Brian Flahaven

Last Thursday night’s meeting  was the final PSA 107 meeting of the year…and the final meeting of PSA 107 as we now know it. On Jan. 1, MPD’s new Police Service Area boundaries take effect and most of the current PSA 107 (including all of 6B09) will become part of PSA 108. View the new PSA boundaries for MPD’s First District (pdf).

Here are some highlights from the meeting:

• Year-to-Date (Jan. 1 – Dec. 13), total overall crime is down 12 percent in the PSA compared to 2010. Violent crime is down 39 percent while property crime is down 6 percent.
• Burglaries and thefts from auto have seen small  increases in 2011 (7 percent and 6 percent, respectively), though the increases represents 3 more burglaries and 6 more theft from autos this year.
• Thefts from auto have been on the rise in the last month,  though they have declined in the last week with some significant arrests made by MPD. Individuals are targeting vehicles with small triangular side rear windows. PSA 107 Lieutenant Michael Thornton encourages residents to continue calling 911 if they see suspicious individuals and to keep valuables (GPS systems, etc.) out of vehicles.
• Lt. Thornton will continue to be the Lieutenant for our PSA when it changes from 107 to 108. A majority of the current PSA 107 officers will also continue on as PSA 108 officers.
• In response to an ANC 6B request, MPD also provided some updated statistics on crime at Reservation 13. Year-to-date, there has been an increase of 11 crimes on Res. 13 (22 in 2010 to 33 in 2011), for a 50 percent increase. However, most of the new crimes are theft from autos, which went from 3 in 2010 to 13 this year. Violent crime is down 25 percent at Res. 13.
• Lt. Thornton also reported that there were 140 arrests at Res. 13 in 2011, though a majority of the arrests seem to be  jail warrants (incarcerated individuals being served warrants for additional crimes while at the DC Jail). It was unclear how many of the arrests were related to actual incidents happening on the site itself. Attendees were also confused about how simple assaults are reported at Res. 13. Lt. Thornton said he would look into these issues and report back in January.
• While I still have questions, I do appreciate First District Commander Hickson’s and Lt. Thornton’s responsiveness to our neighborhood’s request for additional data from Res. 13. This also seemed to be the general sentiment of meeting attendees.
• The next PSA meeting will be on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, 7 pm at Liberty Baptist Church (527 Kentucky Avenue SE).

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