Brian Flahaven

Around 20 or so residents joined Lt. Michael Thornton and Douglas Klein of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for DC at last night’s PSA 107 meeting. Here is a brief recap:

• Overall crime is down 29 percent year-to-date from the same time period in 2010. Violent crime is down 45 percent year-to-date. The largest decrease has been in reports of assaults with a deadly weapon (down 75 percent).
• Unfortunately, burglaries are up 56 percent year-to-date. We have had 14 burglaries occur in the PSA so far this year compared with 9 at this time last year. Burglaries are taking place primarily in the northern end of the PSA.
• The burglaries are typically happening during the day when residents are at work. While most burglars are taking advantage of unlocked windows or doors to enter homes, one incident did involve burglars breaking down a locked basement door to access a home.  No arrests have been made but MPD does have a few leads on these cases. MPD has also sent increased resources into the area to try and prevent future burglaries. 
• Lt. Thornton reminded attendees to dial 911 immediately if they see anything or hear anything suspicious happening in alleys or on their block. Don’t worry if your call ends up being a false alarm.
• Lt. Thornton also said that locked fences are not a deterrent. Burglars can easily get over fences by climbing onto garbage cans or jumping. Make sure you are locking all of your doors and windows.
• While thefts from auto are down 64 percent year-to-date, stolen autos are up 50 percent (12 so far this year compared with 8 in 2010). Overall, thefts are up 3 percent.
• At my request, Lt. Thornton has asked the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to install permanent electronic speed display signs on 17th St. SE and 19th St. SE. Wards 4, 5 & 7 have permanent speed display signs attached to streetlight posts. We would like to see similar displays in Ward 6.
• I also asked about sporadic enforcement at the “Authorized Vehicles Only” entrance to the freeway at 17th St. SE and Barney Circle SE. Lt. Thornton said that when MPD is at the entrance, officers are issuing tickets. The department sometimes posts outside police patrols (protective services, etc.) at the intersection as a deterrent. These patrols cannot issue violations, which explains why some motorists are not pulled over when police are present. Bottom line: motorists caught using the authorized vehicle entrance to the freeway will be ticketed and the fines are steep.
• A few residents mentioned noise issues from recent concerts/activities at the DC Armory. Lt. Thornton said that he invited representatives from DC’s Department of Consumer Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) and the Washington Convention and Sports Authority (WCSA) to the meeting but they were unable to attend. He said that WCSA will be holding a community outreach meeting on Monday, May 2, 7:00 pm, 4th Floor at RFK Stadium to discuss noise issues and other neighborhood concerns. RSVP to Theresa DuBois (TDubois@wcsa.com) by Wed., April 27 to attend the meeting.
• Residents asked Lt. Thornton to periodically provide crime statistics from Reservation 13 and the Metro Transit Police at future meetings.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 22nd, 2011 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.