Friday, October 13, 2006

WP: DC Caught on Tape

Here's a article from yesterday on DC's new crime cameras.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Today's front page story with the map on robberies is shocking. There are several red dots(guns) along H st. If the story's theory holds, then many, many more will be coming our way. Wonder how long it will take the police to notice.

Anonymous said...

Maybe. But the charts and statistics accompanying the article could equally be susceptible to a headline that said "Robberies halved in a decade" and they indicate a significant reduction in robberies in the Greater Capitol Hill area since 2000 (note that there is no red in NE in the 2005-2006 area. The "insight" of this piece that robbers are likely to target U Street and Adams Morgans revelers late at night is not exactly "news" in my book.

Klav said...

For what it's worth, residents and police regularly discuss community crime statistics and trends during the monthly Police Service Area (PSA) 102 meetings.

Find PSA 102 robbery numbers for the past two years, as well as a map of September crimes here.

In addition to a police camera installed at H & 8th Streets, MPD in February added a second foot-beat to H St NE, from 4th to 14th Sreets NE. A one-officer day shift with Ofc. Williams happens Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. A two-officer evening shift with Officers Nguyn and Walsh happens Tuesday through Saturday from 2:30-11 p.m. These patrol times can shift to address crime trends, according to MPD Lt. McInnis.

inked said...

I'm not sure how useful the maps are for comparing neighborhoods. There are more robberies in Adams Morgan, but there are also way more people passing through there, so the overall percentage of getting robbed, is still probably much lower. It do think the maps are useful for looking at clusters (say where the muggings are on H Street, or Florida Ave).

Klav said...

Ahh, my earnest inked, this data are only the tip of the information iceberg...

MPD also compares PSA 102 crime, arrest and calls-for-service stats with the other PSAs in the First District--as well as all other PSAs in the city. They analyze police staffing levels at the same time to see where they must allocate resources.

For information overload--which can be a good thing--check out your local PSA meeting.

inked said...

Klav,
I am a regular at PSA 504 meetings. The police keep lots of data. My point was just that knowing the total number of robberies in an area isn't all that helpful on its own. The article's title might as well have been "Hey, People Do Get Robbed in All Those Trendy Neighborhoods Where You Crazy Kids Like to Go, Hang Out (With the Cash to Do So in Your Pocket), Drink & Walk Around All Distracted While Talking On Your Cell Phone." Except, of course, that that would be a ridiculously long title. Knowing the total number of robberies in two areas is not enough to compare the areas & get anything very meaningful.