number of firearms on the street, including one possessed by a 16-year-old.
I’ve written columns year after year about the need to do more to stop the murder and mayhem in our city — to little or no avail.I’ve written columns year after year about the need to do more to stop the murder and mayhem in our city — to little or no avail.
Shootings, which account for the vast majority of homicides, are regarded as experiences that come with the territory in certain neighborhoods. We seem to have grown accustomed to carnage, treating violent deaths as commonplace events.Shootings, which account for the vast majority of homicides, are regarded as experiences that come with the territory in certain neighborhoods. We seem to have grown accustomed to carnage, treating violent deaths as commonplace events.
Think about it.Think about it.
When was the last time D.C. was murder-free for just one month?When was the last time D.C. was murder-free for just one month?
The District is so inured to murder that should no one get killed before my next column, the town would practically become discombobulated.The District is so inured to murder that should no one get killed before my next column, the town would practically become discombobulated.
And that, perhaps, is the saddest commentary of all: the city’s resigned acceptance of bloodshed. Our civic community — here I speak of elected officials, community organizations and faith leaders — shrugs off more than 100 murders a year.And that, perhaps, is the saddest commentary of all: the city’s resigned acceptance of bloodshed. Our civic community — here I speak of elected officials, community organizations and faith leaders — shrugs off more than 100 murders a year.
That is unless the murder victim is an innocent child, beloved senior citizen or a white woman. Then the story gets wall-to-wall coverage.That is unless the murder victim is an innocent child, beloved senior citizen or a white woman. Then the story gets wall-to-wall coverage.
Notably, the police department doesn’t belong in the company of the nonchalant.Notably, the police department doesn’t belong in the company of the nonchalant.
A D.C. police department spokesperson, responding to concerns about complacency, wrote me, “There is no ‘normal’ when it comes to the number of homicides in our city. Any loss of a life is a tragedy and ideally, the homicide rate should be at zero.”A D.C. police department spokesperson, responding to concerns about complacency, wrote me, “There is no ‘normal’ when it comes to the number of homicides in our city. Any loss of a life is a tragedy and ideally, the homicide rate should be at zero.”
Police, the spokesperson said, are tackling violent crime through focused enforcement in high-crime areas with closed-circuit cameras, investments “which dramatically enhance the likelihood of a crime getting solved and also result in fewer additional crimes.” And, she noted, police continue to remove illegal guns from the streets. The department reported that 32 firearms were recovered between Nov. 25 and Dec. 2.Police, the spokesperson said, are tackling violent crime through focused enforcement in high-crime areas with closed-circuit cameras, investments “which dramatically enhance the likelihood of a crime getting solved and also result in fewer additional crimes.” And, she noted, police continue to remove illegal guns from the streets. The department reported that 32 firearms were recovered between Nov. 25 and Dec. 2.
Two sobering facts leap out from that report: A 16-year-old girl was among the three people arrested Nov. 27 with a Maverick 88 12-gauge shotgun and a Glock 9mm caliber handgun, and a 17-year-old boy was arrested Dec. 1 with a 9mm caliber handgun. Two sobering facts leap out from that report: A 16-year-old girl was among the three people arrested Nov. 27 with a Maverick 88 12-gauge shotgun and a Glock 9mm handgun, and a 17-year-old boy was arrested Dec. 1 with a 9mm handgun.
Unlike most D.C. Council members, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) is not mute on crime. She speaks out frequently about the need to take guns off the streets. She also touts her $5 million investment to add 140 new closed-circuit cameras to the existing network of 199 cameras mounted in high-crime areas. The technology in the new cameras will enable them to swivel toward gunshot sounds, provided a device that detects gunshots is nearby.Unlike most D.C. Council members, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) is not mute on crime. She speaks out frequently about the need to take guns off the streets. She also touts her $5 million investment to add 140 new closed-circuit cameras to the existing network of 199 cameras mounted in high-crime areas. The technology in the new cameras will enable them to swivel toward gunshot sounds, provided a device that detects gunshots is nearby.
But cameras, foot patrols and gun recoveries are aimed at catching the shooters, stabbers and those who beat the life out of people. Credible actions, but all after the fact.But cameras, foot patrols and gun recoveries are aimed at catching the shooters, stabbers and those who beat the life out of people. Credible actions, but all after the fact.
All of us in the city need to concentrate on stopping the violence from starting.All of us in the city need to concentrate on stopping the violence from starting.
That effort does not begin with the police. It begins in the home, neighborhood, schools and the faith community, accompanied with a healthy dose of moral guidance. Teaching our children the difference between right and wrong, and sticking to it. A tall order.That effort does not begin with the police. It begins in the home, neighborhood, schools and the faith community, accompanied with a healthy dose of moral guidance. Teaching our children the difference between right and wrong, and sticking to it. A tall order.
One hundred or more murdered each year take a tall toll, too.One hundred or more murdered each year take a tall toll, too.
Which will it be?Which will it be?
Read more from Colbert King’s archive.Read more from Colbert King’s archive.
Read more:Read more:
Colbert King: Gun violence in D.C. is treated as a normal part of life. That needs to change.Colbert King: Gun violence in D.C. is treated as a normal part of life. That needs to change.
The Post’s View: The death of a man training to be a violence interrupter should spur D.C. to actionThe Post’s View: The death of a man training to be a violence interrupter should spur D.C. to action
Colbert King: There may be peace on Earth somewhere. But there’s murder in D.C.Colbert King: There may be peace on Earth somewhere. But there’s murder in D.C.
Kip Banks Sr. : A young man was killed right outside my D.C. church. I’ve had enough.Kip Banks Sr. : A young man was killed right outside my D.C. church. I’ve had enough.