Before getting into the facts and figures, I do want to explain very briefly just what the “crime emergency” entails, because I think there is some confusion about it. The current crime emergency really has two parts: the official declaration I made back on July 11, which suspends some scheduling provisions of the city’s contract with the Fraternal Order of Police, and the emergency legislation that the Mayor proposed and the Council passed in support of our efforts. While in practice, these represent two elements of the same overall effort, there are operationally and legally separate. 

On July 11, 2006, I declared a “crime emergency” in an attempt to enhance police visibility and combat neighborhood crime.  As I just mentioned, declaring a crime emergency enabled me to suspend some scheduling provisions in the FOP contract, providing commanders with the flexibility to adjust schedules and put more officers where and when they are needed most.  This flexibility was needed to confront a sharp escalation of crime in the previous 30 days, including an 18 percent increase in robberies and 14 homicides in the first 11 days of July.   Although the city had less crime in 2005 than in any year since the 1960s, the spike was an acceleration of a disturbing trend – a gradual increase in violent crime over the past year, caused primarily by a sharp rise in robberies. Equally troubling was a pronounced increase in juvenile involvement in crime, including an 82 percent increase in juveniles arrested for robbery.  A quick response by the MPD was needed to ensure that the important gains in public safety achieved in recent years were not lost.

This is the fourth “crime emergency” I have declared in my eight-and-a-half years as chief.  What was unique, and really very encouraging, about this particular declaration was the immediate and strong support we received from our partners in the federal and District governments. On July 14, I met with the leadership of more than two dozen city and federal agencies to ask them to design and implement specific steps to help us reverse the rise in violent crime.  To an agency, they committed to focus resources on addressing issues having an immediate impact on crime, including environmental factors such as street lighting, abandoned vehicles, trash and the like, as well as enforcement, investigation, and prosecution efforts, including a new multi-agency task force focusing on violent crime.  The group will be re-convening next month to review our progress and develop future strategies and priorities.

In addition to strong support from our operational partners, this crime emergency has benefited from unprecedented support from the Council.  As you well know, at the request of Mayor Williams, Chairman Cropp called the Council into an emergency legislative session in July to consider – and ultimately approve – a legislative package aimed at reversing the spike in crime. The Council’s support has made a tremendous difference in the effectiveness and impact of the current crime emergency. The positive impact has been particularly evident in the area of police manpower. Because of overtime funding provided by the Council, I was able to implement a six-day work week for all sworn members. This has allowed us to deploy several hundred more officers on the streets, in high-crime areas and during critical time periods.

I understand that we cannot continue with six-day work weeks forever. In fact, earlier this month, I scaled back the initiative to make it an every-other-week requirement. However, there are still many police officers who would welcome the opportunity to work more overtime on a voluntary basis. With continued support from the Council, I am confident that we can maintain a heightened police presence in our neighborhoods.