Dear Neighbor,
Each week over the next month, I will be highlighting a few projects and priorities that are important to the District in my newsletter. As I have shared, my team and I are spending time this summer ensuring policy initiatives we advanced throughout this past year are implemented as planned, conducting oversight of our District agencies and programs, and meeting and engaging with residents across the city to hear ideas about how we can best serve you.
Today, I want to share with you a brief public safety update on where the District is coming from and where we currently stand.
Public Safety Update
Where We've Been
In 2023, DC experienced a significant swell in crime by 26%, with a 39% increase in violent crime that took the lives 274 people. As Chairwoman of the Committe on the Judiciary and Public Safety, I was deeply concerned about the unacceptable harm being done to our communities and heard calls from residents of all eight wards calling for change to meaningfully address these troubling – and fatal – trends our communities were experiencing.
That’s why in July of 2023, I galvanized my colleagues to pass my emergency public safety bill to make clear that the rates of violent crime could not be tolerated, close critical gaps in our criminal legal system, and improve the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) and the Office of Unified Communications’ (OUC) ability to respond to resident needs.
I built upon this work by sharing my Secure DC Plan in September of 2023 to ensure residents, stakeholders, government partners, and my colleagues had the opportunity share feedback on the 100+ interventions included in the plan to prevent crime, ensure accountability, and improve government coordination. It was extremely important to me that residents and partners had the opportunity to help shape the iterative legislative process with me.
Throughout the fall, I met with thousands of residents and stakeholders to hear their perspectives through public safety walks in all eight wards, public hearings on all of the bills included in Secure DC, community events and forums across the District, and meetings with residents and stakeholders in neighborhoods across the city. I worked with leaders across District and Federal government to ensure the initiatives would not only make a difference but could also be implemented by District agencies.
With the introduction of the Secure DC Omnibus package in January, and the bill’s swift unanimous passage by the Council and signature by the Mayor in March, the DC government sent a clear message that we had reached a major turning point toward a safer and more secure DC.
Where DC Stands Now
As of today – one year since the passage of my emergency public safety bill, seven months into 2024, and four months since the passage of Secure DC – violent crime is down 34%, homicides are down 24%, and overall crime is down 19%.
Moreover, carjackings are down almost 50% compared to this time last year. Strikingly, in June 2023, DC experienced 140 carjackings in that month alone; this year, there were 31 incidents of carjacking in June, a 78% decrease for that month.
While any incident that occurs and harms our communities is unacceptable, I am grateful and hopeful that the District is continuing to trend in the right direction and that as we continue to build on this progress, our communities will have the space, safety, and resources to heal.
I will always fight for the safety and wellbeing of all our neighbors. Regardless of the neighborhood you live in, work in, or visit, everyone deserves to be safe and everyone deserves to have the opportunities to prosper. We will not let up on this crucial mission.
As I continue to share important updates with you this summer, make sure you are subscribed to my newsletter to receive it each week in your inbox.
Yours in Service,
Brooke